It’s been three days since I've last had a chance to write
on my blog. We've been flat out in
London! So I’ll try to catch you up on
all we've been doing in London.
On Monday we started our day trying to find the East Coast
Rail office at Charing Cross Station. I’d
booked our tickets and wanted to pick them up in plenty of time, but it turns
out the office is actually in Kings Cross Station, which we’d passed through on
our way to Charing Cross. Kings Cross is only three stops from Seven
Sisters tube, where we were staying, so that suited us better anyway (with our
backpacks and extensive hand luggage, its hard work moving around!!). As we were at Charing Cross anyway we decided
to walk to the London Eye and view London from up high. It was very windy and drizzling so London
looked very grey, but as it wasn't hard rain we could see the views reasonably
well. (I was disappointed to see that
the weather prediction was for grey skies and rain until Thursday, and it has
proved to be the case. As I write this
we are on the train to Aberdeen and the sun is shining brightly! Just to show
us it can happen!) From the Eye we walked to Westminster and
bought a map, so we could find the place I’d googled for “Best value Full
English breakfast in London” – the Regency Cafe. It was quite a walk and actually very near
lunch time when we found it, but luckily they do breakfast all day. It was a very interesting place – absolutely packed,
and serving all the English faves of egg and chips or beans and chips; the full
English was 5.50 pounds including toast and coffee or tea. You can’t get a table first – as we
discovered when poor Liam tried to sit in a vacant seat, the guy behind the
counter sang out in a voice that could be heard across a football ground: “ORDER FIRST YOUNG MAN!” We did, and were able
to find a table – it’s not the sort of place you linger in once you've eaten! The man with the formidable voice bellows out
the orders as they are ready for collection: “Steak and Kidney! Egg and chips!”
And there is no chance of missing when your order is ready. It was decent food and provided a dry and
warm spot to sit, so we enjoyed it. Greg
felt it didn't quite live up to full English breakfasts he remembered from long
ago, but it was OK. From there we walked
to Buckingham Palace – about half an hour away, then onto Leicester Square
(about another 20 minutes walking), all in a drizzling rain but at least the
annoying wind (which blows umbrellas inside out!) eased off a little. In Leicester Square we re-visited the pub we
worked in, The Imperial, in Leicester St.
It appeared pretty much unchanged.
The street is now walking only, and there are tables and chairs outside,
but otherwise it was exactly how we remembered it. No Aussies at the bar (although Susie said
there had been when she last visited with Di last November) but they served a
very warming mulled wine which I enjoyed.
The governor had only been in the pub a year and was a bit shocked to
hear we’d worked in the pub in 1986 - “That
was a long time ago!”. Well yes, it was, thanks for pointing that
out! Leicester Square itself looked
completely different. I thought I’d feel
like I knew my way around like I did when we lived there, but it felt very
foreign. Time to head to Trafalgar
Square and visit the National Gallery.
We spent hours here on our days off back in 1986, but on Monday we just
hit the highlights of the Gallery as the kids were buggered from our full on
zoo day the day before. At 6pm we met up
with Susie and Brian at Spitalfields for
pizza. They had a voucher for a place
that does two pizzas for 10 quid on a Monday, it was a bargain and a great
meal, and lovely to spend some more time with Susie and Brian! After dinner the kids were
desperate to see “Catching Fire” (everyone
they know has seen it, you may not believe it but apparently we were the last
known people in the Western World to have missed out) so we headed back to the
West End – but were too late for the session. I thought it was a good opportunity (despite
the persistent rain, which was more than just a drizzle by this point) to walk
up through Piccadilly to Regent and Bond St and admire the Christmas lights and
shop windows. It was quite a long walk
on a day when we’d already walked quite a bit, and the lights and windows were
not as amazing as I’d assured everyone they would be. Maybe it was just the rain, but even I was
disappointed. I remembered it being so
festive when we lived in London… but as we all know, that was a very long time
ago! The kids did enjoy seeing
Selfridges as they’d watched the TV show of the same name, but we didn't bother
going in – we took the tube home.
Tuesday dawned grey and drizzling. I tried to assure the kids that London
actually does get sunshine and when it does it looks lovely, but around the
Seven Sisters area it’s pretty grim and grotty and the rain doesn't help. We had a later start to the day because we
all felt a bit weary. Eventually we got
ourselves organised and out the door to the British Museum. We managed to walk in the back door so missed
the opportunity to get an audio guide but we had a map and saw quite a
bit. It’s a huge building and we didn't
have the time or inclination to see everything, but Greg made sure the kids saw
the highlights before we walked to Tottenham High Street to see “Catching Fire”. At last!
