Flying High Over London

Although it was a fine, sunny evening for our boat trip, there was quite a cool wind blowing, so by the time we disembarked, our fur was standing on end with the cold. We went into the former County Hall to warm up prior to our London Eye flight and found a warm radiator to sit on. We soon had toasty bottoms and warm paws.


We were very lucky to get a pod almost to ourselves. As a result there was lots of room and we could move round to test out the various views. As we started to rise we found it very funny seeing legs in the sky above us.

We didn't have to get very high to start enjoying some wonderful dusk views over London.


Not surprisingly, while the rest of us were identifying famous buildings, Eddie was paying more attention to the river traffic.

As we rose even higher London really started to open up beneath us. We pointed out the Queen's back garden to Patrick and then we all waved madly in case H.M. was enjoying an evening stroll in the garden with her corgis.


Our next picture shows us reaching dizzying heights. It's a good job bears have a good head for heights.


It was actually getting quite dark at this point, but a burst of camera flash makes it seem quite the opposite.

We've only one criticism of a London Eye flight and that is that it's over all too soon.

Lots of love, George, Yorkie, Eddie, Patrick, Chelmer & Rocco xxx

Cruising on Old Father Thames

Once our cruise boat was ready for embarkation, we boarded as fast as we politely could, taking care not to mow down any old ladies in our path. Our fast manoeuvring paid off and we made it to the front seats before anyone else.


As it turned out there were very few passengers on board so we needn't have hurried. Still, having the front row of seats to ourselves was really great, and we made the most of our excellent vantage point. We didn't think much of the flag though - nothing like as good as the bear flag!


Patrick was bombarded with information from all sides. He had the tour guide to listen to in one ear, and the commentary of the ever enthusiastic Eddie in the other. Patrick enoyed seeing all the great landmarks of London for the first time, but his eyes kept coming back to the London Eye. He was finding it hard to believe that he was only minutes away from being in the air in one of those capsules.


For Eddie, the msot exciting sight on the Thames was H.M.S. Belfast. He was pleased at how close we got to this illustrious vessel, although he was disappointed to have scaffolding in his photo.


While us smaller bears enjoyed the cruise, our priorities were rather different. While Eddie and Patrick exclaimed over the sights, we investigated the complimentary London Eye choccies. It was inevitable that this involved a spot of tasting. Don't forget that Yorkie is nicknamed the Piranha.


Lots of love George, Yorkie, Eddie, Patrick, Chelmer & Rocco xxx

London Calling

Having just been telling you about our exploration of England's second city, now seems a good time to tell you about a special trip to England's first city - London - that a number of us thoroughly enjoyed recently.

A local Norfolk businessman had heard about our company and all that we get up to, and was very impressed. In recognition of all our good work he gave us 6 complimentary tickets to an evening cruise on the Thames followed by a dusk flight on the London Eye.

We gave some thought to who should go. Eddie was an obvious choice as there was a boat trip involved and Patrick had never been to London, so he definitely had to go. Then the guys were kind enough to say that Yorkie and myself (George) should go to research the entry for the Friendly Planet Guide. We had a draw for the remaining 2 tickets and these went to Chelmer & Rocco.


In our excitement we turned up early. As we waited for our boat trip on the jetty we had a great view of the Eye and really enjoyed anticipating the flight we were soon to have.

Eddie in his usual Eddie-ish way was completely absorbed by the boating activity on the River Thames.


He was particularly interested in the size of this tug's tow and said he would have loved to be in the shoes of the tug captain, as a tug, is one type of boat he has still to try out.

As the light began to fade it became quite atmospheric. Eddie remembered that all of the sights of London were new to Patrick and sat him down beside him to point out some prominent landmarks ...


... the most famous being Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament.

We didn't have long to wait before our cruise boat arrived and it was time to board. Catch up with us again soon.

Lots of Love, George, Yorkie and friends xxx