Nariz del Diablo

The beautiful, and slightly scary views, from the top of the "Nariz del Diablo" train ride in central Ecuador. Its not everyday of the week you get to sit ontop of the train your riding!

Time to catch-up!

I think its been over a month since my last proper post, and a few weeks since I managed to put the photos on, so a decent update is well ovedue!

Since the last real post from Baños, I´ve ridden on top of the Nariz del Diablo train, stayed in the beautiful village of Vilcabamba (Ecuador), visited the very interesting Sun and Moon Temples in Trujillio, trekked in the stunning Cordilliera Blanca, checked out the fascinating Inca ruins of the Sacred Valley around Cusco, and been to Cañon del Colca to check out the cruising Condors (Peru). And along the way I´ve met some great friends too, who´ve added even more fun to the adventures.

I´ll sort out the Machu Picchu photos when I get a chance, but here are the best of the rest for the moment.

Photos so far

Right, there's lots of them, and I must warn you that not all of them are that interesting or make sense.... AND I haven't put titles on them.... but here are links to the albums of all my photos on the trip so far.

Hope you enjoy them all, and don't say I didn't warn you about how many there are!

Ecuador 1: Quito, Mitad del Mundo, and more Quito.

Ecuador 2: Otavalo, Cotopaxi, Quilotoa and Baños

Ecuador 3: more Baños, Nariz del Diablo train, Cuenca and Vilcabamba

Peru 1: The Andean road into Peru, Temples of the Sun and the Moon, Huaraz and the Cordilliera Blanca.

The next few weeks will revolve around Cusco, the Inca Trail, and then Arequipa I think. So hope you like these photos as there's lots more mountains to come!

And so to Peru

Well, its three weeks into the South America leg of this trip, and I've now made it to Peru. And it was quite an effort to get here too! Left Loja in southern Ecuador at 7am, and arrived here in Piura, northern Peru, at about 5pm. Yes TEN hours, and we (Tom from the USA, who I'm travelling with for a bit) are due to spend another six hours to head south to Trujillo tonight, and then... hopefully.... we'll have another eight hours tomorrow morning to Huaraz.

That trip should be worth the time though as Huaraz and the Cordilleria Blanca part of the Andes are supposed to contain some of the most beautiful and breath-taking scenery, hiking and trekking on the whole continent.

So, with three hours before our bus leaves, what do you do on a Friday night in an incredibly hectic and hot city such as Piura (which I hope to leave still having all my valuables and other bits attached to me). Head for the Internet of course!!! If anyone has any other bright ideas then please let me on a postcard to the usual address! Haha!

A volcano in action

This is the sight that welcomes you to Baños. The local volcano shooting a column of ash and dust high into the air, just as it has done for the last 6 years or so since it became active again. It took two years to be down-graded to amber than yellow alert, and for life to return as to locals reclaimed their city. (click the photo for a bigger version.. I hope.)

So now to Baños!

The scenery in the Andes is quite literally breath-taking (especially when trying to climb it!). The roads winding away from Latacunga to Quilotoa, and here arond the town of Baños provide beautiful look-out spots from which to take it all in. On our hike up the hill, we met a very friendly local, Carlos, who works for the civil defence force in monitoring the very much active volcano that currently overlooks the city. Officially no-one should be in this city, but its been on yellow alert for about 4 years now and no-one seems particularly concerned as daily life continues fairly normally.

Not again!!

Laslo and I consider the enjoyment of a hike at 4000m for the second time in two days, and also the possibilitiy of an eruption, and how much fun that could be!!

Laguna Quilotoa

Izzy considers going for a swim in the lake that's formed inside the crater of Quilotoa. Another active but largely dormant volcano in central Ecuador. At 4000m high at the tip of the rim, its another breathless hike down into, and back up the crater.

Real celebrations!

Laslo and I decided to celebrate in a slightly different way! Someone in the climbers refuge decided it would be a great idea to sell beer there... so what else could we do?! "Possibly the highest beer in the World?!" Haha!

Reward!

Here Laslo and Kate (on exchange from Germany and Belgium) relax with Izzy at reaching the refuge. Kate had brought some of her birthday cake from last week to celebrate with (which Izzy really enjoyed!)

