A Photo Every Hour (almost)

Saturday was my first attempt at Jane's Photo Every Hour challenge.  I think my offering would be better described as "A Photo When I Remember", but hey-ho...we were busy having fun!

8ish - On the M4 zooming towards London.  We surprised Lucas by getting up an hour earlier than we'd told him, then I told him that he wasn't getting to go to athletics today--his face fell--but we were going to London instead--his face was an absolute picture!

9ish - In a traffic jam at Trafalgar square.  A not very good snap of the giant blue cockerel and Nelson's column.

10ish - the Peter Pan book bench beside St Paul's.  I really wanted to go into St Paul's but was appalled by the entry price for the three of us.  We settled for starting our Book Bench hunt instead.

11ish - South of the river now and a pit-stop for coffee at Starbuck's near Shakespeare's Globe.  It took Lucas a while to notice that we'd been assimilated into Dave's collective...

12ish - After walking down the Thames Path, Dave took us into the Hay's Galleria for a quick look around.  It's a gorgeous building and positively festooned with bunting!  I love bunting.

1ish - Leon!! I've wanted to eat at Leon for years.  They've always been heaving whenever I've tried but we stumbled across this one near Southwark Cathedral which was empty and I couldn't pass up eating lunch there!

We all loved the food, so much so that I popped into Foyles later on and bought one of their books!

2ish - We walked over Tower Bridge and slowly walked around the Tower, marvelling at the poppies.  The sheer number is staggering and it brings home just how horrifying World War 1 was.  Lucas really struggled with the idea that something which represented so much death could be so beautiful, especially after he lost count of the poppies...

3ish Walking through the back streets of Westminster we stumbled across New Scotland Yard.  I had no idea that it was a mere stone's throw from Parliament.  I got ridiculously excited by this, but I'll spare you the photo of me grinning like a lunatic in favour of this slightly more iconic one!

4ish - Afternoon tea at the Intercontinental Westminster.  I loved this flower arrangement with artfully arranged succulents in glass teapots.

5 o'clock and all is definitely well - this was the dessert course of our British Summer Holiday afternoon tea.  All beach huts should be made of brownie and chocolate mousse!  I did feel a bit Hansel and Gretel when I neatly prised off the roof of the hut...

6ish -  Look Mum, No Hands!  We stumbled across the Look Mum No Hands! pop-up on the Southbank as we walked back to the hotel.  Lucas couldn't resist posing... I somehow managed to resist their jugs of Pimms.

7ish - We stopped for a SNOG at the bright pink SNOG bus.  (From a distance I'd assumed it was a disco!)

8 o'clock - This was a very welcome sign as it meant we were almost back at the hotel.  It also marks a learning experience for me: bridges can be windy!  I wound up doing a Marilyn all the way across the bridge in my flippy skirt.  Thank god for leggings!

Our day ends rather early by my usual standards...by the time we got back to the hotel we'd managed to clock up just shy of nine miles and I was asleep by about 9:30!

Next time I'll be slightly more organised and actually remember to keep an eye on the time!  Head over to Jane's blog to see who else took part in this month's challenge.