London, England

Ashley and I had a day to ourselves. We went to the Madame Tussauds waxworks museum which had historical and royal figures, film stars, sports stars and infamous murderers. Then on the "Hop on Hop Off Bus" where we drove around London to get our bearings and saw Hamleys' Toys, Piccadilly Circus, West End, Trafalgar Square, 10 Downing Street, Westminster Abbey, Scotland Yard, Buckingham Palace, Hard Rock Cafe, Harrods, St Johns Cathedral, Kensington Palace and Gardens, , the Wellington Arch in Hyde Park and the Duke of Wellington Monument in Hyde Park. We walked to Buckingham Palace and enjoyed the area and surrounds. Then we walked through Hyde Park which covers 350 acres and is home to a number of famous landmarks including the Serpentine Lake, Speakers' Corner and the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain which was built in 2003 which was designed to express Diana's spirit and love of children.The park also offers various recreational activities including open water swimming, boating, cycling, tennis and horse riding.

Then we continued through Kensington Gardens which is planted with formal avenues of magnificent trees and ornamental flower beds, the gardens are also home to the popular Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Playground. Back to our hotel for a welcoming meeting with our new tour group and tour leader Leo and Bus Driver Guiseppe, then out for dinner at a local London Pub.