Volcan Cotopaxi

This is from the climb up the currently dormant Volcano Cotopaxi, in central Ecuador. From the car park at 4500m to the climbers refuge at 4800m may not seem a great distance, but the altitude and soft volcanic sands make it very slow and hard going.

Mmmmmm!

Apart from steaks, South America isn't really known for its food. Well, in the market town of Otavalo, there are fantastic bakeries that happen to sell delicious slices of cakes for just 50c... perfect as dessertfor hungry "gringos" and polarbears alike. You have no idea of the will-power it took to not eat this straight away. There's only a few people who I know that make better cakes... but I won't embarrass them on here as I'm sure they already know.

...OR is THIS the Mitad del Mundo?!

Actually they all are, but strictly speaking the first one is 270m out. Yes, that's the monument that has been placed where the French explorers calculated the equator to be about 300 years ago. However, the ancient pre-Inca tribes had plotted it ontop of the hill (hopefully you can see a small mound where a semi-circle and tree mark the spot), and this line goes exactly through the equator, which has its own unofficial museum next to the "official" one.

The unofficial one that actually goes overthe equator is best, as here you get to try balancing an egg on the head of a nail (which I managed to do and got a certificate for - yeay me!!!), something which is virtually impossible off the equator apparently, watch the water go down plug-holes different ways, and loads of other cool stuff.

... Or is THIS the Mitad del Mundo?.....

(See that little mound on the top of the hill?... thats the important bit!)

Is this the Mitad del Mundo (middle of the World)?...

Izzy's making friends

Time for a decent update I hope! In Quito, Izzy made friends with Dan (from Bournemouth). Here they are checking out the UNESCO World Heritage site Old Town, which is overlooked by the "Virgen de la Quito".

"Goodbye" to the North!

Just a quick entry for this occasion. I´m leaving Otavalo today (which is just North of Quito, and the equator) and heading South. So this means, that unless something really unexpected happens, I´ll be in the Southern hemisphere for the next two months until flying back to Canada.
Now this may not seem that important in real terms, but, when most of your life you get used to the rest of the world mostly being south of you, it kind of messes with your mind to have that totally reversed. (Kind of like someone saying Cardiff City are a really good football team!!!)

So on that happy note I shall wish you all a Happy Easter, and see you on the flip-side (of the Globe)!

More Niagara Falls

As Izzy was going, Amanda & I decided to go along as well.... just to keep her company of course! So here we are infront of the Canadian "horseshoe" Falls. How Izzy got her paws on the camera I don´t know!

Izzy visits the Falls!

Before leaving Canada for South America, Izzy took a day trip to Niagara Falls, and very impressed she was too. I´m hoping she didn´t have any ideas about jumping in for some fish!!

Izzy was loving the look of all that ice from the American Falls.

One BIG Trophy!

I don't think there is a bigger trophy in the sporting world (although the European Cup comes pretty close I think). Anyway, if you make it to Toronto and have any interest in ice hockey then a trip to the Hockey Hall of Fame is unmissable.
And the highlight is getting your photo taken with the Stanley Cup! It was actually formed in Britain and then brought over to North America. So thats quite a nice bit of British involvement in hockey history.

More snow!

Looks even more impressive when you see a whole street covered.

One last bit of news on this update. Congratulations to the Cardiff Devils ice Hockey team (yes I've been managing to follow from this side of the Atlantic) for winning the British Knockout Cup 3-0 in Coventry against the Blaze last week.
A great result and fantastic reward to the whole team and supporters after what's been a pretty messy and very hard-working season. Well done everyone and roll-on the play-offs!

Proper winter!

For those of us from the UK, even the threat of a few cm of snow is often enough to bring the country to a grinding holt! So how does the rest of the world cope when there's a little more of the white stuff flying around. Well check out these pics from Orillia after a "real winter snow storm"!

All this fell in about one 4-day snowfall.

Photos from St David's Night

So we did manage to make it out for a mini-celebration on St David's day, and while no-one else in the bar had a clue what we were doing, it was nice to at least have a little bit of fun with the flag!

Amanda looks pretty comfortable wrapped-up in a nice Welsh Dragon!

And here we see Izzy trying to steal my pint as I get into the celebrating mood! (Cheeky polar-bear!)

Happy St. David's Day

Bore da!
Just a quick message to say Happy St. David's Day to everyone back home in Wales, and infact everyone around the world. Hope you have a very good day and enjoy celebrating your "Welsh-ness." I find a few pints of Brains usually helps with that!
Hwyl!

