I PREDICT A RIOT

We watched as 'the worst bout of civil unrest in a generation' unfolded before our eyes on the morning news. As we had taken our seats to watch Legally Blonde, a third, and more widespread night of rioting began on the streets of London. We'd been too busy with car journeys, and train rides, and days out to follow the unrest that had been accelerating. But, that night we witnessed the smoke that swelled from the burning high streets of 22 of London's Boroughs.

We watched in horror at footage of an injured and bleeding man being tricked by looters, who feigned help before stealing his back pack and throwing him back to ground. We watched, dumbstruck, as footage showed people smashing windows, burning cars, and setting whole rows of shops ablaze; The high street in Peckham that we had driven through only days before, now blackened and broken after the chaos. Police simply looked on, as we did. A night of disturbances 'unprecedented in the capital's history' and that was the night that we just happened to be out and about on the streets of London. What are the chances?

We turned off the news and it's never ending photo's of the aftermath. There was only so much we could watch. We debated about whether or not we should venture back in to the city center that day. We came to the conclusion that riots in broad daylight were unlikely, so we headed out for the last full day of our holiday.

We took Charlotte to Downing Street so she could see where the Prime Minister lived

She loved it, as you can tell from that beautiful grin

Unfortunately we missed the changing of the guard

So we decided to mess with the guard, instead

We found creepy pictures painted on the walls of the underground

And we met Mike for lunch and had delicious Mexican food, before he gave us a tour of the Legal District in London. It is such a beautiful part of the city. I'd never been there before, probably because it the the one part of the city that the tourists somehow haven't found. It was lovely get lost amongst the beautiful architecture that I previously didn't know existed. Lucky Mike to get to see it every day!

We didn't make it much longer into the afternoon. I started feeling mighty rubbish. My being ill combined with the threat of more riots made the decision to head home an easy one. It proved to be a wise choice since the chaos ensued a few hours earlier than it had the previous night, but we were safe and sound.

And very worn out!