After a day of rest on Saturday, (we also had an early celebration of Tahnee's birthday with Ray's dad, aunty and cousins in Darwen), we left Blackpool on Sunday 23rd for our week in London. It was an iconic scene when we left - John waving us goodbye as the two Carol's in the street (his neighbours) hung over their front fences chatting and gossiping and waving to us. On our way down to our hotel, just out of London, we decided we weren't too far from Stonehenge and stopped off to visit this ancient site.

Our first day in London proved extremely challenging. It consisted of 30 deg. heat, cancelled train lines, Marg falling down the station steps, traffic jammed buses being diverted and our car breaking down at the end of the day. Despite not getting back to our hotel until after midnight, we had a good day out - picked up our 3-day London passes and visited the London Museum.

We fared a lot better on Tuesday, negotiating the London over and underground rail system artfully and went on the London Eye, took a ferry trip up the Thames and absorbed the history of the Tower of London. We then wandered around Westminster, to such sights as Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament.

Wednesday was our theatrical day, visiting the London Bridge and underground tomb tour - a horror event that had the girls screaming. We then wandered over to Shakespeare's Globe Theatre and were lucky enough to score 4 front row seats (that had just been returned) to the matinee performance of Macbeth. What a treat for us all - it was a total Shakespearean experience and even though Macbeth is a dark tale, there were very funny and lighthearted bits with audience interaction. After the show finished we managed to fit in an hour at the Tate Modern art gallery before it closed.

Thursday - our last day in London. When we emerged from Victoria Station, the Apollo Theatre, advertising the show Wicked, loomed enticingly before us. What could we do but go over and check out if there were any tickets left for tonight's performance? After purchasing tickets, we walked around to Buckingham Palce for the Changing of the Guard and then to Westminster Abbey for a tour of this amazing church that has witnessed the coronation of 38 kings and queens of England and has the tombs and memorials of so many noted academics, poets, artists and writers. As a bit of an afterthought we visited Apsley House, the home of the 1st and subsequent Dukes of Wellington, and were pleasantly surprised at how much we all enjoyed the house and its history. As the house was on Hyde Park corner, we took in a walk through the park. Tahnee even managed to hand-feed one of the friendly squirrels we saw there. A bus trip down Pall Mall back to the Apollo Theatre for the wickedly wonderful performance of Wicked was a great finale for our trip to London.

Many thanks to everyone who contributed to our London Passes - we couldn't have done what we did without them.

On our way back to Blackpool we stopped off at Ely, near Cambridge, to visit the aged and magnificent Norman cathedral. We also encountered the Bank Holiday traffic jams. A test of patience, the girls were fantastic (again) as we spent 5 hours straight in the car crawling our way back to John's house. We are now looking forward to the Ollerton family reunion lunch on Sunday, spending the Bank Holiday Monday with Di, John and Georgia - the 3 girls are going to the Pleasure Beach fun park, and then a few (quiet?) days before we head off for the Europe leg of our trip.

Best wishes to everyone, and thanks for the messages and emails we have been receiving. It's always good to hear your news.

Love Ray, Marg, Tahnee & Marli