Winter in Toronto

Well the snow finally came, and this is how the city looks covered in a blanket of white.

Izzy discovers Marshmallow Fluff.

Imagine the sweet creamy centre of a marshmallow. Now imagine that being put into jars and sold en masse for people to eat without the pain of all that chewing! Now imagine putting that infront of Izzy!!! It didn't last long I can assure you!!

Is that the time?!

I really did have good intentions of updating this far more often, but the last couple of weeks have been rather hectic to say the least. So finally, Happy New Year to everyone (make that Chinese New Year as it was yesterday, and doesnt seem anywhere near as out of date then) and to make up for it all I'm going to put up a bonus set of updates and photos today. Yippee!

After a very warm and mild start to winter here in Toronto, Mother Nature finally bit back in January. It -15c (wind chill of about -30c) three weeks here, which means it feels totally tropical to be a balmy +2c outside today!!!!

Ice Hockey Star meets World Famous International Backpacker

When Toronto Marlies Assistant Captain and centreman Kris Newbury heard I was attending the game against Milwaukee (along with Dave - see earlier post) a couple of weeks ago, he couldn't wait to meet me after the game. "Hearing that Owain was in town, and then that he was going to be watching me playing was such a thrill. I couldn't pass up the chance to impress him and really show what I could do on the ice." Kris may, or may not, have said in a post match interview.

Since that meeting, Kris's career (we're on first name terms now!) has taken a marked upward turn, and while the Marlies have not been in exactly red-hot form, Kris has been playing well, and as a run of injuries took their toll on the NHL Maple Leafs team, he was called up for his first NHL appearence last night in Pittsburgh against the Penguins. Sadly a weakened Leafs team, totally unaided by some incredibly incompetent officiating, lost 4-1, conceding 3 goals in the final period, but Kris played a solid game, and even laid a couple of good hits on Sydney Crosby.

I think its clear for all to see that, I am infact the catalyst for Kris Newbury's blossoming all-star NHL career, and if any other potential hockey greats need a helping hand I am more than willing to offer them the opportunity for an autograph and photo session. Just drop me a note at the usual address or add a handy comment here with your contact details!

Have fun everyone and join in with me again please:

"Go Leafs Go! Go Leafs Go!"

Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Just one last Christmas post I think. Here's a photo of Amanda's family on Christmas Day. A good day was had by all, and even my cooking went down well..... which is always a nice surprise to me. A big thank you to everyone up here in Orillia who has made me feel so welcome. if I couldn't be home for Christmas, then I think this is the next best thing.

(l to r): Thelma (family friend), Aunt Lois, Grandma Marion, and Amanda.

Christmas wishes to you all, and especially those of you back in sunny South Wales who I'm not with at this special time of year. Take care and have fun everyone.

Izzy's Christmas

Here we see Izzy preparing to tackle the excellent Christmas Dinner. The butternut squash and homemade (British style) stuffing were her personal favourites. I did attempt an "after" photo as well.... but the scene of carnage and destruction left by a small backpacking polar bear in the middle of Christmas dinner was too horrific to be broadcast to a family audience!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

Just a message to wish all our friends and family around the world a very Merry Christmas and a Happy 2007. We hope you are all having as fun, happy and special festive season as we are.

love Amanda, Owain & Izzy (of course!)

Quick Update

Just a quick update from me now. Been very busy and very hectic since I last had chance to do anything on here, so this is it!
I'm still over the Atlantic in Canada, and having a great time doing loads of cool stuff.... including ice skating at Trinity-Bell Square in Toronto (an outdoor rink by the city hall which has a great atmosphere there), and hanging out with some friends from the hostel in the Eaton Centre.


Friends from the hostel in Toronto. One of us all infront of the Christmas tree there. Those sparkly bits aren't lights, they are infact crystal decorations!!! Very Expensive crystal decorations! (from l to r): Emily, Ben, Me, Amanda & Dave again.



A nice one of me and Amanda skating. Look, you can stop laughing now! The thought of me on ice skates isn't THAT daft.... I didn't even fall over once! Yeay Me!

A new arrival!

