London - Day 1: Limehouse, Canary Wharf, Cascade Towers, Greenwich

This is the day we have waited for, for so very long!! The day we can finally stay overnight outside of our 'lock down location'!!

We were originally booked to be here on 31 March, however thanks to Covid-19 our plans had to change.

Today we were super excited to drive into London. Prior to driving in, we had to manage Congestion (CC), Low Emission Zone (LEZ), and Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) charges. I organised this before we left, and thank goodness I did, it was a mission! Normally you can go online and check what you need to pay, however the 'vehicle checker' was broken so I had to call Transport for London (TFL). What a hassle that was! Because our vehicle is not UK registered, I was originally told I would need to pay £200 per day to drive the car in London, plus the CC! Eventually, after being disconnected on three occasions, everything was sorted and we only had to pay the increased (due to Covid-19) CC of £15 per day.

We drove right through Central London direct to our old stomping ground (passing Rajboy Indian where we used to get many curries), and our second London apartment, Lamb Court at 69 Narrow Street. We parked and had a wander around the Limehouse Basin and the ship lock. Saw our old 'local' which was called The Barley Mow. It is now called The Narrow by Gordon Ramsey. From here we took a brief wander down Narrow Street past The Grapes pub, then through to the Thames to get a view of Cascade Towers, our first London apartment building back in 1998.

After this we drove under Westferry Circus, down the Isle of Dogs, past the site of IRA bombing at South Quay in 1996, past the ASDA where we used to do our grocery shopping, and on to park and walk through under the Thames via the Greenwich tunnel.

Once on the other side we saw the Cutty Sark before walking up past the Gypsy Moth to Buffalo for dinner This is not only the first day we can stay overnight elsewhere, its the first day pubs and restaurants can open in England since lock down! The beef nachos here were delicious!!

Afterwards, we took a stroll up through Greenwich Park to the Royal Observatory and to the Prime Meridian of the world, where East meets West, and the home of (Greenwich Mean Time) GMT.

What a day! It is super cool to be back in this amazing city!! We can't wait to explore Canary Wharf and the surrounding around again during our stay in London.