Let's talk about Dickmann's

After yesterdays success of visiting rural Northern Germany, we decided to get out the map and throw a few darts and explore some more.

Leaving via car toward the north and within only 10 km of Lubeck city, was our first stop, the very small fishing village of Gothmund and the old port. Driving into this area felt quite familiar to other suburban areas, large houses on large lots built after WW2, in fact, nothing spectacular, but as we got closer and closer to the river the road got narrower, to the point it was only one car wide.  I was able to find a park and then whipped out google maps to guide us down to the old port.

Jingle Jingle

We made it, we finally made it into the Colosseum. Checking the map it was going to be a 1.6km walk, so with the help of Google maps on the phone we were able to successfully and easily use the bus to get to the Colosseum.
But as promised...a few snaps below of our "quirky" accommodation:

View from our room

Our kitchen and living area

Demonstration of how close the ceiling is

To ensure we weren't going to miss our reserved tour, we arrived about an hour early, this gave us time to find the correct entry and meeting point of the tour.

The tour we chose was directly through the government agency that operates the building and with this tour we were given access to see under the arena and also up onto the third tier. Getting access to these areas was great and gave us a good understanding of the history, however the tour was a little long and the guide also covered may things that we believe most visitors should already know, so at some times it was a little boring.

The afternoon was spent having a "Grande Caffe" at Sant'Eustachio Il Caffè, basically a large espresso that is made in a secret way. This caffe was very busy and also very Italian, queue at the cashier, place order with the cashier, get a receipt, queue for the barrister, hand over receipt, wait for coffee. It was one of the best espressos we have had and there is a very good chance we may be back tomorrow!

Next was a little surprise for Katie the Elephant at Piazza della Minerva

Followed by a visit to the Pantheon.

The evening was spent at a very typical Roman restaurant Armando al Pantheon. A lovely place and once again very local. It is a family business, however was a little on the expensive side, but as they say, when in Rome.

Finally it was Jingle Jingle time.  On our first tour in 2010 we noticed many African men in Paris selling miniature Eiffel towers, Katie gave them the name Jingle Boys as this was the sound they made as they walked around carrying the souvineers. So now we are in Rome there are no Eiffel towers but there are the African men and this time they are selling handbags, watches, laser pens, all counterfeit along with poles to hold your phone to take selfie photos, ponchos, umberellas, sunglasses. These guys are always on the lookout for police as we understand they're not allowed to sell products in this way. However it does make some interesting people watching, with the tactics and also the methods the tourists use to get away.

Tomorrow - Please, Sir, I want some more.

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.

On the busses

When it rains it rains!

Today we tried our new tour guide, Stewart.

Stewart and daughter Yasmin guided us around the City of London and both shared a plethora of information. With Stewart's background in the bus industry we were provided with a locals view and a better route than any other hop off hop on route.

Starting at Waterloo we caught our first bus to Parliament Square, Westminster and Westminster Abbey. 

With a quick look from the outside and the rain coming down, we hopped on another bus and went round the corner and saw Marble Arch and Oxford Street.

Further along we stopped off at Royal Albert Hall and also saw the magnificent monument to Prince Albert across the road. 

After further rain and another couple of buses we walked through Trafalgar Square.

We then headed for Covent Garden and were quite impressed by the stalls and the wares on sale. 

Having lunch in Fire & Stone we then went back to the market for another look and picked up a little trinket. Finishing off the day we caught the tube to Waterloo and then overground rail back to Surbiton where Lynanne was waiting to take us to their place for a look.

Katie & Yasmin at Surbiton Station.

The evening was spent back at Millard Estate and a lovely dinner was had by all.

(Tip: click on the photos and they will become full screen)