The Lord Mayor of London is the City of London’s mayor, not to be confused with the mayor of greater London. He’s an important figure and is only subordinate to the Queen. Each year, a new Lord Mayor is elected and inaugurated with a parade, the so-called Lord Mayor’s Show. This year, the 800th of these shows takes place and we’ve got tickets for the [Weiterlesen]

We allow ourselves a slow start in Bristol, get up late and have pancakes and bacon for breakfast at Frankie & Benny’s. Afterwards, we drive around the university area where Gabi got her master’s diploma as a translator. There are mostly normal-sized buildings in Bristol and the uni resp. the School of Modern Languages is no exception. We drive over a suspension bridge that is [Weiterlesen]

In Cardiff in Wales, we visit the Doctor Who Experience. Doctor Who is a British Science Fiction series more or less unknown in Switzerland. The experience starts with a show in which our group helps to land the Tardis and find energy crystals in different Doctor Who set-ups to save the Earth. Then, it’s the museum part with lots of screen-used costumes, Daleks and other [Weiterlesen]

Today, Jess and her father are showing us Liverpool. The city belongs to the Unesco world heritage as has a lot to offer. In the old town, there are lots of huge old buildings – museums, art galleries, theatres. It’s Remembrance Day today and people are gathering in front of St. George’s Hall (the first and second photo) for two minutes of silence in honour [Weiterlesen]

The Trafford Centre in Manchester is the UK’s second largest shopping mall as far as retail space is concerned. We’re here to verify. 😉 And are a bit taken aback by the kitschy Rokkoko decorations in the inside. But, as time goes by, we must admit: They really made an effort to offer their customers a versatile shopping experience. Especially the food court area looks [Weiterlesen]

In the afternoon, it’s getting wilder! We’ve booked a Land Rover driving experience, in a Defender of course. Marc, our instructor, is a real hard core guy. He’s travelling all over the world to test and show off Land Rovers. We was in Norway recently to drive one on a frozen lake. He’d be taking us where other instructors don’t dare to go and, no [Weiterlesen]

During World War II, spitfire war planes were produced in Solihull. Afterwards, Rover was able to take over the factory where they started producing the Defender in 1948, a utility vehicle which only slightly changed in appearance over time and is being built here since. It’s THE expedition vehicle and the first car countless people in remote areas of Africa, South America and Asia have [Weiterlesen]

We start the day with a breakfast with Caroline, Peter and Jack at the nearby garden centre. They have a café with a great food offer, a large Christmas section, fishes and small pets. After breakfast, we say goodbye to them and head off in direction of Birmhingham. On our journey north, we stop at Bicester Village, an outdoor outlet mall with all kind of [Weiterlesen]

We pick up Caroline and head back to London. Yes, again. We’ve got tickets for the Wahaca Day of the Dead festival. We arrive at a former shopping mall at Tobacco Dock where the festival takes place. Here, we’re a bit disappointed by the lack of atmosphere and the very few places to eat. There’s only a Wahaca diner and a DF Mexico diner and [Weiterlesen]

Today, Gabi has got some surprises planned for me. First, we head to north-east London to ‘God’s own junkyard’. It’s a showroom of an old family company that produces neon signs and other advertising with lights. These are mere examples of what they can do, the seller explains to us. A lot is produced according to the customers’ specifications. Their neon art is often used [Weiterlesen]