We made it to the hotel in London. From Gatwick station and 3 trains later after feeling a bit confused from buying right tickets to catching the right trains on the right platform… we got to Russell Square station and a sign says… this way to lifts and stairs.
But the first flight were just stairs. Now with back packs and suitcases we hauled luggage up one step at a time! Whew… who would have known that last little challenge was waiting for us  ::)

Interesting Melbourne vibe about the place.
And they too have graffiti here  :o

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Most hectic but interesting day of discovering London more in-depth. Went on the hop on hop off bus and I’m amazed how there are so many big buses able to get around all them narrow streets! It’s crazy good!
I have fallen in like with London! Love the old preserved and historical buildings … it’s what Melbourne was like until Whelan the wrecker was called in to demolish them to make way for new modern scrapers.

I have a lot of respect how England are proud of the old architecture.

We went on the London Eye, and a Thames River cruise. We went in to see the Tower of London and it’s such a huge place, one could easily spend a whole day there! Saw the Crown Jewels.

But whoa …. what a lot of people and what a vibe!
Oh… and I always thought the black London Cabs (Taxis) were bigger…
Had our first bangers and mash meal at a pub, haven’t tried the beer yet.

Weather was perfect today! About 19 degrees and sunny. Tomorrow will be much the same and 20 deg. My kids back home informed me weather is wet and cold.

Tomorrow we go on 2 day excursion to see Stone Henge and Bath.

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Have a meal at Simpson’s on The Strand—treacle tarts etc.

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I was in England Dec 1978, remember sitting in a restaurant finishing lunch—and watching dusk come to Green Park at 2.30pm!

Tassie is not like England at all!

Jovial Monk wrote on Sep 15^th, 2024 at 7:36am:

Have a meal at Simpson’s on The Strand—treacle tarts etc.

I will look out for it. Went to star bucks for a coffee and found they were more reasonably priced.
I’m stunned at the price of everything! Food especially… since our dollar is only worth .49 c
Oh….and I found a toilet where you have to pay .50 P to go in!

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Jovial Monk wrote on Sep 15^th, 2024 at 7:39am:

I was in England Dec 1978, remember sitting in a restaurant finishing lunch—and watching dusk come to Green Park at 2.30pm! Tassie is not like England at all!

A lot of people say it is…

I’m feeling a bit tired as it’s full on seeing everything! I would hardly do much going out in 6 months let alone what we do in one day when on holiday! 😆

Not really, Tassie might be closer to the climate of England than the mainland but:

London: 51.5°N

Hobart: ≈43°S


Yep, bet you are tired!

What's the weather like?
I am going next week.

Sophia wrote on Sep 15^th, 2024 at 7:23am:

Tomorrow we go on 2 day excursion to see Stone Henge and Bath.

That's a great little day trip - you'll enjoy it.

greggerypeccary wrote on Sep 15^th, 2024 at 10:54am:

Sophia wrote on Sep 15th, 2024 at 7:23am: Tomorrow we go on 2 day excursion to see Stone Henge and Bath. That's a great little day trip - you'll enjoy it.

It’s what I like, my perfect weather/temperature, not hot at 20 deg and sunny.
Can be a bit cool at night though.

Sophia wrote on Sep 16^th, 2024 at 5:54am:

greggerypeccary wrote on Sep 15th, 2024 at 10:54am: Sophia wrote on Sep 15th, 2024 at 7:23am: Tomorrow we go on 2 day excursion to see Stone Henge and Bath. That's a great little day trip - you'll enjoy it. It’s what I like, my perfect weather/temperature, not hot at 20 deg and sunny. Can be a bit cool at night though.

Interesting place, that Windsor Castle…. We didn’t pay to go inside because at £33 is something like almost $70au each… a bit stiff.
We enjoyed looking around on the outside and saw a ceremony with all Scottish band (a bit like royal tattoo) in all their glorious outfits, bagpipes and drums. We loved it

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Enjoyed stone henge, and the information area with big widescreen video of the ages of stone henge.
I hear some say it must’ve been Aliens that did that back then!

