London to Chichester

After a sleep in on New Years morning we set out for a ride on the London Eye. We were in the second capsule for 2013 and luckily for us it was a clear blue sunny day.

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After visiting Covent Garden and discovering that the British Museum was closed, we headed to Kings Cross station to visit Platform 9 and 3/4. For our 3 Harry Potter fans it was very exciting and they all had photos pushing a trolley through the brick wall.

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Then it was a stroll through Green Park and onto Buckingham Palace, through St James Park and home to our apartment.

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After a little sustenance we headed out again into Soho to see Matilda the musical, based on the book by Roald Dahl. It was fabulous! Immensely enjoyed by all!

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The next day saw us visit the Tower Bridge for a lesson on how it was built, how the engine room lifts the bridge and all other things bridgy. followed up with a stroll along the river through the Borough Markets past Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre and back across the river to The Tower of London to see the armoury, the Bloody Tower and of course the Crown Jewels.

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As darkness began to fall (around 4pm) we went in search of Honeydukes and Diagonalley (both from Harry Potter).

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Our next day started with a stroll around South Kensington and a visit to Harrods -still as impressive as ever.
20130105-081437.jpg A wander through Hyde Park where we found a winter wonderland festival (essentially the Ekka’s side show alley) and up to the Oxford Street shop.

Next was on the British Museum – it was open this time.

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Later we tripped along Oxford Street in a big red bus to see the lights and another visit to Hamleys Toy Store, then we had dinner with our friend Suzanne and her husband Richard in Soho. It was lovely to see them both.

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For the weekend we headed from Victoria Station on a train to the Southern Downs near Chichester. It is only a 1 1/2 hour trip, and we were greeted at the station by Justin and Kathy. We spent the afternoon discussing the architecture on their mid 1700’s farm house (partially renovated) and catching up on the last few years – the children discovered a new computer game and dissappeared.

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It was lovely to see everyone. We went to the Portsmouth historical harbour area and took a tour of HMS Victory. The Victory ( built in late 17 hundreds) was the Admiral’s flagship when he led the English to victory at the battle of Trafalgar against Napoleon and his Spanish and French fleets.

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Just like old times we went for a ramble in the countryside up over the chalk hills to a quaint little village pub – perfect on a cold grey day!!

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We have loved being in England, visiting places we used to go and catching up with old friends. We are feeling sad to leave. The time has been far too short and there are more people we would love to have seen and places we would love to have visited. That will have to be next time!!!

KIDS CORNER:
I really liked London but it was always buzzing with people. I really liked playing with Ellie, Amy and Olivia. Abigail.
I liked seeing all the landmarks and seeing where I used to live. It was great to see my friends Ellie, Amy and Olivia. Wills
I loved seeing all the landmarks and being on the London Eye was cool especially being the second carriage of 2013. I also liked seeing Ellie, Amy and Olivia. Bella.

One thought on “London to Chichester

  1. Way to Go!!!
    You’ve packed in all the stuff we did in a year into a number of days!!!!
    Impressive energy.
    Nicki
    x

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