Highlights. The Battle of Britain memorial on the embankment, the animals of war in Hyde Park, feeling at home as we always do in London.

At breakfast, I suggested to Jane and Ian that we were thinking of going to the Westminster area and would see them later in the afternoon, thinking they might like some time for themselves. Jane then said they had cleared the first few days of our visit to do things with us, so we were delighted that we could all go in together. They will join us in the future if there are things they would also like to do, as having been away for 16 years they are also keen to revisit areas. We also enjoyed Jane’s homemade marmalade as part of breakfast. She had made it when providing breakfasts in Italy and told us that it is a requirement that operators provide at least 60% of the food they offer as either homemade or produced in the local area. Such a good idea.

We bussed into Westminster using our oyster cards. There are 2 useful bus routes, the 94 and the 48, that get you into the city from this area. A bus trip is cheaper than the tube but that was not relevant. It was a sunny, warm day and we sat on the top deck and enjoyed the sights. Jane was a great tour guide, pointing out places of interest. She and Ian also noticed changes, especially when we got close to Westminster. We started on the 94 and switched to the 148 to get to Westminster. We went past lots of the official tour buses on our journey. John was much more comfortable in the temperatures here.

On arrival we first went to Parliament Square to see the new suffragette statue, the first woman in the square and only recently unveiled. We also took pictures of  Disraeli (for Jennifer), and saw Mandela, Ghandi, Peel of police force fame and others. Coffee was then calling and after a longer search than we expected we got our takeaway coffees and sat on the steps near the river.

The usual check was made for any nearby geocaches, and there was one. It was called Three London Icons, and the listing gave the history of Big Ben, Scotland Yard and the red telephone box. Most of this we already knew but not all. We didn’t know that the red colour of the boxes was not initially liked and the Post Office was forced into allowing a less strident ‘grey with red glazing bars’ scheme for areas of natural and architectural beauty. Ironically, some of these areas that have preserved their telephone boxes have now painted them red. The cache was appropriately in a red telephone box, a tad high for me to reach, but John had no problems. Then Jane took a photo to commemorate the success, as she had yesterday and in Italy during our stay with them.

We checked out the river cruises and the cost using our cards (which gave discounts) for another day, then walked along the Embankment from Parliament Bridge. Jane told us that beneath our feet was the main sewer line for the city and that the Embankment was built over it to allow an area for the Victorians to promenade. It seemed a very sensible way to both protect the sewer and open up the river. There was a good metal map showing the main features you could see on the side, but it needs updating as the new ‘Shard’ building did not feature. We may all go up this when we are here if we can book in advance a day that the weather looks fine. We have been up the London Eye before so did not bother this trip.

We crossed over to walk through the grounds of Whitehall. The gardens were lovely and there was also an outdoor table tennis table in use. I was puzzled because I somehow knew that Plimsoll had a statue in the area but we could not see it. Jane checked on her phone to find I was sort of right as the statue was at the entrance. We found the statue and then discussed the meaning of the various letters on the line as we all thought S was the right one for loading to but what did TF and F mean. Some research later and I know. S was the line for Saltwater in Summer, F for Fresh and TF for tropical fresh. It made sense that we all thought S was the key one.

We crossed the river and found a café for lunch. It had a South America theme so John and I opted for some most enjoyable tapas. Mocktails were 2 for the price of 1 and nicely presented. Jane and Ian then departed and left us to do more exploring.

We went further toward Waterloo Bridge trying to find a multicache (no luck), admiring statues and seats and stopped at a small beach part where something was happening which is still a mystery to us. We then walked back to Parliament Bridge, through the crowds around the London Eye area. This side was much busier than the other side with lots of tour groups.

Back into Parliament Square we spent time inspecting plinths with caching in mind. We know (temporarily at least) much more about slate and feldspar but may not know enough for the cache owners as we were also aware of security in the area.

We found the right bus and got off at Hyde Park. On our way in on the bus Jane had pointed out the Memorial to the Animals who served in wars and we were keen to visit it. We walked through the park via the toilets to the memorial. There were the remnants of wreaths there and information about the design. It consists of a curved stone wall emblazoned with images of various struggling animals, along with two heavily laden bronze mules progressing up the stairs of the monument, and a bronze horse and bronze dog beyond it looking into the distance. The horse was modelled on a retired Charger from The King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery called Ben Bragg.

We got back to Jane and Ian’s just in time to leave for Katherine’s. We saw her flat 1 day before she was leaving it and had a catch up over wine before we went to Nando’s for tea. Katherine said we should as it has become the main English takeout/casual meal place. Then we carried some excess gear back to Jane and Ian’s to store for the weekend before we went to bed.