I saw 3 women sitting nearby and had their faces covered… in a meditative way… I wonder if I did that I may have picked up an energy from the stones?  :)
If it is to be done m sure the energy will find me for whatever cause.

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We are now in an old township called Bath. I had no idea what to expect and wow am I surprised by the ancient beauty of the town, shops, buildings etc
I’m up early to have Brekky at 6.30 when hotel kitchen opens… and then we are off for a couple hours. With map in hand….I want to see these Roman baths. And a certain wool shop Greggery wrote about earlier.
I will take pics and put them up after tomorrow.

Bath, that Roman Bath…. Interesting creation!
Glad we went there early and went straight in as only so many tickets available at any time in the place.

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Went to see Cotswold…what a gorgeous place!
And a church with a very old graveyard… some inscriptions were totally faded. One we barely made out to be 1774

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This was a 2 day tour with overnight stay we did. Hence we saw a lot!
Last place we went to was Oxford. Now talking about churches and old graveyards, right in the middle of a bustling city! Roads going around it either side!
Nice respect for maybe pioneers? I have to look it up. I’ve got photos on my digi cam not on my phone so can’t put it up.
There’s this shop there that is about science fiction! Amazing! Even a full size Dalek.

We went into the British Museum too.

There’s another 3 weeks of touring/cruising and I’m pooped already!!!

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Went to see Carnaby street! Had a Starbucks Coffee there! Then, took a mad bike ride to Piccadilly Circus. It was fun! The music was A land down under!  ;D
Crazy mad traffic and big buses all around us and here we are in this glitzy type rickshaw!

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Our bike rider!

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Tomorrow we leave England to go to France.
Whatever we planned on paper back home doesn't always eventuate. We can only do so much and need rest too…. Now I’ve got a cold/runny nose!
Here’s a pic of view from our hotel window…
Tomorrow we are in Paris…

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This is London now:

Video  50 seconds.

https://media.gab.com/system/media_attachments/files/166/408/322/playable/ff88a2c9143692d4.mp4

Bobby. wrote on Sep 20^th, 2024 at 6:43pm:

This is London now: Video  50 seconds. https://media.gab.com/system/media_attachments/files/166/408/322/playable/ff88a2c9143692d4.mp4

Maybe in some small remote part but definitely not a huge London representation.
I’ve just spent a whole week here and today drove through different areas with older smaller buildings… the poorer parts… lots of graffiti.
Yet still interesting.
I snapped a photo of this flash dress shop within a graffitied building.

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Speaking of graffiti… we entered France via euro rail this arvo and there’s heaps of graffiti here in France too! So not just a Melbourne thing  :)

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Thank you Sophia

Sophia wrote on Sep 16^th, 2024 at 5:59am:

Sophia wrote on Sep 16th, 2024 at 5:54am: greggerypeccary wrote on Sep 15th, 2024 at 10:54am: Sophia wrote on Sep 15th, 2024 at 7:23am: Tomorrow we go on 2 day excursion to see Stone Henge and Bath. That's a great little day trip - you'll enjoy it. It’s what I like, my perfect weather/temperature, not hot at 20 deg and sunny. Can be a bit cool at night though. Interesting place, that Windsor Castle…. We didn’t pay to go inside because at £33 is something like almost $70au each… a bit stiff. We enjoyed looking around on the outside and saw a ceremony with all Scottish band (a bit like royal tattoo) in all their glorious outfits, bagpipes and drums. We loved it

Hate to say it but if you can afford to do this trip you can surely afford the $140 dollars to go inside.

You probably won't go again so....... ;)

Sophia wrote on Sep 18^th, 2024 at 1:25pm:

Went to see Carnaby street! Had a Starbucks Coffee there! Then, took a mad bike ride to Piccadilly Circus. It was fun! The music was A land down under!  ;D Crazy mad traffic and big buses all around us and here we are in this glitzy type rickshaw!

