Madame Tussauds

Just as well we had bought tickets over the Internet for this attraction - hundreds of people were queued up waiting to buy their tickets, while we were ushered straight through. It was crowded inside and the wax works were placed here and there, just ready for fans to take photos of their favourites. All Black Jonah Lomu was immortalised in wax, but we didn't notice any other Kiwis. There were historical figures, sporting heroes, film stars, actors and actresses, singers, politicians - any number of famous people and lots that we had never even heard of!!

Madame Tussauds

Jenny had her photo taken with the Queen and Prince Phillip - they were smiling but didn't deign to speak to her. Robin posed with one of the musical greats in his opinion - Freddy Mercury. And luckily Elvis was still in the building, so Jenny cuddled up close to have a photo taken with him too.

Meeting the Queen?

For Jenny who else!

We jumped aboard one of the black London cabs in a continuos line. These took us on a journey back in time. Starting at the reign of Elizabeth 1st, through the plague, the Great Fire, Queen Victoria and the Industrial Revolution, and the two World Wars. This was very well done and certainly a highlight of our visit.

Next stop was Hyde Park. It's not far on the map, we decided, let's walk. Bad idea - we had turned in the wrong direction and after walking for ages discovered our mistake. Two tube rides later we were finally in the right area. Hyde Park is huge but there at last was what we were looking for, the New Zealand Memorial, a series of dark brown metal cross beams of different heights. When viewed from the correct perspective you can see a white cross on the top of each one, and they each tell a different tale of New Zealand.

New Zealand War Memorial Hyde Park

On the way back we purchased tickets to Buckingham Palace for tomorrow morning. Wonder if the Queen will remember posing for that photo with Jenny? Perhaps we will ask her.