| Day 7 - London |
| This morning was all to do with major retail shopping. We started by walking down Regent Street then turning in to Oxford Street for a long stroll, soaking in the trendy and fast paced atmosphere. We then walked down Bond Street, occasionally looking into side streets - there are wall to wall shops and eateries. The fashion and label establishments are all here as well as major department stores like Marks and Spencers and Selfridges. All around are hand barrows and souvenir shops catering for the less expensive goods. Before leaving, we made a detour to have a look around Mayfair which, predictably, is a very classy looking area (if somewhat tatty). Here you will find the quiet environs of Berkeley Square, a blessed change from Oxford Street, Our next stop was the Portabello Road Markets which are only open on Fridays and Saturdays. These street markets, as featured in the movie Notting Hill, are a real buzz. After lunch we bought tickets for an open top tour of London. The tour covers four different routes - you can just hop on and off or change routes whenever you wanted to. We considered that the best way to get the most out of this tour was to just stay on the bus until it finished its whole route before changing to another route, again for the full bit. Each tour comes with commentary, some of it was hilarious. The good thing about doing this tour on your last day is that although you have by now seen a lot of the sights the trip allows you to revisit them in comfort and from a different perspective, and not look like every other gawking tourist on the bus seeing things for the first time ("Hey look - there's Big Ben"). It is also good to see the gaps filled in, like Hyde Park and Marble Arch. If you don't want to do the open bus thing we recommend you find your way to Greenwich and the maritime museums and exhibitions on offer. We saved those for next time as well. Tomorrow sees us in Oxford so this is our last day in London until Day 29. We looked at the options of driving or catching a train or bus to Oxford. We decided to go by bus at a cost of about 7 pounds each because of easier handling with the luggage. |
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