Along with Richard and Karen (congratualtions guys..... and welcome Max. A little playmate for Ozzy!), I've had a new arrival in my life. Every traveller needs a mascot, and after Barry's success in the tournament, I got a little white Canadian Post polar bear to keep me company. So say hello to Izzy from St. Isidore please everyone.

Here Izzy is enjoying the Toronto Marlies v Milwaukee Admirals AHL game from the stands. The Marlies won 4-2! Yeay!


Izzy's quick to make friends with a fellow backpacker. Dave from Middlesbrough was a top lad who I hung out with for a few days in TO.

The Final

After a tough first period the guys found themselves 2-0 down, but played amazingly well to come back to 2-2, and then out-skated their oppontents to win 4-2. Sorry, camera batteries ran out (typical eh?!) during the celebrations, but this shot is just before the comeback, as the Capitals (in red this time) start the decisive 5-on-3 powerplay they subsequently score 2 goals from.

Barry's Tournament

Its been a hectic week, and now I have the chance to catch up a bit. Last weekend I was back in Ottawa staying with my wonderful family there. It also happened to be a tournament for Barry's hockey team in the nearby town of St. Isidore. Of course, this meant more photos as we cheered on the boys from the sidelines. Never thought i'd be a "hockey mum" .... or in this case, cousin, but guess I am now!

Here Barry winds up for a slap shot which forced the keeper into a smart save.


Frasor's shut-out (sorry if I've spelt your name wrong) in the semi-final was a fantastic effort and well deserved.

All my photos so far!

If you have either the time or inclination to check out my photos so far, then I've started uploading them onto my online Kodak gallery, which is quite handy indeed. (Some of them are pretty dodgy though... especially the ones with me in!)

There's ones from downtown Ottawa, a few more from the game, the sights of Montreal lit-up for Christmas (including of the window of the Hudson Bay company for you Mum!), two of Sylvie's flatmates (Trisha and Butters), and lots of Barry's hockey tournament from last weekend, in-which they won the B-group! More of that in an email update soon...ish!

There's also photos from Rich and Karen's wedding in the summer... finally!!!
So follow the links below!

Canada Photos part 1

Rich and Karen's Wedding

Enjoy! (and let me know if theres any problems and I'll try to sort them out)

Last photos from "Ottowaaaahhhhh".

Does anyone know just WHAT a 25' high spider is doing outside a church?! (Actually its outside the Ottawa Art Gallery, and across the road from the church, but the photo was too good to miss!)



Here's a really cool one from the game. They put this effect on the ice when the US anthem was being played before the game, but sadly didn't do the same for the Canadian anthem, as that would have looked really excellent.

Sens go Wild over Minnesota!

Here's a few pictures of Barry and me at the Ottawa Senators v Minnesota Wild NHL ice hockey match last week. As you can see we were up in the gods, but still had a tremendous view of the action. Ottawa won 5-3, and all round was a great game.

The view from our seats in Scotiabank Place.

Barry and me getting ready to enjoy the game. The Minnesota fans infront of us didn't enjoy the result too much!

Ottawa... The city that eats Beaver....

... Tails!!

And here is a chocolate hazelnut variety of the species! Best eaten hot on cold winter days!

The Ice-Man cometh!

My cousin Barry is quite a hockey player over here. He plays for the South Ottawa Capitals junior team who have been having a good season so far, finishing runners-up in a tournament last week, and looking forward to another one next weekend. No matches this week, but I headed down to their training session to catch a look at them, and here's a couple of photos of him.


Never know.... you might actually even get me on a set of skates sometime!! HAHA!!

"Leaving on a Jet plane...."

So this is it then! My first post on my travels, and its kind of a strange feeling. Great to be off and going again, exciting at thinking of everything I'm hoping to see and do, but sad to be leaving everyone back home and all the memories. But these things have to be done I guess.
Although it nearly didn't happen at all! Thanks to some slightly over-cautious officials at Cardiff airport, who insisted on knowing all my travel plans and the contents of my bank balance, and EVEN called the Canadian High Commission in London before I could check-in. Now I know I'm important... but really this is just too much! ;-)

Anyway, got into Toronto ontime and made it too the hostel before heading out with a couple of guys for my first Canadian beer in quite a while, but very welcome it was. So all in it was gone 5am UK time before I got to bed, and then yesterday was a nice 5hr coach trip up from Toronto to Ottawa where I'm staying with family here.
I'd forgotten just how hectic the Ottawa traffic is, but arriving in rush hour certainly reminds you quickly.

