London - Day 2: Southbank, Big Ben, Parliament, Buckingham Palace, Wellington Memorial, Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus, Covent Garden

Wow, day two! This was another huge day of walking!!

Due to Covid-19 the restaurant in the hotel is closed, so we brought our bowls and cutlery from the caravan, along with our breakfast cereal, and ate here before heading out. We are lucky as there is a Tesco Express right beside the hotel too!

We started our journey along South Bank past the Golden Hinde, a replica of the boat that Sir Francis Drake captained to circumnavigate the world on between 1577 and 1580. Continuing on we walked past The Clink Prison, The Globe Theatre, Tate Modern, under Blackfriars Bridge and past the Oxo Tower. From here we wandered past the London Eye, London Dungeon then over Westminster Bridge to Big Ben and Parliament Buildings. Sadly, Big Ben is still covered in scaffolding for major works. It has been like this for some time, with the bell having not chimed since August 2017!

We stopped for a picnic lunch in the gardens at Parliament Square, before heading to Downing Street then further on to the Horse Guards and through to Horse Guards Parade and on to St James's Park. Exiting the park on to The Mall we walked down to Buckingham Palace. From here we entered Green Park to the left of Canada Gate then headed up Constitution Hill to Wellington Arch and the NZ War Memorial.

After waiting for a protest group to pass, we walked along Piccadilly then up to Mayfair to HR Owen, the Bugatti dealership. Nico was super excited and looking forward to seeing his first Bugatti of the trip. There was slight disappointment to have to view them through the frosted showroom glass, however he was reasonably happy! In his words, 'I feel like I'm in a dream'.

From here we took Pall Mall down to NZ House and on to Trafalgar Square where we stopped for a rest and snack. Afterwards a short stroll to Coutts Bank on Strand where Brad used to work, we headed up to Covent Garden to get a traditional black London taxi back to our hotel via Royal Courts of Justice, Fleet Street and St Paul's Cathedral.

It was amazing to see such a quiet London! Hardly anyone around the major tourist attractions. With pubs reopening there were a few people out and about, but certainly not the volumes that you would normally see on a summer day in London!!