Got to laugh  ;D drinking Yank Coffee in Pommyland.

Sophia wrote on Sep 21^st, 2024 at 5:43am:

Speaking of graffiti… we entered France via euro rail this arvo and there’s heaps of graffiti here in France too! So not just a Melbourne thing  :)

From my experience, railway lines all over the world are surrounded by graffiti.

Sophia wrote on Sep 16^th, 2024 at 5:59am:

Sophia wrote on Sep 16th, 2024 at 5:54am: greggerypeccary wrote on Sep 15th, 2024 at 10:54am: Sophia wrote on Sep 15th, 2024 at 7:23am: Tomorrow we go on 2 day excursion to see Stone Henge and Bath. That's a great little day trip - you'll enjoy it. It’s what I like, my perfect weather/temperature, not hot at 20 deg and sunny. Can be a bit cool at night though. Interesting place, that Windsor Castle…. We didn’t pay to go inside because at £33 is something like almost $70au each… a bit stiff. We enjoyed looking around on the outside and saw a ceremony with all Scottish band (a bit like royal tattoo) in all their glorious outfits, bagpipes and drums. We loved it

I don't usually queue up for things, but I queued for 45 minutes to get inside Windsor Castle.

It was okay, but just as interesting from outside - you still get to see the Changing of the Guard at 11am if you hang around outside.

Lots of heavily armed police walking around the streets there.

Bobby. wrote on Sep 20^th, 2024 at 6:43pm:

This is London now: Video  50 seconds. https://media.gab.com/system/media_attachments/files/166/408/322/playable/ff88a2c9143692d4.mp4

I am in London and confirm that the English are a conspicuous minority in their own capital.

Frank wrote on Sep 26^th, 2024 at 7:00pm:

Bobby. wrote on Sep 20th, 2024 at 6:43pm: This is London now: Video  50 seconds. https://media.gab.com/system/media_attachments/files/166/408/322/playable/ff88a2c9143692d4.mp4 I am in London and confirm that the English are a conspicuous minority in their own capital.

Hi from Venice Frank! What a shame we just missed each other! … you would mistake me for a pale looking pom except my Australian accent gave me away every time  ;D

I fell in like with London. Not so much the prices.
Enjoy your time there.

Sophia wrote on Sep 27^th, 2024 at 4:32am:

Frank wrote on Sep 26th, 2024 at 7:00pm: Bobby. wrote on Sep 20th, 2024 at 6:43pm: This is London now: Video  50 seconds. https://media.gab.com/system/media_attachments/files/166/408/322/playable/ff88a2c9143692d4.mp4 I am in London and confirm that the English are a conspicuous minority in their own capital. Hi from Venice Frank! What a shame we just missed each other! … you would mistake me for a pale looking pom except my Australian accent gave me away every time  ;D I fell in like with London. Not so much the prices. Enjoy your time there.

https://media.tenor.com/vOETLJqqGnoAAAAM/rain-window.gif

Frank wrote on Oct 1^st, 2024 at 1:03am:

Sophia wrote on Sep 27th, 2024 at 4:32am: Frank wrote on Sep 26th, 2024 at 7:00pm: Bobby. wrote on Sep 20th, 2024 at 6:43pm: This is London now: Video  50 seconds. https://media.gab.com/system/media_attachments/files/166/408/322/playable/ff88a2c9143692d4.mp4 I am in London and confirm that the English are a conspicuous minority in their own capital. Hi from Venice Frank! What a shame we just missed each other! … you would mistake me for a pale looking pom except my Australian accent gave me away every time  ;D I fell in like with London. Not so much the prices. Enjoy your time there. https://media.tenor.com/vOETLJqqGnoAAAAM/rain-window.gif

