London Calling

OK, so I’m guessing this isn’t the first time someone’s used the title of the famous The Clash song for a blog post, but its a first for us at least. London’s only 27 minutes away on the express train, but we really don’t make in in there all that often – what with all the attractions of Surrey to tempt us on our doorstep. But every now and then we get the urge and head in for a look around.

Our visits invariably involve a stroll through Hyde Park (because if we drive, we park there) and then, unsurprisingly, a look at some of the shops, and perhaps if time permits some famous tourist spots. So for today’s adventure, we bring you some pics from Hyde Park, some shops and some tourist attractions. See if you can name the locations…

So here we are at Hyde Park. Nice day for it.

 
Enough of that… what about the shops…

 
Guessed which shop yet?

 
It sells large bears, amongst other things.

Cruising the streets of Kensington.

A lesser known tourist spot… the home of Earl Mountbatten on Wilton Place.

 
Hurry up!

 
Get the London loook.

 
Its tiring work.

 
Which way is Australia?.

The Australian War Memorial at the Wellington Arch.

 
Lots to see…. all of the famous battle locations are superimposed into the wall

 
This is Wellington Arch… a relatively peaceful place in the middle of a busy London roundabout.

 
London bikes. Like a lot of cities, they’re everywhere now.

 
Ummm…. no comment.

 
Another park with autumn leaves.

 
Approaching our next famous London tourist location….

 
No hints.. this should be easy to guess.

 
Gates fit for a Queen….

Guards - surely this gives it away?

 
Another Keezee arty shot, but maybe not a great clue.

 
Yes, it’s Buckingham Palace! But what’s that’s behind… an ominous looking cloud.

 
Yes it was…. and a bit of rain to finish the day off – we are in London after all. If you don’t like the weather, wait 5 minutes .

Petworth House revisited

We've visited Petworth House before, but that was a while ago, and due to a gross navigational error at the time, we never actually made it inside.

So it was high time we returned and this time we checked out the house itself. A good thing too, because the weather wasn't a nice as last time. It wasn't long after we began our walk and checked out a garden house thingy and a few deers that the rain began to fall so we made a dash for it.


The garden thingy

Posing in the garden thingy



All smiles for the deer


That's them

Inside after our mad dash, and here's the stairway and entrance hall.... noice.


Good spot for a rest.



There was the odd portrait to see


The kids took the "Find the Art Challenge". Here's Lucy trying to track down a portrait of Henry VIII. Where could he be?


Caiti had to track down a Turner and a Constable.


Found it!

Ladies and Gentlemen....

Just following on from the previous post, we had to share Caitlin's idea of entertainment whilst we were cycling around the Killarney Lakes...




.... and here's some action footage from the ride (with Caitlin explaining why she'd like to get a unicorn for her 17th birthday).

Ireland: Killarney

Did I mention we had so many photos from Ireland it was hard to know what to do with them all?? It might explain why it takes so long between posts... maybe not.

Anyway, moving right along, here's some shots from our stay in Killarney. The weather was pretty good so we got out and about and checked out the nearby lakes and mountains, which Killarney is famous for.


Lakes and mountains... Killarney is famous for these.


Yep, lakes and mountains


Lakes...


Mountains...


Oh, and castles... this is Castle Ross, situated nicely on the lake (with a nice view of the mountains).


The other thing Killarney seems to be famous for is horse and cart rides... they're everywhere, but we preferred walking (for a while at least... see next blog post - whenever that will be!)


We climbed the mountain (after we drove most of the way up)


The triplets


I'm a little teapot


We got tired of walking, and switched to bikes and enjoyed a ride around the lake... here we are at the bridge where the Upper Lake meets the Middle Lake (from memory)


The good thing about cycling is you can find some out of the way lakeside beaches


This beach had a great view of the mountains... actually they all do.


Smiling in front of the historic Muckross House...


... and the historic Muckross Abbey


These crossings are everywhere.