The end of August Bank Holiday weekend seems to be in the UK the 'festival weekend'. From the train we could see the test city associated with the Reading Festival, and on the way home was the Notting Hill Festival.
The weekend didn't get off to a good start. Kathy lost her ticket. She had the seat reservation, but couldn't find her ticket to get off the platform at Paddington. Fortunately the staff at the barriers were understanding, and a smile will get you all sorts of help.
After that, things only got better. We got to our hotel and were promptly upgraded. Nice.
The stairwell at the hotel - it's a long way down there!
We had booked tickets online to a theatre show. So, once we'd got to the hotel and dropped our stuff off, we headed off to the West End to pick up the tickets to... The Mousetrap!!!!!!
We walked out of the Tube and, OMG – the number of people!!!!! There were people everywhere.
Including a drag queen who we swear was the character Lenny from Law and Order in drag. Horrible, horrible. We got our tickets, grabbed some sushi, then stopped in to a wine bar for a quick drink, which was run by a Frenchman. It was a tiny little place, with a great atmosphere. It was reasonably full, had a great wine list, and looked as though it had a great bar menu. It wasn't a large menu, but looked fantastic. We had a nice glass of wine each and Kathy saw John Cleese walk past outside. The West End is just to vibrant and amazing. We saw a girl that Matt tagged as 'the giraffe girl' – she was tall and thin and just to amazing to look at. There were guys all dressed in fancy dress – and we don't mean in the Cardiff type of fancy dress. Just brilliant
The Mousetrap was simply BRILLIANT!!!!!
Cool
Matt was a bit unsure about it, but he loved it. The theatre itself is a beautiful building. There's lots of dark polished wood, rich burgundy velvet and gold highlights – what you imagine an old fashioned London playhouse to be. Neither of us picked who did it, and we had a fabulous time.
After the play we headed back to Russell Square – Kathy was cold and needed warming up - and the hotel. We shared a bottle of wine and then headed off to bed.
Saturday. How were were going to top the night before? We went to the Tower of London again. On our way to the Tube station we were stopped by a guy who was taking photos of people in the street – including us. Why?? He wanted us to sign a release. Erm, no thanks odd guy.
Just had to put this one in....
We went to the Tower again. Wow, wow, wow. Kathy got terribly embarrassed when her bag was searched, and the security guards found a little red dragon! Matt wasn't sure who was more red – Kathy or little Owain. Our first real stop was the ravens, hopping along (we were there early in the morning) and sitting on walls.
Cool. We wandered around everything we hadn't seen the last time we were there, including the Crown Jewels and an exhibition on torture (eww). The Crown Jewels were AMAZING. There were a lot of crowns from previous monarchs, less the gems which had been in them. Apparently the gemstones were often hired, or were re-used by other monarchs. We also saw the guards being inspected and changed. It was brilliant. We spent 2 hours there.
After leaving the Tower we walked over Tower Bridge
and along the South Bank towards Westminster. We detoured in to the Borough Markets, which were rammed.
Not just with people, but with the most amazing produce. We saw piles of oysters, real Umberico hams (complete with hoofs still), fish, fresh mushrooms,
and lots of vegetables. It was all displayed so as to make it look just so delicious. Tempting... We grabbed a bite to eat – Matt had a venison burger and Kathy had a wild board sausage in a bun. They were so incredibly good.
Kathy in the sun - see what's in the background?
We kept walking, after stopping to watch a very panicked squirrel – it didn't know which way to run through the crowd of people. Poor little thing.... The South Bank is amazing. We walked past the site of a prison known as 'the Clink' – it's now a museum, if you fancy that sort of thing, and a replica of the Golden Hynde.
There were lots of buskers. The most amazing one we saw appeared to be invisible.
Wow. On the bank of the Thames there were guys making sand sculptures, and all donations were going to the Great Ormond Street Hospital. It was a lovely day (if very windy), so there were people out everywhere. As we walked there were incredible views of the buildings and sites on the northern side of the river.
St Paul's, of course
Not sure what this building this is, but it's stunning
Tower of London
Monument
And on 'our' side of the river was the Globe Theatre.
Just incredible. It was such a great walk along.
