Today we visited Kensington Palace. This is where many princesses including Princes Diana lived and as it had been her 50th birthday lately there were memorials to her and birthday cards on the gates.
Kensington Palace is being transformed by a £12 million renovation project so they have set up displays in the original rooms of the palace where the Queens and Kensington’s princesses lived.
At the heart of the Enchanted Palace journey is a quest for the seven princesses who once lived here. Their lives have been re-imagined as installations offering a fascinating interpretation of the palace’s hidden stories. The rebellious princess who ran from an arranged marriage into the arms of love. Sad queens who bore the pain and sadness of lost babies. The young heir to the throne who escaped the controlling grasp of her overprotective mother
You have to find clues that reveal the identity of the elusive royal residents. Guided by an enchanted map, with the advice of obliging palace guardians and a few helping hands. These people are actually very very knowledgeable and there are also professional actors, who provide a personal insight into the strange world of the palace and it’s history. From what we heard most of the Stuarts were a very nasty lot. The search takes you to all corners of the State Apartments and leads to a glittering finale where all the princesses are revealed. This was one of the best, most well done and different exhibitions we had seen. It was certainly a different way to view rooms of the palace.
The next plan was to meet up with the boys and Bex at the pub called ‘The Ale and Pie’ where Andrews old school mate and best friend Mathew Cullen works. On the walk to the subway through Kensington Park a little Squirrel ran across the path. Some kids kneeled down to see it & it came over as it thought they had something for it to eat. One lady did have a cherry so it quickly scurried off as soon as it got that.
It was great to catch up with Matt again and he is now managing a very flash pub for the Fullers group in Fleet St. The pub is in a building that was once the Law Courts branch of the Bank Of England. Matt took us down to the basements that still contains the original vaults used to store bullion and some of the Crown Jewels during the First World War. (see pics)
Matt had reserved a table for us and made us feel very special. He also provided a selection of the pies that the pup is famous for and they were very tasty. We found out that the pub lies on a site owned by one ‘Sweeny Todd’ The Demon Barber Of Fleet St and the pie shop owned by a Mrs. Lovett his mistress. It was in the tunnels and vaults below the present building that his victims were butchered before being cooked and sold in pies to Mrs Lovetts unsuspecting customers….. Yum yum.
As the pub got busier Matt was unable to socialize with us to much so we left for home. The boys took us to look at a wine bar called Gordons Wine Bar but what they call `The Cave`. It is underground & looks like it may have been a bomb shelter in the war. After a late tea at Nandos we walked along the embankment bridge which is lovely at night with the lights from Parliment & the London Eye (see pics). Then we jumped into one of the famous black London cabs and headed home.

The first thing we did today was to visit Canary Wharf to catch up with a friend John Pring who Steven had done work with in London in past years.
John owns several real estate companies and we visited his property management office here. Canary Wharf is the financial and banking area of london with up market high rise apartments and several large tower blocks that house many banks offices and financial centers. It was great to catch up with John and to compare the businesses. We got some great information and an in-depth insight that will be invaluable.
After a lovely lunch, compliments of John, at a very nice Turkish restaurant we headed towards Westminster Abbey at about 4:30pm. Unfortunately when we arrived at the Abbey it had closed to visitors at 3:30pm so we thought we would need to come back if we wanted to see inside. After walking around the entrance that Kate had entered for the wedding, Sheree saw people going in. She listened to what they were saying at the gate and as it turned out there was a service on that lasted an hour. As long as you stayed for the whole hour you could go in at no cost, so off we went.
The service was lovely with the organ playing and a choir singing. The hour went very quickly and we got to have a quick look around before making a donation and leaving. We think that we actually had a better time as we got so much more than just a look around.
When we got home around 7pm Bex and Andrew had made a lovely lasagna for tea.

