Guided Tour of London, August 31

A big welcome to our three sailors: Veronica, Andrew and Mohsen. They've been travelling by boat since about page 280 on the longest-running thread on the Penpal forum, Let's learn together. So far they have travelled through the Baltic Sea from Aland Island, on a world journey. Veronica has been cooking, Andrew has been fishing and drinking, and Mohsen has been thinking up ways to make money and finance their journey. They now have enough money to visit London and take it easy for a day or so to see the sights.

I think you should sail up the Thames from Gravesend. Click here to see an overview of South East England:

http://www.360cities.net/area/europe

You'll come up through Tower Bridge. Don't worry, I'll arrange for them to pull up the bottom of the bridge so you can sail through.

Rather than spending money on a hotel (very expensive in London) you can moor on the Thames. I'll try and get you as close as possible to HMS Belfast, a very impressive warship.

"HMS Belfast is one of the two ships forming the final sub-class of the Royal Navy's Town-class cruisers. Commissioned shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War, Belfast spent much of the early war years undergoing extensive repairs after being heavily damaged by a German mine. Returning to action in late 1942, she saw action escorting Arctic convoys to the Soviet Union during 1943 and participated in the Battle of North Cape. In 1944 Belfast supported the D-Day landings of Operation Overlord. She saw further action during the Korean War.

Decommissioned in 1963 following a number of overseas tours Belfast was initially expected to be disposed of as scrap. After a campaign by a private trust, she was preserved as a museum ship in the Pool of London. Opened to the public in 1971 Belfast has been maintained as a branch of the Imperial War Museum since 1978."
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Belfast_%28C35%29

I then suggest walking along the South Bank of the Thames to London Bridge. We can cross over the Thames here and walk up to Bank Underground station. We're now in the financial area of London – the City, as it's known. Lots of banks and financial institutions have their headquarters here.

From Bank station we can hop on a Central line tube and go to Oxford Circus, so Veronica can go shopping.

Careful of the traffic – remember we drive on the left in the UK.

I think I'll leave you here for a few hours. Veronica, you can try John Lewis department store (between Oxford Circus and Bond Street station) for a hijab. Mohsen and Andrew: there are plenty of shops for men's clothes too. Be careful as you walk up towards Tottenham Court Road station. If you take a right hand turn down any one of the streets you'll end up in Soho. Lots of great restaurants and pubs, but also once famous for its sex industry…

Are you hungry yet? Shall we keep going or stop for a bite to eat? If we arrange to meet up at the corner of Oxford Street and Tottenham Court Road, we can turn right and walk down Charing Cross Road. My favourite shop of all time is here: Foyles Bookshop. While I'm browsing through the books, I recommend you go up to the Jazz cafe and enjoy some English tea and cake, while listening to some cool tunes!

Then a brisk walk to the London Eye via Trafalgar Square, and Charing Cross.

We could take an evening ride on the London Eye. It's open until 9pm, so maybe we should try and get there at about 6pm.

Because you've walked miles and miles today, I think we can take a traditional black cab to a restaurant for dinner. I've chosen an Indian restaurant, very close to where you're moored at Tower Bridge. It's called Cafe Spice Namaste, and the food is fantastic. We traditionally drink beer with Indian food, but they also serve wondeful mango lassis, which I think Mohsen will like. Let's try to get there for about 8pm, because my husband will meet us there with a present for you all.

Her name is Micia (pronounced "Mee-sha") and she's keen to accompany you on the rest of your voyage. She's great at catching mice, and she doesn't eat very much. As the ship's cat, she'll also provide you with lots of company and love. She doesn't need her own bed to sleep in, but she loves to doze in a hammock. Please take good care of her – we'll miss her terribly while she's gone, but your need is greater than ours!

Happy sailing!

Photo credits:
Tower Bridge Damo1977
HMS Belfast DavidCJones
London Underground Anniemole
Oxford Street Markhillary
London Eye Mauricedb
Black cab Burge5000