One of the sights
Wow. So cool
Yes, this is a Matt photo
View down the river, through bridges
We walked past sooooo many pubs – and didn't go in to one. We might to back to some, because it would be a great thing to sit with a drink and a meal looking over the Thames.
We started to get weary, so caught the Tube to Leicester Square to get a drink and something more to eat. We went to The Porcupine (Wainwright), and Kathy had to put up with Matt giggling like a schoolgirl every time he came across a tube line with 'Cockfosters' on it. About this time we saw someone wearing moonboots with massive soles on them – must have been at least a foot thick!
Pit stop at the Brewmaster for a Green's IPA and an Old Speckled Hen, then on to the Beer and Staff, which was a lovely little pub with a fantastic range of beers on tap. At that pub you could order your choice of sausage and how you wanted it cooked.
At the Sussex we sat outside and watched the movement of cars and people going past as we enjoyed a Bombadier and Dewers IPA. There were lots of beggars and people selling the Big Issue, which made things a little unpleasant, so we moved on to The Nag's Head, then on to Covent Garden.
We found a little bar on the below ground level level. We sat and had a bottle of Le Peche Abuse 2004 with some paella, saussison and cheese with a salad, and listened to the busking opera singer who, despite being backed by a CD was singing without amplification and filling the space with the most amazing voice. Don't get that every day.
We headed back to the Hotel, changed and went out for a proper meal. We found a nice looking Italian restaurant and had a lovely meal. We sat next to 2 girls from Belfast, one of whom was only just starting to eat fish after several years as a vegetarian. She was, quite naturally, horrified when the fish she ordered wasn't nicely filleted – it came out on the bone, eye and all. The restaurant staff were very understanding and accommodating, and filleted it for her. The other girl had just been accepted to the Bar and was getting fitted for her gown and wig. We ate some lovely sardines, an antipasto platter and some delicious arancini, and finished off our small feast with coffee, strega (for Matt) and limoncello, and some cannoli (leave the gun, grab the cannoli) and yummy Italian cheeses.
Back to the hotel, and Kathy went to bed while Matt had a nightcap in the bar and talked to a bunch of guys from Durham. They were amazed that he'd heard of the Roger Whittaker song 'Durham Town'. Who hasn't?
Sunday we went for dim sum, then took the tube to Hyde Park for a walk. Kathy bought a toy squirrel (the London squirrels have longer tails than the ones in Cardiff).
The Squirrel. Careful, he's after your nuts!
As we walked in the increasingly cold and windy weather we passed the memorial to Prince Albert in Kensington Gardens,
and lots of people skating.
OK - guess where.... hint - the Proms are held here
We decided that as we were getting cold it was a good idea to pass up on the walk and to head back to areas which would be cheaper. The closest tube was South Kensington, which must have the longest subway to get to it in all known history! In Leicester Square station was a busker on his bag pipes – and yes, he was loud. We went to the Chandos to warm up over a couple of beers, then walked to Soho, via Piccadilly. We were so in awe of the buildings that we missed our turn-off and had to backtrack! When we were in Soho for breakfast we'd seen a Dutch bar that we decided we had to go to – right on the edge of Chinatown. We're glad we did. Great beer and fantastic food. We had a Rodenbach Grand Cru – what a find. It's first taste is sharp and tingling, then it tasted a bit like Kwak. Oh, so good. We also had a hot cheese – heated in its wooden box until melting (it was a soft cheese), eaten with bread, pickles and chutney. Mmmmm.
More wandering, more beers. We had wine in a little French wine bar. Dinner was yakitori and sake drunk from cedar boxes.
Kathy drinking sake from a square cedar box
Searingly good espresso and ristretto at an Italian cafe, then back to the hotel for sleep.
Monday we had a slowish start, with breakfast at the hotel. After checking out we went to the British Museum for a couple of hours. We saw Egyptian sculptures, the Elgin Marbles, Greek vases, Mediterranean art, medieval Europe, the Sutton Hoo burial, the Rosetta stone, and a money exhibition. There's just so much to see that it would be impossible to try to do it all in one day.
Suitably tired, we headed off for the train home. Another great weekend in London.
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