Today will all ways be remembered by us as a WOW day. It started of very normal. Had a bit of a Sunday sleep in and once up and about Andrew Bex and ourselves decided to go to the local Kennington fair being held in a small park with many trees. This was lovely with live music, stalls of lots of home made goodies, local restaurants who sponsored the fair had stalls that were cooking food. The whole thing had a lovely feel about it. Then we walked along to one of the many local pubs for a couple of ciders and to do a bit of people watching. Before we knew it the time was 3pm so wondered home and Steven fell asleep on the couch. Hard work but some one has to do it.
Gemma and Chris had organized a surprise night out for the four of us and we had no idea what it was going to be. We had organized to meet up with them at South Kensington at 6:30pm, to dress up a bit and that was all we had been told.
After a shake from Sheree to wake Steven up from the couch to get ready to go, we were on the tube and on our way. Chris and Gemma meet up with us and bought a few snacks and then started walking down the street. We still had no idea what was about to happen. We arrived out side the Royal College of Music and Gemma said that this is where we are going……well sort of she said as she pointed across the road to ‘The Royal Albert Hall’ and said that is really where we are going. The show we were about to see was called the Carmina Burana this was over 1400 people all singing together as a choir. They were all from separate choirs from all over the world and had come together for this night with the accompaniment of a full orchestra. But if that was not enough we also had seats in OUR OWN PRIVATE BOX just above where the Queen normally sits when she comes to any of the events. WOW WOW WOW here we are sitting in a box at the Royal Albert Hall. This is a real, pinch your self to check it’s real moment, and I have to say we felt very emotional. Gemma had been given the tickets for her birthday by a lady who runs the trust that owns the box and had decided to share it with us. Unfortunately there where only four seats in the box so Andrew and Bex could not come but were happy to forgo that so we could.
The music the choirs and everything about the evening was absolutely stunning. It was one of the best times we have ever experienced and will remember it very fondly for the rest of our lives. Play the video on the web site, it is skin tingling stuff and we were right there. We are so blessed.
On the way home we had something to eat at a nice place that did pita breads with all you can eat salads.

Today we went to the Borough Market near London Bridge with Bex and Andrew. This is a very popular local market that was very busy while we were there especially as it was a Saturday. The market sells loads of yummy food to try and heaps of variety. We got some cheese, olives and dip to have later in the day. Then we walked over London Bridge to make our way back home.
After our yummy nibbles and a drink later in the afternoon we set off for a street called Brick Lane in East London to get an Indian meal in a street fill of Indian restaurants. Chris and Gemma were to meet us there. As soon as you start to walk down the street they are at you competing for your custom by offering deals to use their particular restaurant. We ended up in a place called Cinnamon that had been recommended to Chris but also because they ended up offering us £10 for a three course meal with two free beers and wine for the lady’s. I have to say that the whole experience was awesome and we got some of the best and friendliest service we had experienced since leaving NZ. The meal was delicious and was more than most of us could eat. Would highly recommend this place to any one visiting London.
With fill bellies we wondered back home walking past some interesting bars etc. In one area there was an outside urinal on the street so of course the boys had to use it. Bad luck for the ladies. Chris said there are a lot of them around to stop guys peeing in the street. Home via the underground where the air is very hot & stuffy.

We finally arrived back at Andrew and Bex’s flat about 11:45pm last night. We got caught up in a huge que at Heathrow customs and it took us well over an hour just to get through. Then we had to find our luggage etc. We decided to get a quick bit to eat at a cafe at the airport before carrying on. I got a sandwich in a cardboard packet that no matter how I tried, I just could not open. Finally in a fit of frustration I just tore at it, then it pinged open and my sandwich and it’s contents sprayed everywhere.errrr…
It was a 45min tube ride to Andrews with our packs and we were very happy to be greeted by a welcoming smile at his front door.

