Buttercup to London 2015: Back in London

The second leg of our journey saw us leave Singapore at 9.15 am which meant a very early morning start to be at the airport two hours before that!

The thing about this leg was we flew in an A380, a fantastic plane. It is considerably quieter than other jets..unless of course there are nine babies on board. Hmmm. The little one nearest to us was a little champ. Reminded us of our little grandson Jack. Happy when he was awake, happy to go to sleep, crawling up and down the aisles winning over the cabin crew and other passengers! Then there was another just along from him who was the opposite completely, couldn’t settle and was quite demanding of his parents.

We felt for the parents who were desperate to try and keep their little ones from disturbing the other passengers as much as possible. After a 14 hour flight they must have been shattered by the time we landed at Heathrow. And of course they then had to run the gauntlet through the lengthy queues at border control.

Arriving at our house in Kensington late in the day was excellent as we had dinner and crashed into bed. We were met at the door by a friend of a friend who made us very welcome leaving us all sorts of goodies to enjoy before departing. Thank you Therese.

After 12.5 hours sleep we just had to go for a walk in that iconic park, St James’s Park.

One of the magnificent Pelicans resident near Duck Island in St James’s Park.

Pelicans were first introduced into St James's Park in 1664 as a gift from the Russian Ambassador.

Seagulls walking on water, even having a stretch on the St James’s Park lake.

The classic view from the Blue Bridge across the lake to the Horse Guards and Whitehall.

In the opposite direction is Buckingham Palace.

To Greenwich Village

You can’t come to London without a trip down the mighty Thames River on a Thames Clipper fast ferry to Greenwich Village. We’d been before but we really enjoy re-visiting these places as there is always something new to learn and see. The trip gives a different perspective to the ‘look’ of London and is well worth doing just for that reason alone.

The HMS President.com a reception venue for weddings and other special occasions.

One of London’s newest ‘attractions’, The Shard. We plan to venture to the top on a good day while we’re here.

The stunning Tower Bridge - another fascinating place to visit.

The magnificent Cutty Sark at Greenwich.

This amazing tea clipper was launched in 1869 and carried tea between Asia and Britain. It was one of the fastest clippers. After the tea run it then carried wool from Australia to Britain and had the fastest time for about 10 years. The clipper has been magnificently restored. For more information about the Cutty Sark you could go to

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cutty_Sark

The beautiful building, part of the Royal Greenwich Observatory.

For more information about the Greenwich Observatory go to:

http://www.visitgreenwich.org.uk/en

The view from the observatory across Royal Greenwich Park to the National Maritime Museum and part of the city in the distance.

Kenwood House

Several years ago we took up membership of English Heritage which is a bit like our National Trust. Our membership supports the work of the organisation which is massive and gives us free entry into many historic buildings and sites.

One of these is the recently refurbished Kenwood House, a former stately home on the edge of Hampstead Heath, London. It was originally remodelled and extended by the Scottish architect Robert Adam for William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield, from 1764 to 1779. The interiors designed by Adam include some of his finest surviving schemes, particularly the ‘Great Room’ or library. After Kenwood’s original contents were sold in 1922 the house and grounds were bought by Edward Cecil Guinness, 1st Earl of Iveagh, who in 1927 bequeathed his outstanding collection of paintings to the nation.