Marrakesh to Madame Tussaud's

London was not a planned desination on this trip (but neither were most other places). To get back to Australia we need a major airport and London is the best option. On our last night is Marrakesh I hardly sleep. It is an amazing destination but with two young kids we were on high alert in a way that is hard to describe. In hindsight that feeling melts away and we are left only with colourful and exotic memories of it.

Arriving in London I am expecting the cold, grey city I saw long ago...it is not at all how I remember it and we are all very pleasantly surprised.

Firstly, we are loving that people speak really good English here (it may go without saying but after months of cies, ouis and sometimes playing charades it makes us feel closer to home). Secondly, there are lots to people around to help tourists. Could this be because of the lead up to the Olypmics? Thirdly, we are back to queueing in orderly lines rather than push over your grandmother to get somewhere. The first day we see Buckingham Palace.

Then it's off to see Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament.

Rocco and Sam are a little tired of travelling and we figure a trip to Madame Tussauds could spark things up. We have small bet with Rocco that he will see David Beckham today. There is a two hour wait to go in at Madame Tussauds. Or we can go to the pub nearby and ring up for tickets which takes slightly more time. We opt for the second choice.

Frank rings the Madame T number for tickets and it is like a 1900 number - keeps you waiting; churning pounds by the minute. Not a good option. After lunch, Frank checks the queue and it is now down to an hour, we decide to wait in line. It is not so boring there are a few displays and a guy miming (he is dressed in black with a white face) amuses the crowd. So we wait... after about twenty minutes a tall guy carrying a manbag approaches and offers us vouchers for two for one tickets. They are cut outs from news papers etc., he offers us one voucher for 10 pounds. I figure we save twenty pounds by buying it but the print is so small I can't read it. I tell this to the guy and he hands us a different voucher, with bigger print, to use. It looks okay and he says 'both vouchers for 15 pound'. I say, 'both for ten and you have a deal'. He laughs and at this point I get suspicious and think maybe we've been ripped off. I say, 'If you're ripping us off we'll hunt you down' and hand over the 10 quid. A while later Frank sees the mime guy and asks him if the vouchers are okay. He makes a big production of checking the vouchers and then tells us they are expired (I am surprised he even talks to us given he's a mime).

We explain to him that we bought them in the line, inside Madame T's and he becomes very excited. Members of security approach us asking for a description of the seller, which we provide. A few minutes later they tell us that the police have the guy in custody, he's a regular. I say 'Can we get our ten pounds back then?' The lady says, 'No sorry darlin', we'll see what we can do though.' Minutes later she comes back and we are whisked, through the staff entrance, up the stairs and past the crowd to the front of the queue. The boys are given goodie bags and we get our tickets for half price (maybe those vouchers were ridgy didge after all)... Madame Taussaud's was lots of fun.

I spent ages waiting for this 'dummy' to take a photo before walking past her!

It is a great day and we find there is so much choice of things to do in London. Originally we planned to stay in London only a couple of days but we decide to extend our stay by an extra few days so we can see a bit more of it.