Tuesday. Almost not worth mentioning as I was going to go back home to Haverfordwest . The train from Paddington was strikingly fast and it looked like we were in Bristol in no time. It feels like ages when driving. However I was supposed to change trains in Newport, Gwent and they have done some modifications to the station and platform assignments meaning I had to cross to the other side using lots of steps to reach the footbridge.

Saint Paul's Cathedral Monday. Did some more walking round London and did the touristy view of St. Paul’s Cathedral. The Fat Tyre bike tour guide told me that the view from the top of the cathedral was much more impressive than from the London eye. I surely was not disappointed. The tour was not that bad. Village Deli in Bermondsey The one thing I wanted to do on this day is to go for lunch in Bermondsey .

BT Tower captured from Oxford Street Sunday. Nothing much planned for this day. Did do some shopping but came to Oxford street to early – nobody told me they opened the shops at twelve so I spent some hard earned money at a well-know American coffee franchise called Stardollars or something. The best was left for last as I went to the Natural History Museum and put on a pair of skates after about 17 or 18 years and didn’t fall once.

Westminster Hall This was a Saturday and the big part of the day was dedicated to the John Rutter ’s Christmas Celebration at the Royal Albert Hall . This was the second one I have attended and even though the last one I went to was last year it did not feel like a repeat from the previous year. The only difference was to be the Christmas dinner I signed-up

M25 parking lot on December 18th Photo: TOMMY HINDLEY There were plenty of warnings about possible weather problems before I set off from Haverfordwest in the SW Wales to Stansted airport on December 18th. There was very little snow in Pembrokeshire and the airport was open. There were absolutely no problems up to the M4 exit for Slough. Then it all started to slow down and by the time I got to theM25 exit on the M4 the traffic stopped.

You know when you sleep in a strange bed and it takes a night or two before you get used to it. That was exactly what I was doing when at about 6am the first morning the hotel, where I was staying, had its fire alarms go off. When I got into the hall outside my room I saw a lot of sleepy-looking heads popping out from behind the doors trying to find out what the hell was going on.

London Paddington station during rush hour The trip I did last year took quite a bit out of me as I took the car from the deepest and darkest :-) parts of Wales right down the M4 to central London. Now this wouldn’t be otherwise to bad but for the whole visit being very active and at the end of it was completely exhausted. Not to mention the cold I was nursing at the time.

These photos were taken on a hike to Pentre Ifan this last weekend. Pentre Ifan in Pembrokeshire Carn Ingli in Pembrokeshire as seen from Pentre Ifan

Unfortunately my GMail account martin [dot] mcdowell got somehow hacked today and someone (or something) in China sent a spam message to all my 119 e-mail contacts in my address book at 15.35 this afternoon. The IP address the hack originated from was 115.52.213.93 and is assigned to the Chinese ISP CNC Group CHINA169. It looks like there was a Google-wide attack as their systems crashed. There are several reports of hacked accounts on Google forums.

Fullers Falls - Sgwd y Pannwr This hike is worth talking about as it takes you round some spectacular views in the Brecon Beacons. When I did the hike round Cwm Gwesyn the guide books told us about waterfalls but you saw was actually very small - especially compared to the waterfalls seen on this hike between Ystradfellte and Pontneddfechan. One of the highlights of the walk is the fact that you can walk under one of the waterfalls names Waterfall of the Snow.