What a week!

Okay. . .it's been a little over a week since our last post. So much has happened and we've seen so much it's really hard to remember. . .but I'll give it a go!

Last Sunday: Steven woke up really early and headed to Heathrow Airport to meet Jamie and Tania who were arriving from Sydney to spend the week with us. Jamie and Tania arrived safely (although very tired). After catching-up over breakfast and giving them some time to refresh themselves, we hit the city. First stop was Tower Bridge and the Tower of London to see the Beefeaters and the magnificent Crown jewels. Later, we headed into the West End for a late lunch at Jamie's Italian (yes. . .again!) - which was fantastic! Jamie and Tania got a really rude introduction to London - we made them walk for a number of hours around town and also use the tube to get around. Although we've been doing this for a while now and are now used to the hours of walking, we didn't give them any time to settle in. . .poor things!

On Monday, Jamie and Tania were on their own, doing the Big Bus Tour around London, while we headed back to St Paul's Cathedral for a more detailed look around and a climb up to the dome and the whispering gallery. We climbed 257 steps to get there and I'm proud to say little Zoe went up all on her own and then down again on her own. We were enthralled. . .it was amazing. We also headed down to the crypts to see the tombs of the Duke of Wellington, Admiral Nelson and Florence Nightingale (amongst others). After St Paul's we went back to the Museum of Natural History to complete the other half of the museum tour (which we promised the kids we would do). More shopping at Gap, dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe and then home to hear about Jamie and Tania's day.

Tuesday was another day we spent all together. First stop Trafalgar Square, then a walk through Admiralty Arch to The Mall and up to Buckingham Palace to see the Changing of the Guard. After that, we headed to Westminster Abbey (and tears for Tania as she realised her life-long dream of visiting the Abbey). Westminster Abbey has been the location of all royal coronations since forever and was also where Princess Diana's funeral was held. A number of famous people have been interred here and it was amazing to see this magnificent place again. The kids completed their tour trail and were rewarded with their gold chocolate coins!! After the Abbey, Tania and I left the boys and kids to head to Shakespeare's Globe on the Thames to watch a production of Henry VIII. With 5 minutes to spare, we sat in our seats with a quick lunch and were rewarded with an enthralling production in an open-air theatre. We loved it!! Watching a Shakespearean play in London. . .it doesn't get much better for us Shakespeare fans! We headed back to town to meet the boys at Piccadilly Circus, dinner at Leicester Square and then Jamie and Tania went onto the Lyric Theatre to watch "Michael Jackson's Thriller Live". While they did this, we took the tube to Heathrow to pick up our hire cars for our road trip up to Scotland commencing Wednesday.

Wednesday morning, we were packed and ready to leave London at 6 am. We had a frantic drive through London to get onto the freeway and trying to avoid London's congestion charging. Basically, if you drive into London's central zone between 7am and 6pm Moday to Friday you have to pay and if you don't pay within 48 hours, you get a fine!!! Once we were out of London, we were relieved. We drove for a couple of hours to Salisbury (in Wiltshire) and then onto Stonehenge (another tearey-eyed moment for Tania). After Stonehenge, we headed back slightly to Windsor to visit the Queen's weekend getaway - Windsor Castle. After touring the Castle and the amazing State Rooms, we had a quick lunch and headed to Oxford - home of Britain's oldest and possible most prestigious University. We got into Oxford fairly late and decided to stop over for a night and pick up the driving again in the morning. Oxford is an amazing town and seems to revolve around the University - all of the colleges of which are spread out across the town. We spotted another "Jamie's Italian" restaurant in Oxford as well. . .We didn't spend as much time in Oxford as we would have liked, but we were due in Edinburgh by 7 pm on Thursday evening and we had to get going.

After a long, yet beautiful drive through England, we arrived in Scotland and our apartment in Edinburgh around 7 pm. We settled in and were amazed to find that there was still daylight at 11pm!!! Talk about wierd. . .it's so hard to keep any kind of normal sleep routine when the days are so long. After a good night's sleep, we headed into Edinburgh to visit the Castle and walk the Royal Mile. We also did the Scotch Whiskey Experience - which is a virtual tour of the whiskey-making process and then an opportunity to sample various single-malt whiskeys. Let's just say that whiskey sure must be an acquired taste and that for us, the idea of drinking whiskey is far more appealing than the actual experience of it!!! Check out the photos!! After shopping and lunch we headed to the movies for some time out before walking around night-time Edinburgh. It's really beautiful at night.

Saturday morning it was cold and raining and we were ready to leave Edinburgh for our trip back to London. We left via Rosslyn Chapel. . .the location of some of the scenes in the Da Vinci Code movie (with Tom Hanks). It was fascinating. Leaving Scotland we encountered a lot of rain, fog and mist - which made the drive very interesting to say the least. Back to London around 7 pm via Hertforshire and dinner with Aunty Sarah at the local pub. This would be the last time we see Aunty Sarah for a while. . .sniff sniff!

As a sidebar. . .driving on England's freeways was really an experience. Steven was freaking out slightly that the speed limit is not routinely displayed on the freeways and for a bit it seemed that a lot of drivers simply drove at whatever speed they fancied. Three-laned highways and the middle and third lanes were filled with drivers weaving in and out of the traffic at very high speeds. It was very very scary!!! It turns out that it is an unspoken rule that the speed limit is 70 miles per hour (or 112 km) on the freeways (unless otherwise posted), 30 miles in built up areas and 60 miles per hour on a single-carriage way road. It was all a little confusing and there are cameras everywhere!!! However, this does not appear to deter a lot of drivers who were clearly driving at more than 100 miles per hour!!! Can't imagine what it's going to be like on the autobahns in Europe. . .I guess we'll find out soon enough.

Last day in London today and hoping to go into Harrods for some last minute shopping and a look around. Will definitely be sad to leave London. . .but happy to be moving onto the next phase of our journey. Had a truly fabulous time here. Was great to share my London faves with Steven and the kids, Jamie and Tania. Wonder when I'll be back again. . .?