Today started off raining and a bit windy so London had not put on a great day. We had been so spoiled by all the endless sunny days we had been experiencing in Europe. The day was a bit of a lazy catch up day. We slept in until 10:30am. Sheree did a big wash of all our clothes and we had the inside of the flat looking like a Chinese laundry with all our clothes hanging up to dry.
We sorted through all the stuff we had in our packs including what we had brought and also what we had left at Andrews before going to Europe. We are now wondering how we are going to get it all home.
Gemma had emailed asking if we all wanted to catch up for tea in Soho and so that was the plan for later.
The day just disappeared and before we knew it the time was 3pm. Andrew rung to say he would come home from work early, get changed and then go in with us on the tube. We thought this was a great idea as then he could lead us to the meeting point in Soho at 6pm.
Sheree did not think she could hold out until 6pm as we had not had any lunch. I decided to walk to the shop by the Kennington underground station and get a few tomatoes and bits for a nibble. I put on some new shoes I had bought and headed off to the shop. Along the way I started to notice the shoes were rubbing on the top of my toes and was paying more attention to this than were I was going. YES you guest it I got lost. I tried back tracking but it just got worse. I finally asked a lady were the underground was and she pointed me down a long street and told me to just turn right from there. Unbeknown to me this was correct but was the ‘Elephant and Castle’ staion and not Kennington. By this time my feet were quite sore, I was very hot after all the walking so I just got on the tube from here to the Kennington Station. Finally, more than an hour later I arrived at Kenningto Station for what should have been a 5min walk.
By this time Andrew had arrived home and was greeted by Sheree’s worried look and asking if he had seen his father on the way home. He then rung my mobile and everyone was relieved to hear that I had the goceries and was on my way back. By this time my toes had rubed raw and needed bandaids before I could put another pair of shoes on. All this then prooved to be a great conversation piece to everyones amusment for the rest of the evening.
Gemma suggested a little family run Thai restaurant for tea that she said was the best in London. As soon as we got in the restaurant a customer asked us if we had been here before as he said it was really great and he did not tell to many people about it in case it got to busy. The meal that we all had was very tasty.
Later lead by Gemma and with an Idea from the boys to try having some hot mint tea and ‘Shisha’ we arrived at the ‘Maison Touareg’ cafe bar. The mint tea arrived and then the large bong with the strawberry flavored Shisha. This is just a flavored smoke and that is all. It was such a funny experience sitting outside the cafe with the kids and us oldies sucking on a big bong. So that’s another big tick in the box for something we had never done before. (see videos and pic)

Check out was not until 12 pm so we decided we could fit in a swim before this time. After that huge meal the night before a croissant was all that was needed for breakfast. A lovely swim in the warm water was great but by the time we walked the 15 min back to the hotel a shower was definitely needed. This beach was quite wavy with a steep slope down to the water, so no chance of gradually getting in. We were surprised by the older women who looked like they were in their 70’s that were there topless.
After checking out & storing our bags we set of up the street to soak in the last of Barcelona & the warmth. Steven enjoyed the buffet meal at Fresco’s so much the other day that we ended back here for lunch.
While walking back to the hotel the guys on the wharf were trying to hawk of their wares. Steven couldn’t resist another pair of sunglasses which got bargained down from 20 to 5 euro. Back at the hotel a taxi was ordered & after about 30 min we arrived in plenty of time to check in so time to sit and write this up. We will arrive in London at 9-30pm & be at Andrews about an hour later via the tube. Adios Spain.
PS – Oh no Steven has gone wandering & left me here & time is getting on & we know what his time keeping is like !!!

