Time to sample some British food

This was the day we could have just taken easy, but no, in the spirit of creating good blog content we ventured to London and joined a food tour.

This morning we caught the South West Train from Surbiton to Waterloo station and then the underground to London Bridge staion where our food tour was to start.

The tour consisted of a number of stops the first being a bread roll with bacon and egg, very British, following that was a walk into the Borough Market.

This Market provided a number of items to try however first was a small self tour of the food court, and then fish and chips.  We have agreed that these were the best we have ever had!

Next stop was to sample some Mead which is a fermented drink from honey and at 10%alc had a warming kick. In the medieval times, it was used as a replacement for water as water was often unsafe to drink.

At this same stop outside the specialist butcher, Ginger Pig, we had a sample of sausage roll.

By this time we had noticed the temperature to be quite cold, but we soldiered on with our guide providing information about the wharf area and Southwark Cathedral.  This Cathedral has an in-house cat and a number of children's books with the cat in character. 

Next stop was The Mug House under London Bridge where we sampled some Cider and Cheeses.

By now we were filling up but had a couple of more stops to go. 

Next stop was in front of the Mayor of Londons office and Tower Bridge, to sample some doughnuts filled with a vanilla bean custard. We thought we would need to share the doughnuts but unfortunately were forced to have one each. 

We finished the tour with a cup of tea and a sticky date pudding. 

To get to our next attraction we jumped on the tube again and headed to Westminster station, passed by Big Ben, Parliament and went on a self-tour of Westminster Abbey. I'm sorry I can't show any photos but photography is banned in Westminster Abbey.

Finally, after all that, we couldn't resist a pub close by, The Sanctuary House. 

KFB17756 SFB17006

Millard Estate TripAdvisor review

TripAdvisor review of Millard Estate.

22nd August - 29 August

Type of accommodation - Fully inclusive B&B

Overall rating - 5 Stars

What sort of trip was this - Leisure

Rating Service - Mobile phone service was not all the best, phone dropouts

Rating Cleanliness - Staff appeared clean at all times

Rating Sleep Quality - We slept every night

Does this hotel have WiFi? Yes

The Review - Airport transfer service was on time and easy to recognise, impromptu stop in park to see wild deer and have ice-cream was well appreciated. Evening meal was off site with driver and partner. Following day we met the proprietors and they were very welcoming and friendly. Later in the day a private tour was arranged. Other staff dropped in and out through the week, however I believe they may be family.

All staff take a role in this B&B as we had three separate tour guides, the seasoned one (Tony) the London walking encyclopedia (Norma) and the younger and expert on all related to public transport (Stewart).

Other points to note. The room is up one flight of stairs and there is no lift, most mornings the breakfast is self serve, and evening meals will need to be taken from the kitchen to the dining room by oneself.  All evening meals in the dining room were also with the staff.

The B&B is situated in a quiet street with easy access to the River Ember.  Over all this is a lovely place to stay having all the homely touches you need and a wonderful personalised service.

Relax, don't do it

It must be holidays, we're now waking after eight and it feels great. After the past couple of packed days it was time to relax and this morning we lounged around with Norma before a quick walk to the River Ember.

The afternoon was also pretty lazy and we headed to the local shopping precinct of Kingston. With no particular items to purchase we decided an ice-cream with flake was what we needed.

Our first dilemma for this trip was when we tried to board the 411 bus from Kingston upon Thames back to East Molesey. Letting all the locals board first, we then tried to purchase tickets and found out we needed an oyster card (similar to our Myki).  The driver was great and advised we could use paywave, this was ok for one ticket but not for the second. In the end the driver could see we were genuine tourists and let us both on advising we would need to get an Oyster card.

When we got back to East Molesey we had a lovely walk through the town and popped into the antiques shops. Some of the shops however would be better if they were to get a skip and have a clearout.

The evening was finished with a goodbye dinner with Norma and Tony at The Bell Public House. I must say we were all impressed with this pub and the food, Katie and myself were quite impressed to be eating dinner in the pub that was built back in 1460. We finished the evening with some drinks with the rest of the family.

Thanks to all.

"Let Us Go Forward Together" - W.C.

Being no tour guides were available today it was left up to us to conquer the streets, tunnels and bridges of london, and we did a pretty good job. With the centenary commemorations of the First World War our first stop was the Tower of London with its 88,246 ceramic poppies . This highly attended show was packed with many from all over the world looking on and pausing for a few moments thought for those who fought for what we have.

Catching bus 25 we were then headed to the British Museum to see the Egypt section but some how managed to get into the Bloomsbury Hotel for a spot of lunch.

Katie had been wanting to see this for a long time considering she has been teaching it for almost 10 years. The Rosetta Stone was a huge draw card. 

Katie looking at the Rosetta Stone

Once again we were off to the bus and headed to Winston Churchill's War Rooms.  This complex under the government buildings in Westminster were the heart of the war effort and are still in pretty much the same condition as they were at the end of the war.

Crossing the road we ventured into St James Park and had a little Squirrel spotting.

Isn't he cute!!!

Ending our final hour in London we sat outside Westminster Abbey and had a little people watching while resting the feet.

 After returning we were collected by Ross and Emma and had a Mexican dinner followed by a screening of The Inbetweeners 2 Movie, it was hilarious.

Katie and Emma

Ross and Shannon

God Save The Queen

Buckingham palace was our first venture today, and not just from the outside we went inside, yes inside. Thanks to our third and final tour guide, Norma we had tickets to join the thousands of others who toured the state rooms.

This was a fantastic self guided tour with audio headphones. The areas of Buckingham Palace we saw were just spectacular and unfortunately we were not permitted any photography, but did purchase some postcards for our memories. The tour took us around two hours to complete and at the end we had a lovely lunch in the backyard and then some lovely fruit scones and clotted cream.  The coffee and hot chocolates both had a sprinkle of chocolate in the crown shape.

After lunch we walked through the gardens and then into the very large gift and souvenir shop.

After a short walk we went up to the top of Wellington Arch and also had a look at the memorial to the anzacs in the same location. These were both very interesting.

Then it was a quick stroll to Charing Cross station and two tube trains later we were at the bottom of The Shard and ready to join Tony for The View.

This being the largest building in Western Europe we were truly impressed how fast the two lifts took us up the 69 floors. Even though it was a little cloudy and there were a few showers of rain in the area we were able to get a good view over the city. It was truly amazing how high we were and how small the buildings were but how the planes were so close. Honestly though if you had to choose between The Shard and the London Eye our pick and recommendation would be the London Eye.

Finally, and totally unexpected we were on National television the BBC One Show. Through Ross we were given access to the BBC studio and were able to be part of the very small studio audience. We had a fantastic day and thanks to all.