So there we go, the first of many posts I suspect. Not that interesting, but I'm alive and well and being very well looked after by my family here, and its great to see them again. So please feel free to leave some comments or drop me an email, I love hear from you all.
Until next time,
See ya later.

"Closing time"

Today is my last day at work, and then its two weeks to get everything sorted and ready before I go. I'm going to be trying not to get emotional about it, but I'm sure part of me will. It’s very rarely the job that creates this reaction, but down to the people who make it. Looking forward to seeing them everyday, and then missing them when you don't see them.

So today is a strange one. On one hand its exciting and nervy realising that this really is it and how close I now am to another little trip, but yet also a bit sad and down hearted. Saying good bye to everyone in Llandaff who I've had such a great time working with for the best part of two years. And they've had to put up with my horrendous jokes, which deserves a medal itself!

We've had some really great times, and here are a few memories that spring to immediately to mind. Two attempts at the summer regatta. First time not even winning a race, and then this year, winning every race and the whole competition! What a fantastic turnaround. All those early morning training sessions on the river before work, the closed-eyes rowing, and then on our final practice, opposite-side rowing! How good was that feeling when we crossed the final winning line guys?!
Then the annual January event this year down in London. Highlights including, (but not limited to!) Beth's new black make-up (any idea where that came from?!), the fire alarm (she was nothing to do with me... HONEST!), taking photos as all the Cardiff lot took over the dance floor, and Paul's excellent protesting signs.

Debbie, my partner-in-crime throughout our time there. How did we make it through training together? I don't know, but it was fun getting there eventually! Beth who helped with my disaster of a love-life and always there to cheer you up. Rob, who fortunately only realised he could bowl with about four rounds left, and believed the best way to cross a river was THROUGH it! And then Tony. Friday lunchtimes, following the OBO, and getting the last bus home through Creigiau just won’t be the same without you mate. And thanks for all the lifts too. I think you won our pool matches 1000 - 1, but look out I'm on a one-game winning streak!

I could sit here all day and write something about everyone here and still not cover it all, so I’m sorry I can’t mention you all, but I will remember you all and smile at the great times. If only there wasn’t the work to get in the way eh?! And I even did some work occasionally too!

Thank you all for a fantastic 18 months and some great memories.

Karma!

Awesome!
There truly must be some greater sense of being or justice or karma in this world I think. Not mroe than two days after publicly defending the Goo Goo Dolls, and slagging off (quite rightly) Ronan Keating, an email goes round the office. "Two free pairs of tickets to see the Goo Goo Dolls tomorrow night. Reply if interested."
That is quite possibly the quickest reply I've ever written, which most of you will know is very impressive given my usual rate of one a month!
And so that is how I found myself in Cardiff Uni Students Union with the biggest smile on my face. What a fantastic night and an amazing concert! Of course the highlight of the set was Iris, with the whole audience singing their hearts out, and it sounded unbelieveable... all the heart, soul and feeling in the room came out in one go. The energy rush as the first chord sounded was off the chart.

Altogether now:
"and I don't want the world to see me, cos I don't think that they'd understand,
when everything's made to be broken,
I just want you to know who I am,
I just want you to know who I am!"

Photos from Leicester and London.

Rich, Karen and Ozzy. Happy Birthday mate. Was great to see you all again. This was the only time in the whole weekend we managed to get Ozzy to sit still..... and what a poser he is eh?!

London and the Thames looking its radiant best on a beautiful Autumn day. This view is from Waterloo Bridge, looking back up the river with the obvious London Eye on the South Bank, and Houses of Parliament on the North.

The West entrance of Westminster Abbey. Didnt have time for a proper look otherwise I'd still be there now...... maybe!

A blog of two halves!

To kick off... I'm still in a fab mood. This is almost slightly concerning now. I mean, its been like, about a decade since I last felt like wiping the smile off my face. One of the reasons is THIS. Now i'm ignoring the mess that is the Welsh international football team, but the mighty bloooobirds are quite a different story at the moment. FOURTEEN goals in four games, packed home games and playing brilliant football. I still fear the worst that it will all come crashing down (well it's happenend often enough before), and we almost play too much good football. Whether we'll be able to play when its wet, muddy and blowing a gale may be interesting, but right now I'm over the moon with the City.
Lots of other great stuff has been going on too, and the good thing about going away for ages is its a good excuse to try and see and catch-up with as many people as possible, and go out doing as much with those people as possible. Although all this going out does dent the bank balance a little, which hopefully wont jeopodise the whole trip thing!
And even more, as I get closer to my leaving day (which should be Nov 9th), I'm getting even more excited about the whole. Slightly nervous, but excited more than anything!