We no longer have the tourist bus now as our 2 days are all used, so we will be on foot. We had planned to leave our visit to the Santa Maria church until today as it was in easy walking distance. This was a lovely old church and inside a lady was playing the large organ which really added to the experience. Inside this massive church it sounded awesome. We just sat and soaked it up for a while before moving on.(see video)
We had heard about a bar called Dunes Irish bar that served a true english breakfast so after seeing where it was from our bus we had decided to visit it today for brunch. It was nice and cool inside and it was great to get a real breakfast for a change. Croissants each day were starting to loose there charm. We explained to the Irish Manager at the bar that we had found out about his bar on Trip Advisor and he was very pleased to hear this.
Our next stop was also not far away and it was the Barcelona Cathedral. Two buskers were playing Spanish guitars outside and were very good.(see video) The Cathedral was one of the first churches that Gaudi had designed and was currently under renovation. Strangely as these renovations were going on there was scaffolding erected that gave access to the roof, so they were allowing tourists to visit the roof. It was interesting to view things from this perspective (see pics).
After a quick visit to a food market we thought we would head down to the beach for the afternoon and headed back to our Hotel via a street that Sheree though we should go down. We stumbled across an exhibition on the clothes of ‘Maria Brillas’ who was a big part of the privileged Barcelona elite during the 1900’s. It was free to get in and was very inspiring. Marias granddaughter had donated 341 pieces, 183 dresses and 158 accessories . All Marias clothes were designed and made by ‘Pedro Rodriguez’ a master Spanish Couture. Maria was married to a distingused business man from Girona, ‘Joaquim Ensesa’ so she was confronted with considerable social pressure to be the perfect host and praise worthy member of her family.
Maria had a very close relationship with Pedro Rodriguez and only ever wore his clothes which he personally made for her. Almost all of her wardrobe consisted of designs by Pedro.
They were exquisite to see and as Sheree said she looked about her size so most of the beautiful dresses and accessories may well have fitted Sheree. (see pics)
There was also an exhibition on the influence of technology and human integration but unfortunately several of the exhibits were not working. However those that did were fun.
The Picasso Museum was just a few doors down but there was a very long queue so we decided to give it a miss and head to the beach.
We spent what was left of the afternoon just lying on the beach even though it was overcast it was very very nice.
We did not get back home until quite late and decided to shower and go out for tea at around 10:00pm??? Yes we know it’s late but we are in Europe and even at the restaurant we choose, families with children were sitting down at the same time as us.
Sheree wanted to try the traditional Paella and I got a combined sea food dish. When they arrived to our table they were huge!! So big in fact that we just could not eat it all and as Sheree said ‘just one of these would have done’ (see video)
It was well after midnight when with very full bellies we wondered home on this lovely warm evening.

Today can best be described as a ‘Antoni Gaudi’ day. We went inside two of his other works, firstly a home he designed called ‘Casa Batllo’ and secondly the ‘La Pedrera’ both on the street called Passeig de Gracia.
From the outside the façade of Casa Batlló looks like it has been made from skulls and bones. The “Skulls” are in fact balconies and the “bones” are supporting pillars.
Gaudi used colours and shapes found in marine life as inspiration for his creativity in this building e.g. the colours chosen for the façade are those found in natural coral.
The building was designed by Gaudi for Josep Batlló, a wealthy aristocrat, as an upmarket home. Señor Batlló lived in the lower two floors with his family and the upper floors were rented out as apartments.
This building is a stunning and original work. (see pics) again it is amazing to see how much attention to detail Gaudi spent on his designs. Thinking about such things as varying window size depending on how high the window was from the top of the building. In this way he could ensure uniform lighting conditions in each room of the house. Then there was the font used specifically for the apartment numbers on the door or the door handles all modeled in brass based on his own hands fit.
The other building was the ‘La Pedrera’ built between 1906 and 1910 for Milà family.
This is one of the main Gaudí residential buildings and a most imaginative house, this building is more an sculpture than a building.
The façade is an impressive, varied and harmonious mass of undulating stone without straight lines where also the forged iron is present in the shapes of balconies imitating vegetal forms.
The lofts are supported by the traditional Catalan “totxo” (brick) arching walls following the style developed by Gaudí.
The roof chimneys designing in vanguard shapes remember warriors in a forest of surprising figures.
The building was recognized by Unesco as “World Heritage” in 1984.
Both of these buildings would be a builders nightmare as there does not appear to be a straight line any where, but are amazing to see.
Then we looked for some where for lunch and found an authentic Braseria called Campechano that was obviously poplar with locals. After the waiter translated the menu in pigeon English we ended up with a nice 3 course lunch plus drinks for €20.
From here we bused around some more of the tourist spots without getting off until close to the ‘Museum Erotica’ the name says it all. It was a museum of sexual habits and excitements down through the ages and in different cultures.
Then we visited a food market and got some free freshly squeezed fruit juice and some fruit packs for later. By this time it was 9:00pm so we headed back to the Hotel.

