so... London
Dec. 23rd, 2009 07:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
curraheeI've been promising this for days, and here finally is an entry about last week's trip to London Village.
We were due to go on the 7.50am flight from Plymouth to London City airport, but when I woke up at 5.00am and switched on the television news, I immediately began to wonder whether we'd be flying. A lot of snow had fallen in the south east overnight, and conditions looked pretty horrendous. But we went to the airport to check in on time, only to be told that they were awaiting news of the current situation at London City airport before checking anyone in. So we sat in the café and had a coffee and a toasted tea cake, and then at around 7.15am they announced that due to adverse weather conditions, the flight was cancelled. We did have the option to try and re-book, but having seen the forecast we decided to try the train instead. We got a cab straight to the train station and were lucky in that we only had to wait around 15 minutes for the first train to Paddington. We were also lucky that the cost was about half of what we'd paid for the plane tickets, which we would now have refunded - huzzah! The train was fine but bloody freezing for some reason, and after passing through the snowy wastelands of Berkshire we arrived into Paddington bang on time, just before half 11.
We got a taxi to our hotel as neither of us fancied lugging our cases around on the Underground and were chuffed to find that our room was already ready and we could check straight in. We stayed at the Hesperia by Victoria train station - I've stayed there before and remembered it as being nice, and my memory had served me well. It's right next to the station and so it's dead handy, and for a 4 star hotel it's excellent value for money as well - I'd recommend it!
After settling ourselves in and unpacking we ventured out into the cold and walked from the hotel up to Piccadilly and along Shaftesbury Avenue as far as The Rainforest Café, where we had some lunch. Mum had never been in there before - I think she enjoyed it! After lunch, we then walked up Regent Street (including taking a detour to explore Carnaby Street, which had amazing Christmas decorations consisting of inflatable pink fawns amongst other things) and then from Oxford Circus all the way along to the Christmas market opposite M&S and then back to Oxford Circus. We didn't do a lot of actual shopping, but I did buy some socks in M&S - two normal pairs and also a pair of mega fluffy ones which are the warmest things I've ever put on my feet and if I can't get them in Plymouth I'm going to scream and scream and scream until I'm sick!
We decided against walking all the way back to the hotel and instead got the tube, and then had a quick drink in the hotel bar before going up to our room and chilling out for a while before having dinner in the hotel's restaurant because it was too cold and we were too tired to consider venturing out again. It was a good decision - the food was awesome and as with the rest of the hotel, really good value for money.
On Saturday we were up early for breakfast and then we headed off to St John's Wood and the Lord's cricket ground, where we were booked on a tour at 10.00am. I'd done this once before, but this time was better because there were only five of us on the tour! We also went into the real tennis court this time around, and apparently one of the blokes playing was someone off of The Antiques Roadshow, but I don't know which one. I didn't know before, but the 'real' in real tennis isn't because it's claiming the other tennis is fake, but it comes from the Spanish word for 'royal' (as in Real Madrid). It's a very strange looking sport - you have to serve the ball up onto the roof and then when it comes down again, that's when it's in play. Apparently Federer's going to be taking it up when he retires from normal cricket. Heaven help Mr Antiques Roadshow, that's all I can say! We saw a most bizarre sight while we were at Lord's - the pitch was entirely covered with snow! I took a couple of photos on my phone - I'll have to post them at some point!
Anyway, after we'd done the Lord's tour we went back into the centre of London and went to the Museum of London, near to Barbican station. Part of it's closed until spring next year, but the exhibitions up until the great fire of London were all open and were really interesting. And it's free - how great is that? Because it's free, we're definitely going to be goig back once the new exhibition is opened.
