Well there were more things to do in London than there were hours in the day to do them.  We had various kinds of weather from cold rain to hot sunny.  When the clouds blow away and the sun comes out it is amazing how fast the Brits head off to Hyde Park, strip off and bask in the sun.We’ve hopped on & off busses; cruised the Thames, walked and walked and walked, visited the Queen (who wasn’t home), joined the madding throng at the Changing of the Guard  and went ‘one more time ‘round Piccadilly Circus’  before heading off to the West End to see the show Jersey Boys.   This is my third visit to London over the last 20 years and despite having  just had the Olympics games there didn’t seem many signs of change. Don’t get me wrong – the city has had changes which stand out quite dramatically which include the Gherkin, the Shard and of course the London Eye.

Another striking change is that London cabs are not black any more- they are now every shade of the rainbow and covered with advertising.  Such a pity to see this British icon joining the marketing industry and becoming a never ending billboard.

On a lighter note – even though we are in a city with all its concrete and stone, flowers of every colour of the rainbow are everywhere.  In window boxes, hanging from lamp posts, in wire baskets next to front doors.  Pansies, petunias, geraniums, cyclamen, lobelia, tulips, polyanthus and lots more varieties – all beautifully colour coordinated and displayed.  It’s as if the whole city attended gardening classes together where they learnt “how to design the best autumn displays”.  Especially the high class hotels.  You’d think there was a competition running.

We also played a game of ‘spot the Pom’.  Wherever we went, to the shops – the trains- the busses or just walking down the street we listened to the conversations going on around us.  And do you think we could hear any British accents.  They were either French, Russian, American, Australian or Kiwi.  I think the Brits must have seen us coming and headed for the hills.