We started bit later than we intended today. After a disappointing breakfast at the Hotel Oasis we were on the ‘Barcelona Bus Turistic’ (hop on hop off bus) by 10:30am. The plan was to do the red line today which is a two hour round trip and if we had time to also cross to the Blue line and see the ‘Sagrada Familia’ which is Barcelona’s most iconic tourist stop. Along the journey you can not help but notice the ever changing layout of the city and also the changing and different architecture that has been bought about over the last few hundred years or so. One of the most renowned architects was Antoni Gaudi who’s love of nature is reflect in his designs and are easy to spot as they are so different. Gaudi spent a huge part of his life including the last 12 years working on the Sagrada Familiar until his death in a tram accident in 1920.(see pics)
However on the way round the red line we discovered the art museum, which was closed on Mondays, but offered and amazing view of Barcelona which is a city of 1.5 million people. (see pics)
After getting some pictures of the view we walked back to the bus stop. Along the way noticed an outside elevator going up towards a gondola, so we set off to investigate. This gondola ride which takes a right angle turn half way up took us even higher, to a very nice castle called the Castle Of Montjuic which was first built around 1640.
The view over the Harbor and the city from the top of the castle roof was stunning. It gives you an idea of just how big Barcelona harbor is (see pics).
Once back down we were on the bus again and carried on around the red line. It was getting later in the afternoon so we stopped off at restaurant that offered all you can eat salads and grill so we had a big feed here that only cost €22 for both of us and that was three courses and drinks.
Feeling very fill we climbed back on the bus and along the way switched to the blue line. We did not get off until we arrived at the ‘Sagrada Familia’.
This is one of the most amazing feats of mans brilliance and in particular that of Antoni Gaudi that we had ever seen. It was on par with any thing else we could think of or had seen. It is a huge modern church that is still under construction that started back in the late 18th century. It has to be seen to be believed. Every part of it tells a story. The attention to detail in the most little thinks from how light reflects on to a column to where the choir sit around the church to give the best acoustics is incredible. Gaudi died before it would be completed but left plans, designs and models about what he wanted but also wanted future architects to have the ability to reflect the changing centuries as time went on. It is well past the half way stage now and construction continues by donation and the contribution from tourist visits. We got an elevator ride up to the top of one of the huge towers. This was very very high and quite daunting inside. (see pics)
After this we headed home via a long walk down the long and busy Rambler St crowded with tourist and merchants plus all the normal shops.

We were up early and had our buffet breakfast and then packed up our stuff for the trip to Barcelona. Today we drop the car off at the Barcelona airport at Terminal 2.
We left Calella after getting the car out of the underground parking (that had a extremely steep drive) and set Jennifer the GPS on course. We had a little time on our side so we stopped and took some photos of the coastline Of Calella towards where we had stayed which included some of the Costa Bravo. When I took the photos from above the beach it was not hard to notice that this was not only topless but fully naked, so had to be a bit discreet with the camera. (see pics of the beach)
We arrived into Barcelona on time for the 11am drop off and looking for Terminal 2 which we thought we had found but soon realized we were getting lost. Thankfully the people we were supposed to meet had seen us and drove along beside us and advised that we were towards terminal 2 but for the train station and not the airport….oooops. We followed them to the drop off point at which stage they asked us for the red insurance folder for the car. Neither of us could remember this and could not find it. The man started telling us that it would cost €200 to replace them. Thankfully I remembered that I had but them in with the passports and with a large sigh of relief we took our last look at the Peugeot, that had been so good to us and taken us more than 2800km’s. I took a photo of the total Kms we had done, jumped in a waiting taxi and were off to the Hotel Oasis only 15 mins away in Barcelona.
We could not check in until 1pm so put our bags in storage and started getting our bearings from the map the Hotel gave us. We were soon at the beach and having a look around a much busier beach than we had seen so far (see pic). Back at the Hotel we got our room and set off again looking for information on the hop on hop off bus that we had heard was really good. There are two main companies and the one owned by the city bus service offered the most routes so have bought tickets for the following two days starting at 9am tomorrow. This will give us a good over view and look at the city similar to what we did in Florence.
Later in the day we bought tickets to a wax museum called Muse de Cere. This was a very well organized, themed museum with a lot of wax figures from throughout the ages until modern day. They had some interactive parts like being inside a launching space ship, under water sub & older sailing ship which was moving under your feet.
After this we booked a 1 hr, 30 coast & port cruise around the harbor and Barcelona coast line (see pics). Barcelonna has some very interesting city centre architecture in the tall buildings of different shapes & sizes than we have seen any where else.
Later that night we went out for tapas ( very much the done thing here) again at a restaurant just along the road before heading home feeling a little tired.