We've spent the last two weekends in London since we're now pretty familiar with Southampton and its tourist attractions. On the 7th and 8th we spent some happy times with the uni girls and their partners (especially loving this picnic spot right beside the parliament buildings). After trying to meet Sherryn and Tim for an hour amongst the one million people watching the Tour De France, we realised the two parties were meeting under different naked black marble statues with a sword in their hand. We gave up the rendezvous and just enjoyed the race from different sides of the track. Look how close we got! Brilliant timing with the out-stretched arm Greg! 
On Saturday evening we met Bron and Jerome at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre on the southern banks of the Thames (a reconstruction on the original site of the Globe, completed 1997). We missed out on the seated tickets and had to stand like commoners in "the yard". The bonus of these tickets is that you can take your wine in for the show and its expected that you make the most noise of all the crowd. And for only £5!
We saw the first half of "Love's Labour's Lost". Three hours on the feet was just too much for us. After the performance we found an authentic Italian restaurant underground (a taste of the future travelling). This sign behind the bar gave us a giggle.
On Sunday we visited the Imperial War Museum. Plenty of tanks and suspended aeroplanes but we were impressed and sobered by the Holocaust Exhibition. Neither of us knew the extent of the devastation to the countries surrounding Germany in the 2nd World War (particularly Poland during the time of the Death Marches).
Below is a picture of the Italian Human Torpedo. Used in the 2nd world war and carrying a crew of two, the submarine would be driven under the enemy ship, then detach it's warhead to be stuck to the vulnerable underside of the ship and the crew would return to base. The bomb deploys about an hour after detachment. Amazing (and horrifying) technology for 60 years ago.
The main aim of the weekend just gone was to catch up with 2 of Greg's brothers, Kevin and John. Spot the difference! It was great to have almost all the boys together again (we miss you Grant). The boys were at the tail end of their round the world, 8-week, holiday (also tagged as John's Extended Buck's Night). Jane managed to show them atleast 7 different lines on the tube (Whoops we got lost!) but we had plenty of time to hear about all of their adventures.
In case you were wondering the back of John's T-shirt says ("STAYS IN VEGAS").
On Saturday we had a romantic trip down the Thames to Greenwich where time began/begins. It was a sunny day and actually we did loose the romance in the CROWDS. My goodness Greenwich is a popular place in Summer!! Using plenty of elbow jabbing we got our requisite photo with a foot on either side of the Eastern and Western Hemispheres but felt it would require too much cropping to remove all the other tourists in the picture to include it on the blog.
The Painted Hall was a haven of peace (apparently the Meridian Line is much more popular with the tourists than stunning paintings. Sir James Thornhill spent 19 years as the soul artist of this masterpiece. It is the Mess hall of the Royal Navy College and Hospital.
