London eye

After being in London for nearly two years, we thought we best take a ride on the London Eye. As it was such a nice day we thought we would hire the Barclays bikes and ride down by the river Thames into the city. We leisurely made our way into the city seeing different sights along the way. Today was one of the hottest days I have had in London (to the point you would just stand there and be sweating!) and we were all really hoping that the London Eye was air conditioned and thankfully it was! We managed to get some good pictures whilst up there.



We made it into the city! Nice view of Big Ben and the London Eye

Paul and I in the London Eye

View from the top - you can see the Shard to the right

Looking down at Westminster

Paul and Woodsy

Close up of the Shard

Looking down the River Thames

The London Eye



Olympics

 

Unfortunately we couldn't get any tickets to the Olympics so we headed to the marathon that went through the city and was free! It was cool to catch a glimpse of the Olympics and be somewhat apart of it. There was a definite buzz in the air and it was awesome to be in London when the Olympics were in town! After watching some of the marathon we were a tad hungry so we went to St Katherine Docks for lunch. It was really nice around the docks and there were not as many people!

 

 

Paul and I trying to get a good position to see the runners.

Some of the runners coming towards us

And around the corner they went and came back past

Tower Bridge with the Olympic rings

Paul and I with Tower Bridge in the background

St Katherine Docks



Windsor

This was our first visit to Windsor and it was a nice day out with Em and Woodsy. The Queen wasn't home the day we visited but it was nice to see where she spent a bit of her time. After waiting in line to get in, we got our audio guides and walked around the designated areas to listen to the commentary. We headed up one of the towers to look out over the Castle, however the rain decided to bucket down at that point so we didn't get to see a lot. Windsor Castle is really lovely and the town itself is very quaint. The good thing about the tickets is that they remain valid for a year, so if you think you missed out on something you can go back and visit without having to pay again!

Listening to my audio guide - shhhh

Lovely grounds at the Windsor Castle

Em, me and Woodsy by the gardens and with part of the Castle in the background

Nice lawn!

View from the tower

Another snap from the tower



Southend on sea

A cracker of a day meant we had to head to the beach! Southend-on-sea is about an hour and half away from where we live so we thought we would head there for the day. Southend-on-sea has the longest pleasure pier in the world. It was interesting to see how different the beach was to back home and how packed it was as well!

When we arrived it was around lunchtime so we had to have the traditional fish and chips by the seaside. After filling our bellies with fat, we made our way down the 1.33 mile pleasure pier. It is so long you can take a train down the end instead of walking, but being the healthy bunnies we are we walked there and back. After our walk we checked out the theme park and with Em and I being the adrenalin junkies that we are, we had to give the rollercoaster a go. It was awesome! Coming down from the high of the rollercoaster we made our way to the arcade where we all became addicted to the 2p slotty machines. We aren't the biggest gamblers but at least we had fun!

Pleasure pier

Me getting ready for the walk

The train tracks and probably the most sensible option! (especially on a hot day)

Me, Em and Cath - we made it to the end

Nice view from the end of the pier

Paul and I at the end of a nice day



The Shard at night

Well the Shard is now all complete with people now working and living there. The night it opened they decided to put on a light display. It was a tad boring but was good to go out and have a nosey, better than sitting on our bums watching t.v!

OooOoO blueeee

Ahhhh yeloowwwww



New guys to London

YAY! They made it :) Emma and Woodsy at the local pub on their first day in London!

 

Me, Em and Woodsy



Olympic grounds

The Olympics are coming! Sooo before it gets too crazy we wanted to have a wander around the area and see how the park was coming along. We could only view the park from the John Lewis department store which had a view of it but here are the pics we could get...