Downtown London

After breakfast we headed out to give our Oyster cards a workout. We got from Greenwich to Leicester Square via Light Rail and two tube hops, and feel pretty smug about being able to get around now.

At Leicester Square we picked up our London Passes, which we bought in Australia using a credit we had with our local travel agent. Glad we didn't spend good money on it, as so far it has been a bit of a dud. One advertised benefit is free use of the hop on hop off buses, but the fine print tells you that you have to get a ticket for the bus from the booking office. Luckily we discovered this before we left the booking office, but we saw other not so lucky punters being turned away. The bus proved to be a draining experience. London traffic is just appallingly congested so the bus goes nowhere very slowly. The commentary is a cross between grade four and Benny Hill, and the group of German ladies behind us talked incessantly and loudly. We bailed out near the Victoria and Albert Museum, had some welcome lunch in their very nice cafe, then explored some of their dazzling collection.

After so many people, so many grand buildings and towering imposing monuments, it was strangely soothing to focus on the inticate delicacy of the collection of  minatures and gold snuff boxes.

Being a lazy peasant who had done no homework regarding the scope of the V&A, I had little idea of what was in the collection, so our visit was a series of pleasant surprise for me - around this corner a few William Blake paintings, over there some stunning Pre-Raphaelites, a wall of lovely Constable studies. Plus things I had no idea existed, like the life sized silver plated lions that are part of the Danish Royal regalia (ok these we copies, but still marvellous.)  So much to see, so little time to see it in, so few brain cells to absorb it.

We got another bus, but the traffic was unbearable after a while, so we got off and walked down to the River along the edge of St James park, which was a huge relief after the congestion and crowds.

We managed to get a little lost but found our selves at Embankment ferry terminal, so we used our Oyster cards again and got the Thames Clipper ferry back to Greenwich, much nicer and simpler than hopping from train to train, and a great view of the sights of the city.

After a beer in the sun at the Greenwich Brewery, and a Chinese meal so massive we couldn't eat half of it, and a long stump back up Greenwich high road, we made it home. Now to regenerate sufficiently so that we can get out there again tomorrow.