Spent half a day exploring the many rooms of the National Portrait Gallery & examining the portraits from Admiral Nelson to Nelson Mandela. Some huge canvases of the parliament in the early 1800's, many kings & queens, military heroes & so many others. As advised we had a lovely lunch in the restaurant looking out over the roof of the gallery to Nelson atop his column! Searched many shops for more warm clothes as we've found the weather very cold then...

We've just had the most wonderful day celebrating Sarah's birthday again! Had a morning coffee in Harrods & a wide eyed look around - especially in the food hall. If we get another fine day we must pick up some picnic food from here & go to one of the many lovely parks. Torz came over & we all went to the Ritz in the rain (high heels in puddles) for Celebration High Tea in the Palm Court. It was just as delightful as we'd hoped with delicious sandwich...

Had the most perfect sunny day for our lovely Sarah's birthday. Torz stayed over & we all competed in the London Bupa 10km which was a portion of the Olympic marathon course. Started on the Mall and went past many iconic places like St Paul's, through Leadenhall Markets & back to finish in front of Buckingham Palace. We had a great time with lots of bands, drummers & cheering encouragement from the many charities who we're being helped by the fundrais...

Survived the night with crowds of singing boys outside the pub next door then set off to visit the Houses of Parliament. Had an audio tour & spent several hours listening & looking at the great halls, House of Lords & House of Commons. Gorgeous ornate gothic architecture, mosaics, gilt, vaulted roofs & of course the iconic view of Big Ben. After a cream tea to keep us going we made our way to the Cabinet War Rooms where Churchill orchestrated the ...

Spent a full day in the floral heaven of the Chelsea Flower Show & were so lucky to be there early, had no rain & had bought our tickets when they first went on sale. Apparently the tickets for the whole 6 days sold out almost as soon as they were released so thank goodness for internet booking! We had a thoroughly enjoyable day walking around all the show gardens, floral displays & sales stalls. Had a couple of long conversations with stall holders -...