Oh geez! We took the sun packed away in our suitcases by the looks!  8-)
Tomorrow is 30 deg in Mykonos!
Sun block and more sun block!  ;D

Sophia wrote on Oct 1^st, 2024 at 6:47am:

Frank wrote on Oct 1st, 2024 at 1:03am: Sophia wrote on Sep 27th, 2024 at 4:32am: Frank wrote on Sep 26th, 2024 at 7:00pm: Bobby. wrote on Sep 20th, 2024 at 6:43pm: This is London now: Video  50 seconds. https://media.gab.com/system/media_attachments/files/166/408/322/playable/ff88a2c9143692d4.mp4 I am in London and confirm that the English are a conspicuous minority in their own capital. Hi from Venice Frank! What a shame we just missed each other! … you would mistake me for a pale looking pom except my Australian accent gave me away every time  ;D I fell in like with London. Not so much the prices. Enjoy your time there. https://media.tenor.com/vOETLJqqGnoAAAAM/rain-window.gif Oh geez! We took the sun packed away in our suitcases by the looks!  8-) Tomorrow is 30 deg in Mykonos! Sun block and more sun block!  ;D

In Leiden now. Sunny, 17. In the Old Town where it is lovely and quiet - only bicycles and boats. There are no fat people, except the Arab women who do not ride bicycles.

The Dutch are friendly, easy-going. Everything is very neat, well organised with lovely touches. A wonderful base to explore Holland and N-W Europe from.

My father was born in Leiden and they make a cumin–flavored cheese there.

Be sure to visit Delft.

Thanks for the tour - now i don’t have to go to Londonstan myself…  8-)

SerialBrain9 wrote on Oct 22^nd, 2024 at 6:55pm:

Thanks for the tour - now i don’t have to go to Londonstan myself…  8-)

Via extradition?

SerialBrain9 wrote on Oct 22^nd, 2024 at 6:55pm:

Thanks for the tour - now i don’t have to go to Londonstan myself…  8-)

London/England is okay… so much to explore.
I’ll just tell a story… my daughter was so surprised at me as she got me a fridge magnet 6 years ago.
Walking up to this bridge to cross over the Thames… was not thinking much of anything except to get to the big wheel (London Eye) and I see people posing in this medium strip ..  I thought… what’s wrong with them!   ;D
All I saw was a stand alone ugly square brick building with a clock up top.
Yep… that was Big Ben. And took me by surprise as I wasn’t expecting to see that…
Hence my daughter was annoyed as I had the fridge magnet she gave me  ;D
Now it really did look like nothing special from where I first saw it… but later on big wheel… saw all the rest of building behind the clock and it did look more significant.

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Sophia wrote on Oct 24^th, 2024 at 3:07pm:

SerialBrain9 wrote on Oct 22nd, 2024 at 6:55pm: Thanks for the tour - now i don’t have to go to Londonstan myself…  8-) London/England is okay… so much to explore. I’ll just tell a story… my daughter was so surprised at me as she got me a fridge magnet 6 years ago. Walking up to this bridge to cross over the Thames… was not thinking much of anything except to get to the big wheel (London Eye) and I see people posing in this medium strip ..  I thought… what’s wrong with them!   ;D All I saw was a stand alone ugly square brick building with a clock up top. Yep… that was Big Ben. And took me by surprise as I wasn’t expecting to see that… Hence my daughter was annoyed as I had the fridge magnet she gave me  ;D Now it really did look like nothing special from where I first saw it… but later on big wheel… saw all the rest of building behind the clock and it did look more significant.

So basically, what you are saying, is that you need to throw away your Canon and get yourself a proper drone…

Something like a DJI Mini Pro… same size as your camera when folded..