I'd looked at the map before we'd set out and had spotted that St Paul's Cathedral wasn't far away from the museum, and as I'd never seen it even from the outside before, we decideed to have a walk down there. And what an awesome place! We had a quick look at the monument at Temple Bar first and then battled through the crowds and went into the cathedral itself. We had a look around the ground floor and also the crypt (where we saw the tombs of Florence Nightingale, Nelson and Wellington amongst others) but because we were tired after all the walking we'd done over the past two days we decided against climbing the stairs to the galleries. However, we got a ticket to give us free admission for the next twelve months because we gift aided our admission price, so next time we're going to head there first and brave the stairs up to the top!
By the time we'd been around St Paul's we were shattered and so I looked at my A-Z and saw that if we walked down to Blackfriars we could pick up a direct tube back to Victoria, which we could indeed have done, had Blackfriars tube station not been closed... The nearest one appeared to be Mansion House, so we walked along to that one and picked up the tube from there. It wasn't a long walk, but it was really interesting. Even though I'd lived in London for a while, I'd never really got to know this part of the city and even if I had, it's undoubtedly completely different these days. And it's a really good mix of new and old, parts of it put me in mind of Boston in that regard. It was fabulous, and I can't wait to go back and explore a bit more!
We ate in the hotel restaurant again on Saturday night because once again it was freezing cold and we were very tired. We had another lovely meal but sadly something mum ate didn't quite agree with her and when we woke on Sunday morning she wasn't feeling too clever. So instead of spending some time mooching around Covent Garden we chilled out in the hotel and then got the train back just before midday. We had a very smooth trip again (we upgraded to first class - leather seats, heeee!) and got in at around half 3.
The weather in Plymouth had gone wrong while we were away and we got back to lots and lots of ice. So much ice, in fact, that we couldn't get down to the garage because the path was impassable. We didn't have any food in the house itself so while mum took herself off to her sick bed, I ordered in a pizza so that someone other than me had to brave the wintry conditions. And then I spent the evening eating my pizza, drinking a couple of cold beers and watching more of my This Life DVDs.
And that was my weekend!
We were due to go on the 7.50am flight from Plymouth to London City airport, but when I woke up at 5.00am and switched on the television news, I immediately began to wonder whether we'd be flying. A lot of snow had fallen in the south east overnight, and conditions looked pretty horrendous. But we went to the airport to check in on time, only to be told that they were awaiting news of the current situation at London City airport before checking anyone in. So we sat in the café and had a coffee and a toasted tea cake, and then at around 7.15am they announced that due to adverse weather conditions, the flight was cancelled. We did have the option to try and re-book, but having seen the forecast we decided to try the train instead. We got a cab straight to the train station and were lucky in that we only had to wait around 15 minutes for the first train to Paddington. We were also lucky that the cost was about half of what we'd paid for the plane tickets, which we would now have refunded - huzzah! The train was fine but bloody freezing for some reason, and after passing through the snowy wastelands of Berkshire we arrived into Paddington bang on time, just before half 11.
We got a taxi to our hotel as neither of us fancied lugging our cases around on the Underground and were chuffed to find that our room was already ready and we could check straight in. We stayed at the Hesperia by Victoria train station - I've stayed there before and remembered it as being nice, and my memory had served me well. It's right next to the station and so it's dead handy, and for a 4 star hotel it's excellent value for money as well - I'd recommend it!
After settling ourselves in and unpacking we ventured out into the cold and walked from the hotel up to Piccadilly and along Shaftesbury Avenue as far as The Rainforest Café, where we had some lunch. Mum had never been in there before - I think she enjoyed it! After lunch, we then walked up Regent Street (including taking a detour to explore Carnaby Street, which had amazing Christmas decorations consisting of inflatable pink fawns amongst other things) and then from Oxford Circus all the way along to the Christmas market opposite M&S and then back to Oxford Circus. We didn't do a lot of actual shopping, but I did buy some socks in M&S - two normal pairs and also a pair of mega fluffy ones which are the warmest things I've ever put on my feet and if I can't get them in Plymouth I'm going to scream and scream and scream until I'm sick!
