Having ticked Lords off my bucket list and wanting to explore the streets of London ( made famous in that 1960’s Ralph McTell song) today I dump the menfolk and make my way to Notting Hill and Portobello Road. It is a gorgeous day, with no clouds or need for my rain jacket, in fact I think this is the first day I have ventured out without it in my bag.

Feeling like I have all the time in the world and following the crowds when I disembark from Notting Hill Gate station (just like the Lonely Planet book told me to) I make my way to the markets.

They are exactly how they appear in the movies, of course my reference point is Hugh and Julia, as I raced out the door Nick reminded me that should I run into Julia Roberts that I needed to pour the closest orange juice over her. Sadly of course there is a flaw with this plan, as apart from me not being a bloke I don’t have a flat to invite her back to, or a house mate with a scuba mask (note I didn’t mention the inappropriate T-shirt as we have quite a quantity of those sadly).

It was wonderful taking my time to look at each stall, it was almost overwhelming actually and kind of surreal. There were some locals amongst the thousands of tourists, but it must be hard living here amongst the noise on a permanent basis. Like all markets the food smells wonderful and you can buy almost anything you want from here.

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The great weather continues for the entire day and we meet up with the Kennedy’s and make our way back to the Gourmet Burger place for our last dinner with Rowan and Nick before they head off on their European Adventure. It has been wonderful seeing them and I am just pleased that they are already half way through their time away from home.

The four boys play 500’s until the wee hours of the morning and the 5.30 alarm sounds way too quickly. One of the reasons that we initially selected our accommodation was that it was very close to where the Top Deck tour departs and so in the drizzle we delivered the boys to Clink78, where they met up with the tour including their mate Daniel.

Following our last breakfast in the UK, we along with Jane and Nathan head off to see some of the sights of London. First stop is Marble Arch.

Marble Arch was a little bit of an anti climax really because I couldn’t recall all of its significance , but it was made in the 19th-century of funnily enough white marble. It was designed by John Nash in 1827 to be the state entrance, of Buckingham Palace; but in 1851 it was relocated and following the widening of Park Lane again in the early 1960s. It is quite a distance from Buckingham Palace standing alone on a large traffic island at the junction of Oxford Street, Park Lane, and Edgware Road.

Historically, only members of the Royal Family and the King’s Troop, Royal Horse Artillery are permitted to pass through the arch; this happens only in ceremonial processions, you will be pleased to know that I stood at its entrance!

We then made our way along the edge of Hyde Park toward Buckingham Palace, and really through good luck (perhaps) rather than good planning we are just in time for the changing of the guards. This ceremony continues to get huge crowds of people and you can tell by the body language of the police on horseback that they are all a bit over it. Who could blame them really, controlling crowds who don’t want to listen for something that holds little significance to the majority…..but having said that the majority of us tick this off on our list of “things” we do when we visit London, and it is all part of the fun of being a tourist!

Then into the city for our last afternoon in London which is sad because it means that our holiday in the UK is coming to an end. The Kennedy’s head to the wonderful Westminster Abbey, whilst we go to Oxford Circus.

To quote Samuel Johnson “When a man is tired of London he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.” Of course I think Samuel was a very wise man, we have loved being here again and in fact the whole UK experience. Seeing and spending time with Nick was what we all needed with the added bonus of a wedding in Bristol – we feel very fortunate to have had this time.

Off to the airport we head for a few nights in Malaysia…