London trip - Day 2

Day 2 was rather eventful we woke up early in the morning about 9am had breakfast made by my uncle (cheddar cheese on slice of bread and baked in the oven). We had like 2 to 3 slices each and this time my uncle brought us down to the station by walking down the duck walk lane and to the main road. Took some photos of the bridge , river and pubs .

We went to get tickets to lady salsa which will be playing at the local Richmond theater at about 15 pounds each for the next day show.With Many location to cover today we hurried down to the train station and off to Westminster station.

First stop the big ben , icon of london it stands infront of the thames river,
the distinct gothic tower clock is just right next to the parliament house , unfortunately due to the 9/11 incident we aren't allowed in.

Next to parliament house is the parliament square , protester against war etc share their voices
With statues like churchill too :)

not far down is the parliament garden which is quite scenic with the view of the thames river and benches to relax by. A bit high up for my comfort thou.
Next we cross the lambeth bridge to the garden museum.


Which thinking its free entry i entered it but turn out a donation of 3 pounds is required. Arghh not to lose face i gave the money. All i can say is if you are not into garden history you can give this place a miss.
Was looking forward to visit the first palace, the lambeth palace but guess what its under renovation or restoration arghh.. so took some photos from the outside instead.

We then made the walk back the lambeth bridge and to westminster abbey. Its one of the main churches for famous tombs/commeration of kings, queens, poets , writers etc. It is also here where Princess diana service was held before burial. Too bad no camera is allowed inside

After westminster abbey, its already quite late so off we went to this little eatery cafe churchill for some food along parliament street, I had fish and chips (which will be my staple diet for the next few days), jeff on the other hand has craving for pizza.
Yes we get to see more monuments of the past wars...
Downing street where the PM works is off public access what a pity.
The horse guards parade , was next on the agenda . we came just in time to witness the change of guards parade. Its interesting to see that horses are being used to guard the building .I kinda like their uniform except the boot, perhaps abit too tall.
Heres a panoramic view of the horse guards parade area

As we are walking towards the churchill bunker, we saw a motorcade coming out from downing street. Could it be the PM brown? i guess we will never know.

The bali bombing memorial was just outside the treasury. It has all the names of the people killed on the fateful night, most are australian .
Well this is churchill bunker and war room during world war II took us some time to find it . Thats tells us why the germans cant locate it. We aren't much of a war buff so didn't went in .


Tree lined avenue along the parameter of st james parkPrincess diana memorial walk and ryans taking a photo of it

St James's Park Lake, looking east from the bridge. The Shell Tower and the London Eye can be seen behind the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Basking in the sun is quite a pastime for folks in london. Unfortunately the chairs are on rental the staff seems to have an eagle eye on who has rented it and who is freeloading.. ermm that would be us.
Later we headed down to convent garden , cause we are supposed to meet up with a friend of mine heng. Who happened to be working in london for 2 days . While waiting for heng we spotted this unique building connector looks really twisty. We also visited the London transport museum which was unfortunately under renovation.
Also met up with joey who is michael's sister (michael is from the salsa scene) .

So joey took us around traflagar square, and then to piccadiliy circus for a taste of authentic chinese HK restaurant. Not to mention their famous crispy duck which is a variation of the peiking duck a must try when you are in london.
With a hearty meal its best to dance it off , so from 9pm we were at"the sound" a club which had salsa on tuesday nights. Michael sister is really a boogie machine , with a diploma in dance . She really good but a bit rusty with a year off from salsaing.
We stay for a about an hour before heading back. You won't want to take a cab back , i heard it can cost more then 90 pounds to get to richmond.
Had a great night and hopefully a better one tomorrow.