London

Our next stop was 4 nights in central London.  We stayed in Leicester Square.  We went to see the musical The Book of Mormon.  Highly recommend it.  It was hilarious.  The theatre is packed every night.

We also went to Kensington Palace where there was a display of gowns worn by Princess Diana.  They were beautiful.  Dresses she had been photographed in many times but to see them up close was amazing.  they are beautiful and the beading and fabrics are exquisite.

We also got to see some of the rooms of the Palace, the King and Queens chambers which were very interesting.

Many hours were spent wandering around the National Portrait Gallery and we were also able to see all the entrants of a National competition and the winning portrait.  I preferred the portrait that came second and listening to other visitors most had the same opinion as me.

We visited Maltby Street market, a small but bustling market tucked away under a railway bridge near London Bridge.  The market is housed in a reclamation yard and timber merchants.  The cafe we had lunch in, Aloha, had a shop fitting business in one half and a cafe in the other.  the table and chairs we sat on were for sale.  I went to the loo and there was a giant Egyptian mummy in the (large) cubicle with me.  That's not something that happens every day.

We walked along Regent Street that is closed to traffic during the summer months and it had many stalls, eateries and a brass band in the middle of the road.

We had lunch one day at a famous fish and chip shop, Rock and Sole Plaice.  Best fish and chips I have ever had.

We walked through the Burlington Arcade and into Fortnum & Mason which was crowded with tourists so we left pretty quick.

We then discovered a hidden gem just beyond Covent Garden.  Perhaps I shouldnt reveal the location.  Not many tourists visit here.  It's called the seven dials.  Seven streets converge on this statue in the middle with seven weather dials.
The streets are fabulous.  Lots of history, Brian Epstein, manager of Beatles ran his recording business there so did Monty Python.
Neals Yard was great, filled with greenery and brightly coloured walls with plants and flowers on them.  Little cafes with brightly coloured tables and chairs.
Lots of fashion, jewelry and leather bags, plus Neals Yard cosmetics, lotions and potions.
It was a great afternoon wandering around there with hardly another tourist.

Kensington Palace

Neal's Yard

Neal's Yard

A street in the seven dials

The seven Dials statue

Wisley Garden

We visited Wisley while staying with friends nearby in Cobham.  Wisley has been a display garden since 1903.  There are 60 acres to explore and more than 12,000 plants.

We spent several hours there exploring the many gardens, ornamental ponds and woodland areas and the fruit and vegetable gardens.

Being the start of the school holidays there were many families there picnicing in the lovely grassed areas and there was an Enid Blyton theme featuring the Famous 5.  They had topiary characters from her books and stories for the children throughout the gardens.

Topiary figures of the Famous 5 by Enid Blyton

We visited Chiddingstone, one of the prettiest villages in England.  It is very typical of the Kent style with half timbered sides and red roofs.  

Most of the buildings in Chiddingstone are more than 200 years old, and the building that is now the post office is mentioned as far back as 1453. The entire village belongs to the National Trust though the houses themselves are not open to view. We had a lovely lunch in the  historic Castle Inn, with its old-fashioned interior and vine-covered courtyard.

A footpath opposite the churchyard leads to the Chiding Stone, a large sandstone boulder just outside the village. The popular tale is that wrong-doers were brought to the stone to be chided by the assembled village. In what period of history this is supposed to have happened is not clear. The stone may have given its name to the village, or perhaps vice versa. It may have been a Saxon boundary marker, a Druids' altar or a place where judicial affairs were transacted by the ancient Britons. In the absence of evidence, you are free to believe any or none of these theories. At any rate, the stone is worth seeing.

On arrival in UK we went straight to Hastings to visit family.  We did some day trips from there to see Great Dixter House and Gardens near Rye.

Great Dixter was the family home of gardener and gardening writer Christopher Lloyd.  The house dates back to the 14th century and is actually 3 houses.  There are also 3 Oast houses on the estate surrounded by the beautiful gardens, formal, cottage gardens, vegetable gardens and meadows.

England

After a long flight from Singapore to Zurich on Swiss Air we had to change flights and fly to London.

It was a very simple and straight forward process.  We disembarked from our flight and hopped on a train which whisked to another terminal and by the time we got there our flight to London was just boarding.

We were soon flying over the Swiss Alps.  There was not a cloud in the sky and we had fabulous views over the Alps and in about 1 hour and 20 mins we were flying over London.

From the air we could see Windsor Castle and I managed to take a few photos.

Singapore

We are visiting Singapore on our way to Europe this year instead of on the way home.

This time we are staying in Singapore for 4 nights.  The weather hasn't been the best and it has rained just about every day and some really heavy downpours.

We still managed to get out and about and we visited the Gardens by the Bay.  Because of the rain we chose to just do the Flower Dome and the Cloud Forest.  We walked to the Marina Sands Bay shopping centre and then through the underground and hopped on to a shuttle bus which took us to the domes.  Unfortunately, because of the bad weather they weren't running the self drive vehicles which would have been fun.

We spent several hours wandering around the domes looking at the beautiful gardens, sculptures and waterfalls.  the Cloud Forest is fun.  You catch a lift up seven levels and then walk all the way down on these walkways that are suspended in the air.  You wouldn't want to be afraid of heights.

We have been using Singapore's MRT train system which is fast and efficient and very cheap.  The trains are driverless and very clean inside.  Our train journey cost us $1.50 each and took about 20 mins.

Today we went for a riverboat ride which was a pleasant way to spend an hour sailing down the river past Clarke Quay and Boat Quay and past the Merlion which always attracts huge crowds.

We then walked to Chinatown and visited this huge temple with giant golden buddahs and statues.  In the middle of the room were tables with books covered with individual cloths.  There were some people sitting at the tables and reading from the books.

We then walked to the Maxwell Hawker food market which has been visited by famous chefs such as Gordon Ramsay.  It was too early to eat but we did buy a juice there, dragonfruit and pineapple which was a deep purple colour and really delicious.  

We then walked around Chinatown and looked at a market and then along Chinatown eat street and from there we walked to another hawker market, Lau Pa Sat which is housed in an old Victorian building with a clock tower in the centre and lots of lovely wrought iron on the facade.
We had some Indian dishes there for about $5.00.