After a good night’s sleep, we got down to breakfast a bit after 10:00 am.

Breakfast at 45 Park Lane.
Breakfast at 45 Park Lane.

Over a nice breakfast we discussed whether we should stay the extra night in London (courtesy of Qantas cancelling our flight today) at 45 Park Lane or whether we should move to a different hotel. Given the eye-watering (even for us!) rate we’d have to pay to stay put, we decided that we’d try another hotel. We went upstairs after breakfast and packed our suitcases, ready to check out. We checked out around midday but left our luggage at 45 Park Lane so we could head off and enjoy the day in London.

We left 45 Park Lane and walked through Green Park, past St. James’s Palace, and through St. James’s Park, on our way to Westminster Abbey. There was still a lot of activity in the parks and around Buckingham Palace relating to tearing down a lot of infrastructure that was installed temporarily for the Queen’s funeral.

Andrea at St. James's Palace.
Andrea at St. James's Palace.
Andrea on The Mall.
Andrea on The Mall.
Keith on The Mall.
Keith on The Mall.
Andrea in St. James's Park (with Buckingham Palace in the background).
Andrea in St. James's Park (with Buckingham Palace in the background).
Keith in St. James's Park (with Buckingham Palace in the background).
Keith in St. James's Park (with Buckingham Palace in the background).

We got to Westminster Abbey (via a nice view of Big Ben) and joined a long queue of people to go inside. The queue moved surprisingly quickly and we were inside after only about 10 minutes of waiting. We really enjoyed looking around the abbey. We were surprised how small it was inside; it looks much bigger on television!

Westminster Abbey (with Big Ben in the background).
Westminster Abbey (with Big Ben in the background).
Westminster Abbey.
Westminster Abbey.

After looking around the abbey, we walked across the Lambeth Bridge and along the Thames River to Westminster Bridge.

Looking back at the Palace of Westminster and Big Ben, on the walk to Westminster Bridge.
Looking back at the Palace of Westminster and Big Ben, on the walk to Westminster Bridge.

We stopped at the Covid Wall, a tribute to those in the UK who died of Covid. Reading the tributes was very moving.

Andrea, at The Covid Wall.
Andrea, at The Covid Wall.

From Westminster we walked to Sloane (quite a distance!) in search of a few last-minute shopping items. The walk was very nice but after wandering around Sloane for a while, our legs were letting us know that we’d been walking for quite a long while by this stage! We decided to head back to 45 Park Lane. On the way, we saw a pretty bling Rolls Royce, covered in more than two million hand-set Swarovski crystals.

A very distinctive Rolls Royce!
A very distinctive Rolls Royce!

We got back to 45 Park Lane to pack our bags, and head to The Langham for our last night in London. But when we got back to 45 Park Lane, rather than leave straight away, we headed for the bar and relaxed with a drink and an early dessert. The Baked Alaska at 45 Park Lane is amazing, something we’ve been able to confirm every day for the last three days!

Early dessert at 45 Park Lane.
Early dessert at 45 Park Lane.

After regaining a bit of strength we collected our luggage, hopped in a taxi, and headed for The Langham. We arrived around 7:00 pm, checked in, and headed up to our room. We were upgraded to a suite, which was very nice.

Our room at The Langham.
Our room at The Langham.

Rather than have dinner straight away, we headed out for a walk down Regent Street. We went into Liberty to do a spot of shopping, before walking around the Carnaby Street area, which was very lively.

Around Carnaby Street.
Around Carnaby Street.

By this stage it was nearly 9:00 pm so we headed back to The Langham.

At The Langham.
At The Langham.

We opted for room service for dinner, a predictable but practical choice!

Room service for dinner.
Room service for dinner.

We are now heading off to bed. We have been bombarded by text messages from Qantas throughout the day informing us of on-going changes to our departure time tomorrow. We think we’re flying out at 11:30 am but we’ll see! It looks like the in-bound flight has left Perth and is on time, so fingers crossed that we get on the plane tomorrow and get back into Melbourne on Saturday evening.