The second half is time for a rant! Been wanting to do this for ages, but just not been in a bad enough mood to do it properly... so this is a forced rant, to finally get all the issues out in the open!
First and most importantly..... Someone do something very very painful to Ronan Keating AND Will Young! Both currently jointly occupy top spot on my "top ten" list, so any pain or misfortune that could accidently occur to either of them would be most welcome. Will Young is there ofr just being permanently annoying and singing lots and lots of really very crap and annoying songs, but Ronan has done it all in one swoop! By covering the Goo-Goo Dolls fantastic "Iris" he has committed a real crime against humanity and should have his mouth sealed shut forever. A song that was pretty damn close to perfection in my personal opinion, has now had all the heart, soul and feeling sucked out of it and been left puffing, panting and wheezing its last breath of life on local radio stations all over Britain!

Sadly though its just one part of the horrible trend of music at the moment to cover songs that really dont need to be covered.... at all....... EVER! The horrendouos version of Queen's "Dont stop me now" that *spit* McFly *spit* thrust upon us, and all the great 80s songs being ripped off by dodgy, cheap and unoriginal pop-dance music. No-one growing up now realises just how good or important these songs were when they were originally done... or that they were originals in the first place!
Rant over... back into good mood mode!

Just getting warmed up

I have to be in the right mood for a visit to London. If you feel up for it, its a fantastic city to visit, explore and generally lose yourself in. But if you're not, it feels like the most soulless, lonely, and miserable city on the planet! So as you can imagine, turning up over 1 1/2 hours late, thanks to the M4, at Victoria coach station, knowing I'd already missed my train up to Leicester (from St Pancras... basically from the southern to northern end of central London) meant i was in a tremendous mood for the thrills and spills of the English Capital!

Little aside bit here: those of you who know the rough geography of the UK (and some of you did a geography degree with me... so own up!), will be aware that the most direct route from Cardiff to Leicester does not involve going through London (someone decided to build Birmingham in the middle of that way!). But those of you also familiar with the public transport system of the UK will also be aware, that trying to get anywhere on some weekends is nigh on impossible without pitching camp on a tesco forecourt and begging for scraps to feed you on the long lonely crawl home. And so thus it was that I came to be going from Cardiff, down the M4 to London, and then up the Midland Mainline (thankfully NOT the M1 - do i look like i enjoy torture on Britains motorways?!?!) to the fine East Midlands city of Leicester.

Fortunately, Friday evening the whole ordeal of getting from Victoria to St Pancras only took 30 mins, (when youve spent 4 hours on a bus to get there in the first place... 30 mins is a joy) and so I was left to the delightful people on Midland Mainline, who having heard my tale of woe that resulted in missing my original train, preceeded to take pity on me and give me a lovely trip up to Leicester to finally meet up with Rich and Karen for the weekend.

Having not seen them since their wedding in the summer (for which I was very honoured to be Rik's best man, and yes, there will be an update with photos etc....... eventually. I'm looking at sometime around 2012 at my current update rate!) it was long overdue...... and also Rik had my Quake 3 cd!
So two days of chatting, chilling out, watching South Park, eating take aways (its was Rik's turn to cook Saturday night), playing on the Xbox and with Ozzy, and generally catching-up passed away far too quickly. As these times always do!

So Sunday lunctime back on the train to London which not only got there on-time, but half an hour early, in the middle of a gorgeous, warm, sunny autumn day. And obviously I was now most definitely in the mood for London, so decided to use my spare two hours to have a leisurely stroll down from St Pancras to Victoria. It was lovely strolling through the restaurants of Holborn and theatres of Covent Garden. I crossed over the river on Waterloo Bridge, and had a wander along the South Bank from there to the London Eye, which was teeming with book fairs, mime artists and street performers, all lining the bank of the Thames. And then back over Westminster Bridge, past the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Palace, and upto Victoria station. Ok I cut it a little fine, but it was well worth it.