We decided against walking all the way back to the hotel and instead got the tube, and then had a quick drink in the hotel bar before going up to our room and chilling out for a while before having dinner in the hotel's restaurant because it was too cold and we were too tired to consider venturing out again. It was a good decision - the food was awesome and as with the rest of the hotel, really good value for money.
On Saturday we were up early for breakfast and then we headed off to St John's Wood and the Lord's cricket ground, where we were booked on a tour at 10.00am. I'd done this once before, but this time was better because there were only five of us on the tour! We also went into the real tennis court this time around, and apparently one of the blokes playing was someone off of The Antiques Roadshow, but I don't know which one. I didn't know before, but the 'real' in real tennis isn't because it's claiming the other tennis is fake, but it comes from the Spanish word for 'royal' (as in Real Madrid). It's a very strange looking sport - you have to serve the ball up onto the roof and then when it comes down again, that's when it's in play. Apparently Federer's going to be taking it up when he retires from normal cricket. Heaven help Mr Antiques Roadshow, that's all I can say! We saw a most bizarre sight while we were at Lord's - the pitch was entirely covered with snow! I took a couple of photos on my phone - I'll have to post them at some point!
Anyway, after we'd done the Lord's tour we went back into the centre of London and went to the Museum of London, near to Barbican station. Part of it's closed until spring next year, but the exhibitions up until the great fire of London were all open and were really interesting. And it's free - how great is that? Because it's free, we're definitely going to be goig back once the new exhibition is opened.
I'd looked at the map before we'd set out and had spotted that St Paul's Cathedral wasn't far away from the museum, and as I'd never seen it even from the outside before, we decideed to have a walk down there. And what an awesome place! We had a quick look at the monument at Temple Bar first and then battled through the crowds and went into the cathedral itself. We had a look around the ground floor and also the crypt (where we saw the tombs of Florence Nightingale, Nelson and Wellington amongst others) but because we were tired after all the walking we'd done over the past two days we decided against climbing the stairs to the galleries. However, we got a ticket to give us free admission for the next twelve months because we gift aided our admission price, so next time we're going to head there first and brave the stairs up to the top!
By the time we'd been around St Paul's we were shattered and so I looked at my A-Z and saw that if we walked down to Blackfriars we could pick up a direct tube back to Victoria, which we could indeed have done, had Blackfriars tube station not been closed... The nearest one appeared to be Mansion House, so we walked along to that one and picked up the tube from there. It wasn't a long walk, but it was really interesting. Even though I'd lived in London for a while, I'd never really got to know this part of the city and even if I had, it's undoubtedly completely different these days. And it's a really good mix of new and old, parts of it put me in mind of Boston in that regard. It was fabulous, and I can't wait to go back and explore a bit more!
We ate in the hotel restaurant again on Saturday night because once again it was freezing cold and we were very tired. We had another lovely meal but sadly something mum ate didn't quite agree with her and when we woke on Sunday morning she wasn't feeling too clever. So instead of spending some time mooching around Covent Garden we chilled out in the hotel and then got the train back just before midday. We had a very smooth trip again (we upgraded to first class - leather seats, heeee!) and got in at around half 3.
The weather in Plymouth had gone wrong while we were away and we got back to lots and lots of ice. So much ice, in fact, that we couldn't get down to the garage because the path was impassable. We didn't have any food in the house itself so while mum took herself off to her sick bed, I ordered in a pizza so that someone other than me had to brave the wintry conditions. And then I spent the evening eating my pizza, drinking a couple of cold beers and watching more of my This Life DVDs.
And that was my weekend!
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no subject
Date: 2009-12-23 07:55 pm (UTC)Glad you had a good weekend!
no subject
Date: 2009-12-23 08:00 pm (UTC)I'm very much looking forward to going up to the galleries!
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Date: 2009-12-23 08:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-23 08:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-23 08:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-23 08:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-23 08:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-23 08:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-23 10:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-23 10:22 pm (UTC)I love travelling by train - I go by plane only because it's so much quicker, but the train is much more relaxing!