London

I woke before six after a restless night. It was way too hot in our room, even though we had the window open. Unfortunately, it would only open a little way. At least my smalls dried!

Breakfast was fruit, coffee and a chocolate covered biscuit. We planned on having morning tea and then a late lunch in London.

Our taxi arrived in plenty of time, and we were at Peterborough railway station by 8:45, although it cost £9 for a 10-minute road trip! We then had some difficulty working out how trains work here. Apparently, there are a couple of companies; one operates the slow trains and the other the fast. After talking to a station staff member, we went to the counter to buy our tickets, rather than fight with the machines, which couldn't answer our questions, like, what's the difference in prices (cheapest £27.50 to dearest £56), off-peak (leave after 9 a.m., depart London before 4:45 p.m.). We bought our tickets, the cheapest, and then tried to see which platform our train would leave from. Impossible to figure out, so we asked a railway worker. 

Once on the platform (1), we found a warm waiting room. The train was on time - at least we thought it was our train, we can't understand a word the announcer is saying, except for ‘Terminates here’. We seat ourselves and hope that we are in the right carriage - our tickets say standard, so we gather that's cattle class. Doesn't seem like first class.

We arrived at London Kings Cross Station to heavy skies. 

We found the Big Red bus stops and purchased tickets, which were daylight robbery at £30 each (tour of river included) with no seniors' discount. We then discovered that the bus we were on was the black line, which we had to leave at Marble Arch for the blue or red Line.

There was an automated voice giving a run down on places we passed, most of which we couldn't see because of the thick traffic. We began at the top of the bus, but it got too cold and began to rain, so we moved downstairs. The traffic was getting thicker, and it was very slow, so it was 11:30 a.m. before we got to Marble Arch. We asked if the bus was going anywhere near the Imperial War Museum and were assured it was. There was no automated voice on the red bus, but a guide upstairs who spoke about the places we passed. He seemed to be talking specifically to those he could see, not us!

He mentioned the IWM then went onto something else. I asked the driver where we should get off, and he said I should go upstairs and ask the man up there. I did, and he said it was where he'd mentioned the war museum. But you didn't say 'this is the stop for' I said as I went back down. We got off and began to ask people where we had to go to see Churchill's War Rooms. The second man we asked knew, and he told us to walk down 3 blocks, past Westminster and Big Ben on our right, and it would be on our right. He was almost right. There was a long line, of course, and then it began to rain, so we huddled into our coats and waited. We weren't going to give up after the trouble we'd gone to, to get there.

It was only a wait of about 15 minutes, and we were inside, then downstairs to buy our tickets. A concession there at least, £14.40 instead of £18. Very interesting place and we spent a lot of time in there, breaking the tour with lunch - vegetable soup (heavy on the pumpkin and carrot) with a bread roll, our first choice of a baked potato and chilli beans being off the menu. By the time we finished in there, we just had time to hurry down to the river for our river cruise, a half hour trip to Tower Bridge. The roof leaked and we'd just moved seats to escape a drip when a bucket load of water that had built up descended on the seats we'd just vacated. A lucky escape.

When we got to the Tower, our trip ended, and we were getting anxious. Our train ticket back to Peterborough had to be used before 4:45 p.m, and it was 3 o'clock. Considering how long it had taken to get where we were, we doubted we'd get back to Kings Cross in time. We kept following the signs for buses but couldn't see any stops. Eventually saw a lot of people waiting and joined them. 

A big red bus eventually came along, but we were stopped from boarding - different bus company we were told. Every bus that came along was for this company, even though the sign said it was a stop for The Original Big Bus Company. We hadn't realised there was more than one company - I'm sure that wasn't the case 10 years ago. Time was marching on so we decided to head for the underground and take a train to Kings Cross Station. After some consultation with a station staff member, we went to the machine and finally got it to accept our request for tickets to Kings Cross on the circle line. Two adults at £4.80 each to go a total of 5 stops! More daylight robbery.

Once at Kings Cross we had to find our way to the northern line, then find,the boards to see where to catch our train. Found that and saw that the train was leaving at 16:40, just 5 minutes before our deadline. Phew! But no platform number was listed, so we had to wait. While waiting, we bought some coffee, Lindy a 'coo-kee' and me some popcorn. Then to platform 5. I got through the turnstile, okay but Lindy couldn't. Had to get some assistance. Rush to train, found seats, and big sigh!

If I had to see London again, I'd not go on a big red bus tour. Instead, I'd recommend buying an all day underground pass to travel from station to station to see those things you particularly want to see. Most tourist maps indicate which underground stations are near which attraction. This will give you a better feel for the city and get you around to see more of it. As well as being quicker and less stress-free, it would be more cost effective.