Wednesday afternoon saw Peter and I take a bus into Cheapside in the central city. Our first stop was at St Mary Le Bow Church. This church and its bells are probably one of the most famous in London - and to be born within the sound of the bow bells was the sign of a true Londoner or Cockney. Peter's grandfather was one who was able to claim to be a true Cockney and he regularly reminded the family that he was born "within the sound of the bow bells". The church is absolutely beautiful inside and we also climbed down into the basement, walked through the cafe, and entered the crypt. It is amazing and to know it was built around 1066 - just a little while ago. From here we continued with the theme of churches and as we were close to the famous St Paul's Cathedral where Princess Diana and Prince Charles were married in 1981 we made our way there. We had visited St Paul's back in 1990 and with Roanne and Cam had climbed to the whispering gallery right up in the top of the dome. Imagine our surprise this time to find that there is now an entrance fee to enter the cathedral where previously it was free. We might be tight but we thought the £18 charge per person was too much for a return visit. The rain had started again so we boarded a bus to take us to Petticoat Lane. This was a famous market again often mentioned by Peter's grandfather. Sadly the market is now only held on a Sunday so being Wednesday the area was packed with parked cars and certainly no sign of a market place. With no further rain we walked across to the Tower of London. This is again a very famous palace and fortress castle located on the north bank of the River Thames. By now it was after 5 pm and the castle was closed to visitors. We were not disappointed as we have previously visited but just happened to be in the area. Very close to the Tower is the very famous "London Bridge". It was not falling down today but looked impressive. We wandered further along towards St Katherine Dock and met with Cam's host sister for dinner at The Dickens Inn. We thoroughly enjoyed catching up with Aline again as it is over seven years since she last visited and stayed with us in Box Hill. We were just fortunate that our visit to London coincided with her six week fellowship at Royal London Hospital. Thursday morning, back in the train to Upminster and we spent a very pleasant day with my relatives, Kath and Doug and their daughter Suzanne. I had spent considerable time with Kath on Tuesday checking information I had included in the family tree. Today I was able to take copies of lots of old family photos. It will be so good to be able to include these with my tree. I was also able to share a link with Suzanne so that she could review the tree and learn more about our shared family. Later in the day Charlotte came in from school and Andy after work. It is now 25 years since our first visit with Kath and Doug and Suzanne and Andy and we have been lucky enough to have three visits since. A special thank you to Kath and Doug for welcoming us again to their lovely home and it is so wonderful to see them looking so well and happy.  We are still waiting on Suzanne and Andy along with Callum and Charlotte to head downunder to visit us.   It has been interesting to note some of the differences between England and New Zealand and Australia. They still have daily milk delivery to the door, milk is still in bottles when purchased this way (but plastic and cartons in the supermarket), a plastic bowl is placed inside the sink and used for washing the dishes, there is a small collection bin for organic kitchen waste and this is collected from the door, mail is still dropped through the slot in the door, metal rubbish tins which clang loudly when emptied, the postie walks along with a saddle bag hanging over his shoulder, you never have to wait long for a train or a bus. We have loved our stay in Hackney. It is very central and has excellent transport connections. We have always felt very safe even when walking very late at night. We booked our studio apartment through www.airbnb.com "Dalston Hackney E8 studio apartment". It is a very well equipped separate studio including kitchen and bathroom facilities, television, WIFI, all linen etc all contained with a lovely Victorian/Edwardian suburban home. The owners made us very welcome yet the studio is very private. We recommend if you are thinking of coming to London to check it out. Tomorrow our time in London comes to an end and we commence the next adventure.