London Excursions Part III

I mentioned we had several visitors. Well besides Ganga, we had a surprise visit by Ernest! Early morning on 24th Nov he gave us a ring, and told us he was heading down to London from Exeter! He arrived late at night, and we were up late chatting away :) Had to drag ourselves to sleep else we'd not be able to do anything at all on Sunday!

Ernest had not been to London before, and Jon hasn't really done a lot of sightseeing, so we planned a full day of major sights!

First up - Piccadily Circus! We took a bus there and walked the rest of the day.

A quick walk through Leicester Square, past the National Portrait Gallery, and we were at Trafalgar Square :)

This particular photo was actually taken on a previous occasion. I thought it's appropriate to add it in now to show the square and the crowds there :)

Down Whitehall to see the Horse Guards. Such wonderful creatures! The horses I mean, not the guard ;)

Since it was still November at that time, Jon still had his Mo :) But it's gone now!

This is the sculpture of Women in World War II along Whitehall.

The walk along Whitehall brought us to Downing Street - where the British Prime Minister stays! I never knew it was caged up behind a high fence. Everytime you see it in the news it looks like it's just along the road. But I have wondered about the security of the place before. Now it makes sense. The whole street is safely behind bars..

This is the Cenotaph commemorating citizens killed in the two world wars. The red wreaths were from Remembrance Day, where the Queen, Prime Minister, and other representatives from various countries and groups, place wreaths in remembrance of those who lost their lives.

Here comes Big Ben!

And the Houses of Parliament!

We popped by the river Thames to take a look at the London Eye :)

Then we decided to head to Westminster Cathedral. Ernest and I were just discussing how wonderful the choirs are during Evening Song, and it'll be great if we could catch the service at Westminster, but it was supposed to be later in the day and we were too early. But as we passed a notice board,

we saw that for that day it was to be held at 3pm..and it was 3pm! So we ran excitedly to the entrance to catch Evening Song :) Made it just in time!

Some famous writers buried at Westminster

A quick walk through St James's Park (to see the Palace from the bridge in the park) and we were at the Mall.

Then another quick walk through Green Park (the sun had set by then) and a further walk, and soon we were at Oxford Street to see the Christmas lights!

Well, after a whole day of walking and sightseeing, we were ready of a good hearty meal. And since Ernest hadn't eaten Singaporean food for several months, we brought him to Nyonya, a restaurant that serves Singaporean/Malaysian food at Nottinghill :) Rachel had introduced us to the restaurant previously, it's quite good. So between the three of us, we had a ton to eat, and I was sooo full after that!

Too bad Ernest had to leave that night! But that certainly was one fun-filled Sunday!