London

London, more accurately Windsor, was to be the 'carrot' to get the boys to behave for the entire trip - which they usually did.

For those who don't know, Windsor is not only the home of Windsor Castle, but Legoland, the Lego equivalent of Disneyland.

After a quick drive in a minibus (and Anne sitting petrified in the back) and a short flight, we arrived at the hotel in Eton, just over the walking bridge from Windsor Castle. Off to the local for a pub lunch and then the Castle.

Despite having been dragged through countless old places in the last four weeks, the boys (and Anne) found this the most interesting.

A short guided tour of the outside, and you're left to stroll through history, from Queen Mary's Doll House, the armour and weapons, all the historic paintings, and through to the chapel where Charles and Camilla had their service after their wedding.

That night we had a fantastic Indian dinner in a local restaurant which dated back to 1420 (although it probably wasn't an Indian restaurant then ...)

Legoland

Finally, what the boys had been waiting for. We had been told to arrive half an hour before opening time to make sure you get in, and the waiting times for most rides were 45 minutes, but when we got there, we found that there was almost no one there as it wasn't school holidays (although there were some school groups visiting later) and the weather was that wonderful gray that only London can provide (and cold).

This all worked in our favour, and we had almost free run of the place, rarely having to wait for anything. The highlights of the visit were Mini Land, which had scenes from all over the world built in Lego (kept the boys entertained for ages - never seen Ben run so fast from exhibit to exhibit), Boat Driver Training (little electric boats you control around a circuit - which degenerated into a racing session between Anne/Sam and John/Ben) and Driver Training where it was strictly one to a car as you can see here. Even Ben had a really good go at this, but with all that time in Italy, kept driving on the wrong side of the road!

London Photos here

A quick drive up the country to look at Marlow, Henley and High Wickham (where John almost got a job a couple of years back) and it was off to the airport five hour early (or so we thought...)

Turns out it was five hours late, as the person making to booking had changed midnight on one day to midday the next when changing the schedule, and I hadn't picked it up. Not usually a problem out of London as there are so many flights, but all the flights were overbooked!

A long wait in the bar, and we were lucky to get standby seats out of there, which were actually earlier than we originally thought the flights were (really lucky - we were looking at staying overnight again, and the following day was just as overbooked!). Anne was happy to be out of there.

 

 

 

 

 

Singapore

Final stop on the way home was Singapore to meet up with Steve and Kerrie (Steve is one of the boys' Godfathers)

After a quick cleanup, it was off to Boat Quay for Thai. Great food, with a gentle wind cooling down a hot night in Singapore made the evening great.

A Long sleep-in the following day saw Benny sick, so he and Anne stayed in the hotel all day while John, Sam and Steve went out to breakfast, followed by a trip to the Tamil/Hindu Sri Mariamman Temple.

When we arrived there was a service going on, so we got to see all the action - Noise, music, smoke, and lots of 'washing and feeding' statues. Really an eye-opener and recommended if you visit Singapore.

A quick swim at Steve and Kerrie's and it was off to the lounge at the airport to be pampered.

Singapore Photos here

Postscript

Uneventful flight home although we were all tired.

For years, John flew the region and Anne couldn't understand why he was so tired after the 'holiday' he had - "but you slept on the plane..." was the typical line.

Now she knows! Jet lag is wreaking it's revenge on the great time, although it does not seem to have effected the boys at all.

Had a great time, saw lots of things, can't believe how much the boys had grown physically and mentally on the trip. Both are now much more confident (and can ask for the bill in Italian). Thoroughly recommended even though we could have spent at least one more day in each location.