Day 6 Epic day in London (17 Dec 2022)

A beautiful, unexpected breakfast awaited for us at the Skylark Motel. Unknowingly setting us up for a quite extraordinary day. Since we were on foot now, we had to be creative with our luggage and transport!! We figured the best way would be to order an UBER. So we loaded the luggage into the boot, which left space for only 4 peeps! Alana and Philippa then took to the London Underground Transport System. We met up again at the Victoria bus station. Whalla!! We did a little on-line search and found a cheaper place (than the 10 Euro per bag at the station) to store our big bags for  the day. A Little news agent shop. 

 

Now we could embrace London, on foot, for the day. We had such a unique experience, because not many tourists experience London covered in snow. The unexpected weather conditions, turned our day into a very pretty, but cold sightseeing day.  

 

This time, I've used the Guru Walking Tour company. Our guide, Theo, has been taking tourists around the sites for 9 years. So he was really funny in an arrogant way, but still - we learned a lot! We walked for two hours and were told stories about Buckingham Palace, the gas streetlamps(yes, still in operation today) on The Malll (long street leading up to Buckingham Palace, that you might have seen on TV during the Queens Golden Jubilee Festivities), 

pass the statue of The "grand old" Duke of York.(His statue was funded with money raised by the soldiers themselves, because he made sure that they always had drinking-money!!! 

On our way there, we were also shown the best place to see the 'Changing of the Guards' at St James Palace courtyard. We admired monuments and buildings seeped in history, valour and interesting stories. Like the bollards on the Mall, which is engraved with a different initial to represent the different Kings and Queens, who reigned over the ages. Or the stop at the MI5 headquarters…and that you can always wait to see the 'spies' when they come out the back door for their midmorning smoke break.. 

We admired the statue of Nelson to Trafalgar Square. Nelson was member of the navy, since the age of 12 years. Later he became Admiral of the British navy. His leadership of the navy and the siege, with no casualties, over the overwhelming Spanish fleet at Trafalgar Bay, gave him 'monumental' status. With the last little walk down to Big Ben Clocktower and West Minster Abbey, our walking tour finished on the highest note!!  

 

 A few red phone booth pictures, with Big Ben in the background, let to the next part of our day in London. We walked back to Trafalgar Square and entered the National Gallery. There is no entry fee here, and it was an completely unexpected wow couple of hours well spend! We saw bespoke Monet's, Rembrandt' s and a huge surprise awaited in the last room…Van Gogh's sunflowers!!!! It was just so special!

At this stage we just had one experience waiting for us. This was to walk below the Christmas lights in Covent Garden, the streets of SOHO and Leister Square. Sjo…so worth the effort to get there! Form the most delicate angels, souring over the street, to raining stars and moving Christmas trees…

 We did a 'fuel' stop at one of the Bella Italia restaurants - you find them almost on every corner…we later discovered! With plenty of time to spare we headed back to the Victoria station. We picked up our luggage and did a master effort together to carry the very heavy bags to the bus station - a block or two away…. It was such a big team Theron effort!!! Well, done Kiddo's!! 

 

At the bus station…confusion….. 

 

Our bus or the platform from which we were supposed to be depart from was nowhere to be seen. Amongst all the hundreds of confused and annoyed people, I manage to find a very kind official that sent us in a direction….with our heavy luggage…. So we were just waiting to see what was developing….  We were VERY happy to be called to board our bus at the correct time!! 

And we thought that was the last of the drama surrounding, the pre-Christmas railway and services strikes…. Nope…. 

 

After midnight, parked in the line to drive onto the ferryboat for our crossing over the English Channel, we were told that all the ferries also stopped. We had to overnight on the bus to get the first boat at 8am in the morning.  

We were anyway expecting to spend the night on a bus, but this was an added delay to the schedule….nothing to be done.  

That is how  the story of a "less comfortable night spend on a  bus, stuck in the Dover Ferry-terminal", could be added to the Theron family annuals!!