SerialBrain9 wrote on Nov 13^th, 2024 at 8:41pm:

Sophia wrote on Oct 24th, 2024 at 3:07pm: SerialBrain9 wrote on Oct 22nd, 2024 at 6:55pm: Thanks for the tour - now i don’t have to go to Londonstan myself…  8-) London/England is okay… so much to explore. I’ll just tell a story… my daughter was so surprised at me as she got me a fridge magnet 6 years ago. Walking up to this bridge to cross over the Thames… was not thinking much of anything except to get to the big wheel (London Eye) and I see people posing in this medium strip ..  I thought… what’s wrong with them!   ;D All I saw was a stand alone ugly square brick building with a clock up top. Yep… that was Big Ben. And took me by surprise as I wasn’t expecting to see that… Hence my daughter was annoyed as I had the fridge magnet she gave me  ;D Now it really did look like nothing special from where I first saw it… but later on big wheel… saw all the rest of building behind the clock and it did look more significant. So basically, what you are saying, is that you need to throw away your Canon and get yourself a proper drone… Something like a DJI Mini Pro… same size as your camera when folded..

Funny you mentioned that… I was actually looking at prices of insta360 invisible selfie sticks recently.
For either blue tooth with mobile phone or go-pro

Sophia wrote on Nov 14^th, 2024 at 12:10pm:

SerialBrain9 wrote on Nov 13th, 2024 at 8:41pm: Sophia wrote on Oct 24th, 2024 at 3:07pm: SerialBrain9 wrote on Oct 22nd, 2024 at 6:55pm: Thanks for the tour - now i don’t have to go to Londonstan myself…  8-) London/England is okay… so much to explore. I’ll just tell a story… my daughter was so surprised at me as she got me a fridge magnet 6 years ago. Walking up to this bridge to cross over the Thames… was not thinking much of anything except to get to the big wheel (London Eye) and I see people posing in this medium strip ..  I thought… what’s wrong with them!   ;D All I saw was a stand alone ugly square brick building with a clock up top. Yep… that was Big Ben. And took me by surprise as I wasn’t expecting to see that… Hence my daughter was annoyed as I had the fridge magnet she gave me  ;D Now it really did look like nothing special from where I first saw it… but later on big wheel… saw all the rest of building behind the clock and it did look more significant. So basically, what you are saying, is that you need to throw away your Canon and get yourself a proper drone… Something like a DJI Mini Pro… same size as your camera when folded.. Funny you mentioned that… I was actually looking at prices of insta360 invisible selfie sticks recently. For either blue tooth with mobile phone or go-pro

Check out OSMO as well - https://www.d1store.com.au/categories/dji-osmo

From what i hear insta360 is big for quick uploads ext - may pay to watch a comparison/s on YouTube

just testing - This is a drone pic that I've had to take down from aprox 9m to 250kb ish

but anyway - it gives you an angle that you don't often see - also with drones you can move around the entire object to give the best lighting etc...

a bit like being on a 360* Ferris wheel but with your feet still on the ground - in fact with that shot I was sitting in my car about 300 meters away

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SerialBrain9 wrote on Nov 16^th, 2024 at 10:03am:

just testing - This is a drone pic that I've had to take down from aprox 9m to 250kb ish but anyway - it gives you an angle that you don't often see - also with drones you can move around the entire object to give the best lighting etc... a bit like being on a 360* Ferris wheel but with your feet still on the ground - in fact with that shot I was sitting in my car about 300 meters away

Drones are fantastic! For sports, for weddings, creative viewpoints and amazing scenery shots… I would love to learn how to use it but I’m always worried it will run out of power or something go wrong and it will just drop in the water etc  ;D

Maybe I will go look at some eventually and consider it… it really would take photography to a whole new level.

proper drones these days use satellite positioning and self hovering.

So if you let go all the controls it just hovers where its at

You can put in the settings that when the power is too low it returns to home where it took off.

You can launch them yourself or you can press a button to Self Launch.

I use the DJI Air 3 - it has sensors all round so that it doesn’t smash into things and goes around.

Bigger shops like the D1 stores have Demo Drones usually and/or they’ll show you how they fly etc.