Greg went back to the museum while Bella, Liam and I enjoyed the movie
(although as always the book was better!).
Greg met us when the movie ended and we went to Bethnal Green to meet
Susie and Brian. They had booked tickets
to a Christmas Panto in Hackney as a gift to us, and as I’d never seen a
Christmas panto I was thrilled. None of
us knew quite what to expect, and subsequently we were quite blown away – it was
such a spectacle, with fabulous music, singing, costumes and acting, we all
absolutely loved it. An unexpected
highlight was having our names read out from the stage! We hollered and hooted for all we were
worth! I’d see one again in a heart
beat, it was so wonderful. We left the
theatre and Susie led us around the back – yes, she knew one of the main cast
members, and had organised for us to get back stage! He was delightful and obviously adores Susie,
as he’d bought glasses, wine and soft drink to enjoy in his dressing room – we felt
extremely special. We finished the
evening with dinner in a nearby Turkish restaurant. It was a fabulous evening! We are so
blessed to have some really wonderful friends in our lives. We were very sad to say goodbye to Susie and
Brian. Come and visit us guys!!
Yesterday we had our usual drama posting stuff home. Honestly I wish we could avoid buying
anything – our packs are full (winter stuff takes up so much room!) so any souvenirs
we buy we have to send home. I honestly
thought it would be easier from the UK, mainly because they all speak English,
so encountering difficulties was unexpected.
Firstly they didn’t have any boxes left – due to Xmas I suppose – and no
padded envelopes bigger than A4 (Liam has picked up one of those square calendars)
or tubes (for posters). So we had to
find another post office that had a box.
Then they said we’d have to pay 70 quid.
The first post office had quoted us 58 pounds so we went all the way
back there (with our box and assorted stuff) to find that due to the size of
the box (the only one available) we’d moved up a level and it was actually going
to cost us 75 pounds. Don’t try and work
out the conversion rate. It’s very
depressing. Anyway what choice did we
have?? Back to Leicester Square to the
half price tickets place to buy tickets to see “Wicked”. There are about 20
places claiming to be the original and authentic half price ticket place, but
we went to the one in the square that has been there for years, which Susie recommended to us. We paid 25 pound each for our tickets. We walked through Covent Garden and took the
tube from Holburn to Bank, where we could walk to Monument (and we actually saw
the Monument, which is to remember the Great Fire of London – I don’t think we
saw that all those years ago) and
walked on the river bank path to London Bridge and the Tower of London. We ate our lunch on the banks of the
Thames. It was still grey, but not
raining, and was possibly the coldest day we’d had in London. Sitting there shivering eating our lunch
reminded me of huddling near the Arc De Triumph last week! It was very blustery! We didn't go into the Tower of London but
walked around it and read all the info on the building. The Beefeaters winter uniform is a sombre navy
coat, no flashes of scarlet to liven it up!
Onto Knightsbridge and the V & A museum (or Victoria and Albert to
give it the full name) to admire amazing jewellery, stained glass, wrought
iron, statues and fashion – it’s a very eclectic mix at the V & A! We walked up the street to Harrods, and went
in to admire how incredibly steep the prices were for even the most basic
items! Onto the tube again to Victoria
station, where we alighted to find an Indian restaurant for dinner. I thought it was a bad omen that there was a
photo of John and Jeanette Howard on the wall – apparently they visited the “Buckingham
Balti House” last year – but the food was good. (Not hot though even though I asked for hot which was disappointing. So if you go there ask for plenty of chilli!) Final stop for the day was the Apollo Theatre to watch “Wicked”. I’d seen the show before and still really
enjoyed it. Bella and Liam loved
it. Greg was underwhelmed. He didn’t think much of the score or the
plot. He said none of the songs would be
hits, but in fact “Defying Gravity” was in the charts for quite a while…
So this morning it was our usual rush to get packed, cleaned
up, make sure we didn’t forget anything (we are getting better on this point!)
and squeeze our way with all our luggage onto the tube. You can see the fear on people’s faces as we
crowd near them J We farewelled London and it’s blue skies, now
it’s onto Aberdeen!
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