London Day 8 It's all in the family!

London Day 8 It's all in the family!

Our second cousin Audrey

Had a delightful day today as I just cruised around London, after meeting up with my cousin Audrey.
Our grandmothers were sisters, and my Nana, Florence Georgina, was the only one to migrate to Australia, whereas the rest of our family stayed in the UK, mostly around Leicester... hence the reason for my visit there next week.

So we had never met before and we had arranged to meet on the steps of St Martin in the Fields at Trafalgar Square.

So was an easy train ride into town... got off at Piccadilly Circus, because it was pretty hot in the train and thought I would walk down.

Piccadilly Circus

Piccadilly Circus

As you can see, it was yet again a beautiful day in London. Sun was out and it was quite  warm.

So, once we met up, Audrey suggested we go to the Opera House to have coffee and of course  I agreed. As we walked, Audrey pointed out various landmarks and institutions, so I captured a few of them...

St Paul's Church - where the actors go..

St Paul's Church - where the actors go..

Then we walked through Covent Garden, which I don't remember doing before...

Covent Garden

Covent Garden

Covent Garden

Then we arrived at our destination - The Royal Opera House where there was a lovely coffee shop up on the first floor.

The Royal Opera House

View from the coffee shop

The Royal Opera House from the front

Inside The Royal Opera House

Of course, I was right in my element with all the kultcha around me again.... Its amazing how much culture can be in one town!

We had a lovely chat and talked at length about our common heritage. Our great grandfather was a man called T B Hunt (Thomas Bernard) and apparently  he was a very wealthy fishmonger around Leicester. His first wife died and he re-married. Lots of long stories about all the children but the short version is Audrey's Grandmother had to split up her family when her Grandfather died, and Audrey's Dad didn't really know a lot of  his siblings.

But it is always good to discover family, even on the other side of the world, because we did not have much contact with our rellies in the UK until recently.

So, our next move was to walk through the back streets of London (thank God for local knowledge) with the aim of eventually reaching the Cable Car that goes over the River Thames.

We passed the Law Courts Building..

Law Courts

Law Courts Chapel is above this structure

And we went through Lincoln's Inn Fields

Lincoln's Inn Fields

Then we eventually hopped back on the DLR line and went to the Royal Victoria Station which is beside the river and the beginning of the Cable Car experience.

Cable Car over the Thames

As it was such a beautiful day, and half term holidays, we had a bit of a wait, but that was ok...

We eventually  got on to one of these...

Cable car

 Here's some views from what proved to be a pretty quick trip

Views from Cable Car

Views from Cable Car

Views from Cable Car

Views from Cable Car

Views from Cable Car

Views from Cable Car

View of Millennium Dome

 So, once we landed it was lunchtime and we chose to go into the Millennium Dome where they was a multitude of choices for lunch. We went to a restaurant called "Harvester" which was a bit like Sizzlers.

The O2

The O2 and me!

So we had a lovely lingering lunch and shared more family stories and more about our common heritage. I can see a real resemblance to our Nolan side of the family in Audrey, and its amazing to think we have all these extra people who are part of our family and are yet to be discovered.

It was a lovely, relaxing day for me. It was so good to connect with family, and also to see London through the eyes of a local. She took me to places I would never have thought of going and showed me a different side to London. Thanks Audrey for a great day... :)

Yet another twist and turn  in this intriguing journey of mine....!!!