York and London

Hi everyone. Its me again and this Kiwi has seen some things now. In this episode we started by continuing our exploration of York. This is a wonderful town to stay in and is rich in history and a good walk takes you to most places.
Let me take you on some more of our journey.

On Tuesday after leaving our accommodation we walked into town along the banks of the River Ouse. It was a beautiful day with the sun shining down so that we could enjoy not wearing our coats for a change.

As we walked along, the walls of York Castle were directly in front of us.

Clifford's Tower stood alone on the creat of a man made hill. Once this joined the castle as part of the defensive living quarters and battlements.

Martin, Dallas and Chance pause at the top of the steps to enjoy the view before entering the Tower.

Once inside Dallas looked at a model of the castle and tower as they would have been seen many years ago.

Inside the walls of the tower were rooms that the people once lived in.

As we climbed higher we could look out on the courtyard.

Once they were at the top the boys looked over the battlements to the town below.

And they could see down below where ...........

Davina watched from the courtyard!

The views from the top were spectacular

Soon we had to climb carefully back down the spiral stairs. These castle stairs always turn the same direction so defenders backing up the steps were able to use the sword in their right hands while at the same time their enemies right hands were partly obstructed by the twist of the spiral.

Dallas and Martin wait inside a window formed in the Tower walls.

All that climbing really deserved an icecream and we found a very old icecream truck. This  Fordson truck was built in the factory specially as an ice cream vending vehicle.

Nearby an old carousel offered rides

As we walked through town we found an owl handler showing birds. Martin supported one of the birds

Dallas another

Then Chance had a turn

and finally Don took the biggest one on his arm.

Back by the river, locks were waiting for ships to navigate the river. The gates at the end open and after thye boat enters the river level is altered to the level of the river at the other end so the boat can open the gates and drive out there.

Guess what Chance found as we walked through the town

Wildlife could be found in the parks. Here a squirrel sits up to nibble food in his paws.

A very tasty shoot by the looks!

Geese were plentiful and kept the grass in the park well trimmed

And then it was time to be on the train and leave York as we head toward London

On the train we passed many Nuclear Power Stations. They made New Zealand seem quite safe with our naturally generated power as we thought about the recent tragedy in Japan

The scenery flashed by outside the train

Finally we reached our destination in London

In the park nearby we saw another small friend.

The children enjoyed playing on a playground

Another small friend

The next day everyone went into London where we visited Hanley's. This is a HUGE Toy Store. It is 5 Stories high and each floor is packed with different toys.

Dallas checks out teddy bears

Martin and Dallas play with remote controlled cars

Chance finds Fireman Sam!

Martin checks out the airplanes

A fairy dances magically from a wand

Dallas finds 'Bling'!

Sparkly and shiny generate wishful thoughts

Who is that behind the mask?

Leaving the Toy Store everyone climbs aboard an open top double deck bus.

The London Eye is the highest man made viewing platform of its sort in the world

Strange statues appear in the streets

Taxis and double deck buses are everywhere in the streets

Tower Bridge appears in the distance

The Tower of London is actually a castle complex with a number of towers built by various Kings over the years

I think this is a good place for lunch. I 'll call the kids.

Aah! Fish and chips. Just the thing.

.

On the river Thames the HMS Belfast now acts as a museum. She saw action in the 2nd world war and the Korean war.

HMS Hind has been reproduced and lies tied up on the rivers edge

From a River boat we see Westminster and Big Ben

Many people throng the streets of London. Over 7 million live here!

At 4pm Chance heard the Westminster Chimes and the Bell of Big Ben. The Big Ben bell weighs over 17 tons!

All this traveling was making us hungry however we thought we would wait till we got back to our apartment.

Shops were everywhere tempting people to come in and buy something.

  We resisted

And today at Hanley's I made a new friend!