LONDON

I visited London during my Holiday this Summer in August. I was with my friend Dana and we did a lot of Sightseeing within a couple of days there. Starting off with the "Sightseeing Bus", which lasts 2 hours and allows you to view many of the Famous landmarks and sights in the City. Sitting on the top deck is a must! Having Sunny dry weather was a big bonus too.
Then we took advantage of the "Free" River Trip, as part of the Bus Ticket, so that was very good and a 50 minute cruise followed. Again viewing the Landmarks along the Thames, such as the Houses of Parliament, The London Eye, Tower Bridge...etc, etc. We took many photos and a few are Included above. After the River Cruise , we headed over Westminster Bridge, to get our 8pm Flight on the London Eye. That was a memorable experience and great views too.
At first I felt a bit frightened of the heights!!....but as it moves so slowly, you hardly notice you are moving at all. But the sights from up there are very Impressive Indeed! It's a 30 minute trip and well worth it. Booking your tickets in advance is recommended too, as I did.
Saves waiting in a very long queue.
Next Day we saw Buckingham Palace, then walked through St James Gardens, onto Horse Guards Parade, to view the Changing of the Guard. Something i'd never seen before.
Quite a spectacle with the Guards & Horses all dressed Immaculately.
Then we walked on and past Downing St, noticing the Prime Ministers house through the gates...patrolled by armed Police of course!. Then we headed for Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery, where we spent a while looking at the Pictures. Later we headed to Covent Garden and saw the various stalls & shops which are so varied but very Interesting.
Also we Included a visit to the Theatre Museum, with its artifacts from Theatres around London and the Characters that performed on stage too.
In the evening we went to the Lyceum Theatre, to see "The Lion King" show.
A very Impressive production Indeed, with superb costumes and effects. A colourful array of Characters, the actors dressed as Animals and based on the Disney film too.
Afterwards we had a welcome Pizza!.....before heading back to our hotel.
Next day, the final day we had there, we visited the British Museum and saw the Egyptian room with the Mummies exhibition. First time i'd been there too and we only saw a small section of the Museum, as we had to head home in the afternoon. So a very nice visit to London and i enjoyed it far more than I expected. We walked to most places and used the Tube once.
Hopefully we'll see even more on another visit.

MOLDAVIA (Romania)

This Summer I visited Romania again, to see my friend Daniella there and her family.
This time we toured the Northern part, known as Bucovina, in Moldavia. A very Scenic and wonderful area Indeed. The Photos above show how varied it is I think.
We visited around 5 Monastries , which have these paintings on the walls, Inside and outside, painted centuries ago, but still largely visable even today. Many are being restored too.
The detail in the paintings is amazing. I was'nt allowed to walk around these Monastries in my Shorts!.....so I had to wear a skirt type of clothing over them. As they term it "Indecent", to have your knees on view! A bit embarrasing though to wear those.
Anyway we had great weather the whole week, other than one Thunderstorm, which soon passed. We stopped at various stages for breaks, as the distances are very long Inbetween each town. So we had to take water and food with us each day. The Countryside is very nice there and the farming methods are so more Eco Friendly than in Europe. Not many tractors in sight, but mainly scythes and pitchforks, to make Haystacks or load up Horse carts. The people working in the fields all day long, then travelling home on their Horse & Carts.
I was amazed at the Sunflower fields, which were many acres Indeed. A cheerful sight to see.
At the Monastries, the Nuns were seen there working or attending to their daily business,wearing Black clothing. Their balconies were very colourful, decked in pelagoniums all around the walls of the Monastry (Photo above). In fact all the gardens around these places were very colourful indeed and plants seem to thrive well in that area.
In the evenings we found a place to eat, mainly Pizzas and a welcome drink, after a Hot day touring around. So another Interesting holiday spent in Romania.