Schoolies Day 5 - I really should have primed my feet better

Final day of the 3 day London pass and we had an early start at Madame Tussaud’s, where we rubbed  shoulders with some waxy celebrities.  This one wasn’t on the pass, but we did get a deal for this attraction and the London Eye.

Some of the figures are really well done, some others are a little off mark.  You see many of the same figures at the displays around the wall, however London also has a Star Wars section where they have reconstructed scenes from the movies - Han Solo in the Cantina in MOs Eseley, Yoda on Dagobah, the cockpit of the Millenium Falcon, Darth Vader on the bridge in Empire and most importantly to Hayden, Princess Leia in Jabba’s Court - resplendent in her gold bikini.

Followed that with a visit to a couple of specialty shops - It’s All Rock n Roll (think Queen, AC/DC, Oasis, David Bowie, Rolling Stones etc - memorabilia and merchandise from floor to ceiling.  Across the street, the London Beatles store, where Hayden could easily have spent his life savings.  A couple of small purchases later and we made our way to the M&Ms store in Leceister Square, well after a short stop at Hamleys (London’s Biggest toy store) where we indulged ourselves of their custom shakes.  Hayden had to have the Back to the Future, while I had the Peanut Nutter Butter.

I think it’s safe to say that Hayden was decidedly underwhelmed with the M&Ms store and we only made two floors before we left to walk to Trafalgar Square.

Bathroom break required and Hayden realised why you always carry change in London.  Yep, it cost 20p to pee at Trafalgar Square public rest rooms.  Thankfully I had change so after a quick rest stop, we moved to our next tour - a Rock and Roll walking tour.  90 minutes of building spotting, trivia, history and stories about Queen, Black Sabbath, Bowie, Oasis, The Who, Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Hendrix, Eric Clapton, the Sex Pistols and others.  Biggest highlight was the foyer at Abercrombie and Fitch Jr at number 3 Saville Row - the site of the famous rooftop concert which would prove to be the last time all four of the Beatles would perform together.  Our guide was really knowledgeable and extremely passionate about music.  Pretty confident I hit a home run with that one!

Spent another hour or so walking the city after the tour - took ourselves to the Australian High Commission which moonlights as Gringotts Bank in the HP universe and then over the Millenium Bridge and walking the Southbank back to the London Eye.  First time travelling on this one for both of us - it takes a full 30 minutes to go one rotation but the views were well worth it.

We were pelted by a rain storm while waiting to get on the Eye, and we are now back at our unit exhausted from another long day.  We have a road trip booked tomorrow so it’s early to bed and early to rise ready for tomorrow’s adventure.