As we have visited London on a number of occasions now we do not feel that we have to revisit many of the London icons. However saying the that, when we have seen them during this visit we stop, take a photo and reminisce.

Today we decided to have a day in the city. As we are staying, by choice, in suburban Hackney we take the London overground train initially, then change to the underground. The London public transport route planner has become our Bible and is easy to use and then we find it easy to navigate our way. Sometimes we have to change from the overground to the underground and then 2-3 different underground lines to get to our particular destination. It is amazing how quickly you become used to the system. It doesn't seem to matter what time of the day or night there are always crowds of people travelling. One thing we always note is the length and steepness of some of the escalators and the sheer engineering of the maze of underground stations and tunnels. Saying that escalators are much better than heaps of stairs like some of the stations.

First stop for us on Saturday was a visit to Covent Gardens. I had previously visited but Peter hadn't. There were many street performers with crowds of varying sizes, all the food venues were crowded and heaps of people wandering the various stalls within the market. The sun was shining and a high of 17 degrees expected - spring had arrived in London. Gone are the days of historic fruit and vegetable stalls in Covent Garden and in it's place crafts etc and many food venues. The actual piazza building was built to resemble the piazzas in Italy.

After wandering Long Acre, with it's designer shops, and another tube ride we walked through the park, where Londoners were enjoying the midday sunshine (and chairs to rest in were available for £1.60 per hour) we made our way to outside Buckingham Palace. Sadly we had just missed the changing of the guard but the flag indicated that the Queen was in residence. You certainly know you are in London when you join the crowds outside Buckingham Palace.

We then made our way to Sloan Square (back on the tube again) as we wanted to visit the Chelsea Barracks Hospital for pensioners. Lunch at the 6th floor restaurant of the upmarket Peter Jones store gave us a fabulous view of the area. With the help of directions from a friendly local we made our way to the Royal Chelsea Hospital. It was here that Peter's great grandfather was cared for until his death in the 1930's. John Thomas Smith Ric******* had been a soldier in the Grenadier Guards and a horseman during his working life and this facility dedicates it's care to Chelsea Pensioners.

Unfortunately the museum was closed at the week-end. Also the Chelsea Flower show opens this week so preparations were in full swing. We were only able to take photos from the gates which was a little disappointingly.

We returned to Hackney for a short break and change of clothes and then back into Waterloo in time for dinner with a previous work colleague of Peter's. We walked along the banks of The Thames to the restaurant and could see the London Eye and Big Ben. It was a lovely evening, although not quite as warm as we would like.

Sunday we decided to again do something we hadn't previously in London. With three train/tube rides completed we made our way to The Little Venice Canal and joined a long boat tour to Camden Lock. There are apparently over 4000 miles of canals across England and it is possible to get to all areas of London via a canal. The boat we travelled in was built in 1906 and was wood and iron and riveted. It did not originally have a motor and a horse was tied to the front of the boat and as the horse walked along the edge of the canal it pulled the boat forward. The canals were commercial not recreational areas like they are today. Today many people live in long boats moored along the canals.

As we continued along the Regent Canal we passed the London Zoo and many beautiful residential homes which have replaced the original commercial factories and buildings. The tour finished at Camden Loch where there was a very lively, and packed, market in progress. The market extended down the road and joined up with Camden Market and then Inverness Street Market and there were crowds of people - too many for our liking.

Dinner tonight at The Prince George Pub which is just across the road from where we are staying. It is a popular local pub and we were keen to try it out. Not sure that they will have mushy peas and pie on the menu but bound to have the typical Sunday roast.

Well, when I typed the paragraph above that is what we expected. However, it wasn't to be. After reading the very long menu handwritten on a blackboard, we were told that the kitchen closed at 18.30 on a Sunday (obviously Sunday lunch only) so no dinner there for us. We were too lazy to walk to another restaurant so back across the road to our studio and scrambled eggs on toast with lovely sweet cherry tomatoes. Oh well, another day tomorrow.