WOW! Overload

This morning it was on the  hop on, hop bus again straight to Westminster Abbey. 

Yes you guessed it another WOW experience. Very different from St Paul's, if for no other reason than the number of people. The Abbey isn't as expansive inside and there are a lot of tombs and statues. It is very impressive but it was harder to take it all in with soooo many people around. 

Again we weren't allowed to take photos in the main part of the Abbey but the photos above were taken in the cloisters and an older part of the original church that wasn't torn down when the abbey was built.

The afternoon was spent at the Victoria and Albert Museum. 

The lighting isn't the best for taking photos but once again lots of WOWing. So many fascinating and inspiring things.

 I was hoping to see some antique quilts here but unfortunately they have been archived while a new space is prepared for them. I "made do" with a fashion through the ages display. I was wishing Cherry and Heidi had been with me to share it. I could have spent a week here, I might have to come back again one day.

Suffering from WOW and visual overload that was another day done.

TOODLES

Tuppence a Bag

If you are a Mary Poppins fan you may guess from the post title we visited St Paul's Cathedral (no old lady selling bread crumbs though). We decided to do a hop on hop off bus tour of the city. It's a great way to learn about London and all the different sites and you can get off whenever you like to see any of the attractions. 

St Paul's was our first stop off and all I can say is WOW! (the first of many). I have seen lots of pictures but until you are standing there you just can't appreciate the enormity of it, particularly inside. Beautiful, enormous and awe inspiring, I almost felt like crying. Unfortunately you're not allowed to take photos inside so you'll just have to take my word for it.

After a guided tour, which was very enlightening and so worth the time, we climbed the 500+ steps to the top of the dome where, as you can see from the picture above, you get to look across London in all directions. 

Our next stop off was the Tower of London and another guided tour with a Beefeater (oops thought to take a photo of him). I was surprised at how big it is. It is not just a tower, it's castle that used to be a prison and the main royal residence until Queen Elizabeth I. She didn't like the feel of the place, I'm not sure I'd like to live with prisoners either. Now, of course, it's the Queen's jewellery box and magnificent jewels they are too. It's also a museum with lots of medieval stuff. I loved the armour, some of it is so finely decorated.

Our tour included a cruise along Thames with a running commentary from a fella who could possible make living doing stand up, very funny.

We arrived at the Houses of Parliament just in time to hear Big Ben do his thing. 

Photographs just do not do justice to the grandeur a lot of these places and things. The Houses of Parliment is enormous, and I mean HUGE, and yet delicate at the same time. Yes another big WOW!

Despite having quite a bit of daylight left it was "home" time, sore feet, tired legs, hungry and generally pooped.

TOODLES

Hit The Ground Running

Okay thaWow, we're up to day four in London already. While not feeling particularly jet lagged, I may have fallen asleep on the bus on the way "home" the evening of day two. The long daylight hours take some getting used to and it was nice to finally get a couple of nights of decent sleep. Long days and being tired means I'm playing catch up here.

DAY ONE - I WILL WALK 500 MILES (Think The Proclaimers)

We were all awake by 5 o'clock so we decided we may as well walk to Buckingham Palace via Hyde Park. One discovery along the way was a lovely memorial to the Australians who served in the two World Wars. 

The wall in covered with the names of towns and places in Australia and the thickness of the lettering spells out the places where the soldiers served. We managed to find a few local places of family significance, Greg Greg, Clear Springs, Georges Creek, but we didn't find Corryong. We could've spent all day there and still not found it.

We got the Palace with plenty of time to get a good pozzy on the fence to watch for the changing of the guard. A lot of pomp and ceremony for the changing of shifts but that's what we tourists want. It was fascinating and well worth the wait. 

After some lunch we made our way (more walking) to Chelsea Flower Show. 

This lived up to all my expectations and absolutely beautiful. Even Ross enjoyed it far more than I thought he would. 

It was hard to decide which photos to share so I put together a Flipagram so if you click on the following link you'll get a good overview. 

http://flipagram.com/f/W0aGGmCCIR

After we'd finished at Chelsea we were a little weary and foot sore so we, or should I say Brenda, decided a black London taxi was the way "home". The taxi driver was very friendly and we follwed his recommendation of a pub for tea. The end of day one saw us falling into bed. 

Okay that's all there's time for NOW as we on the more again. Leaving London today.

TOODLES

London At Last

Hi Everyone

It's all a bit surreal really so far we've seen the inside of airports, a plane, couple of trains and the street where we are staying, that looks like any street in Melbourne except for the black cabs and red double decker buses, but we're half around the world.

We had a pretty good flight, Ross and I had exit row seats so plenty of leg room but no window unfortunately. Had a little hiccup at Dubai where I left my bag on the plane and had to race back and get it. Fortunately the cleaners hadn't found it or there may have been a security alert. The irony of the situation was we were getting back on the same plane and same seats. Anyway the flight attendants were all very nice about it.

Rest of the trip was uneventful and manage to negotiate the London train system and arrived our apartment, which is within throwing distance of the train station, 38 hours after leaving Corryong. Have only just done that calculation no wonder we were tired with only limited sleep on the plane. 

Woke this morning to daylight thinking we had slept in but only 4.30, a little trippy. Anyway feeling refreshed, so far, and ready to take on the day. A little look around and then Chelsea Flower Show this afternoon. YAY!! 

It's now 6.30am and I'm being given the hurry up. Not sure I'm liking others (Brenda, Peter & Ross) being early risers too, anyway I dare say they will settle back to their normal sleeping patterns in a few days. 

TOODLES for now.

Innocent Chocolate Coconut Muffins

Hi Everyone, 

This is a trial post as I have just bought an iPad and downloaded a blogging app and I want to check out how it works. Ross and I am going on a little holiday and I thought I might do some blog posts while we are on our travels, just in case you're interested in what we are up to. Ross' sister Joanne is currently away with her husband and has been doing a daily blog, and it's great being kept up to date. The truth be told I initially bought the iPad so I can backup my photos and when we get back it will a useful business tool as well. 

If you follow me on Facebook you might have seen my post about my best batch of Innocent Chocolate Muffins. 

They are based on my Innocent Chocolate Cake. I'm not sure if I can add a link to the original recipe with this app but you will find it on 15/6/2014. Last week I thought I'd try something different and give them a coconut twist. I soaked the dates in coconut milk instead of water and I replaced 1/2 cup of almond meal with toasted coconut. I also added 1 teaspoon of gluten free baking powder which made them lighter. I was hoping that they would taste a bit more coconutty, I might try a bit more coconut next time. They were still really yummy though. 

INNOCENT CHOCOLATE COCONUT MUFFINS

1 cp dates (cover with coconut milk& soak until soft)

150g almond meal (approx 2cps)

1/2 cp desicated coconut (toasted)

1/3 cp cocoa

½ teas bicarb soda

1 teas baking powder (gluten free)

1 ts vanilla

¼ cp olive oil

3 eggs (separated)

Mix together dry ingredients in a bowl. Puree dates with oil, vanilla and egg yolks until smooth, add to dry ingredients and mix well. Beat egg whites to soft peaks. Mix 1/3 of the egg whites into mixture thoroughly, then gently fold through the remaining egg whites. Spoon mixture into muffins patty pans and bake at 180C (360F) for approximately 15-20 mins or cooked when tested with a skewer.

It has taken a bit of faffing around but I managed to get a post done, YAY!! While I can't do as much as easily as I can on the computer I think it will be fine to keep you up to date on our travels. If I don't get a chance to post here as often as I'd like I will be posting regularly on Facebook and Instagram so you can follow me there.

Until next time 

TOODLES