One of the things though, the basic controllers use your phone to operate and take shots - i use an older iPhone 7 and its a strain on the CPU - so im going to spend the extra money and get the SR2 controller that has its own CPU and Screen

SerialBrain9 wrote on Nov 17^th, 2024 at 11:43am:

proper drones these days use satellite positioning and self hovering. So if you let go all the controls it just hovers where its at You can put in the settings that when the power is too low it returns to home where it took off. You can launch them yourself or you can press a button to Self Launch. I use the DJI Air 3 - it has sensors all round so that it doesn’t smash into things and goes around. Bigger shops like the D1 stores have Demo Drones usually and/or they’ll show you how they fly etc. One of the things though, the basic controllers use your phone to operate and take shots - i use an older iPhone 7 and its a strain on the CPU - so im going to spend the extra money and get the SR2 controller that has its own CPU and Screen

That’s good info I will take on board… may have given me a bit of confidence to go look to buy one now!
Then my new topic will be … photos from above!  ;D 8-)

Have a look anyways and see how you go

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https://x.com/RadioGenoa/status/1858781896324391049

Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) drops charges against Muslims who drove with Palestinian flags in London, while calling from a megaphone on local Muslim men to rape Jewish women and girls in support of Palestine.

https://x.com/LizaRosen0000/status/1858766275129819637

https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/europe/1657690084-uk-drops-charges-against-two-participants-of-antisemitic-convoy


But if you say 'piss off back to Pakistan'  you will have the full force of the ass of a law bear down on you.



https://x.com/LizaRosen0000/status/1858483588892672154

Frank wrote on Nov 19^th, 2024 at 8:22pm:

Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) drops charges against Muslims who drove with Palestinian flags in London, while calling from a megaphone on local Muslim men to rape Jewish women and girls in support of Palestine. https://x.com/LizaRosen0000/status/1858766275129819637 https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/europe/1657690084-uk-drops-charges-against-two-participants-of-antisemitic-convoy But if you say 'piss off back to Pakistan'  you will have the full force of the ass of a law bear down on you. https://x.com/LizaRosen0000/status/1858483588892672154

I don’t mind flags waving about to show support for a cause, but they totally lost at the “rape women” part. That’s called inciting criminal behaviour and yet the courts drop charges?
If you call for support to protest against anything here in Oz…. the cops come to your house and arrest you… even if the event hadn’t taken place!

https://youtu.be/kR4rubpfhqc?si=kww8-YPGdXydsEJl

In France … they’ve had it with all that radical crap… and tension is still there… because I couldn’t for the life of me work out why our tour guide only gave us max 20 minutes by time we got off bus, looked at Eiffel Tower (from a platform distance) and back in bus… 20 minutes!
We come all the way especially to see it and we are all rushed????
And there….on the way… at intervals of 10 feet apart… all along the path/roadside are uniformed military with huge guns/armour.
One would think London would not be so tolerant either… but yet… charges are dropped.
I’m glad I never saw that display to rape women while we were there… I would have been very verbal with a potty mouth!
Too many Londoners are easy going, meek and mild…and a lot of international visitors (like us Aussies) and that display is offensive.
Are the English laws weak?

Pssst Sophia, seen the good news about Socks? here.

My memories of London are the Science Museum ...

And seeing a posterboard announcing "John Lennon shot dead."

Sadly, the latter made a greater impression.

Jovial Monk wrote on Nov 23^rd, 2024 at 10:23pm:

Pssst Sophia, seen the good news about Socks? here.

Oh wow… that’s awesome news! Congrats to you and Socks  8-)

Aurora Complexus wrote on Nov 24^th, 2024 at 12:33am:

My memories of London are the Science Museum ... And seeing a posterboard announcing "John Lennon shot dead." Sadly, the latter made a greater impression.

Hmm I never got to go there … so much to do in only a week!
But I did get to go to the museum of the future in Dubai!  :)

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WOW!