“Getting there is half the fun”.... at least this flight was very pleasant down to the pajamas that the AA hostess passed out to the passengers in our cabin. That has only happened one other time in our past travels when we were given pink pajamas on Cathay Pacific on a trip back from Asia. The flight from Chicago to London is only a little over six hours so we turned down the “late evening light supper” (except the cheese plate & carrot/cilantro soup) in hopes of getting a bit longer sleep.... (by the way, we were in first class but we had to use many many of our frequent flyer miles to do it...we won’t be able to do this much longer now that Gary is retired...darn...).
After arriving at Heathrow around 11:30a.m., we caught the Heathrow Express to the London Paddington Underground station. From there we walked about two blocks to our home for the next two nights, Days Inn Hotel in Sussex Gardens near Hyde Park. We were given a room on the ground floor, a room “that is quiet, just what you requested”. Apparently, Gary asked for an upper floor & quiet room. I’m glad they picked the quiet part.... our room is actually behind two doors (there is a little vestibule) so though it is just a few steps from the lobby and bar, it is in fact quiet!!!
Since this is the day of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Celebration’s flotilla of boats on the Thames ( this will be the largest in the past 350 years with over 1000 boats taking part), we hoped to catch some of it in person, after all, the flotilla will parade for 7 1/2 miles from Battersea Park to the Tower Bridge..... and it’s only a couple of underground stops away! We confidently went to the Paddington station again & using our Oyster cards were quickly on our way to the Embankment station. One thing I started to notice were all the small children that were being brought to take part in the celebration.... and as we started to walk and saw the streets ahead so congested with people, we had an inkling that this was not a good sign for us. That proved to be correct because we were never able to get closer than maybe a block or two away from the water, in fact we never saw the water. Apparently, many thousands of people spent the night camping out along the river for a great viewing spot & the late comers were claiming their spots at 6a.m. this morning. I guess we never had a chance but it was fun walking with the celebratory throngs.
So we will do as the rest of the world and see repeats of this historic flotilla on the telly.
On our way back to our hotel mid-afternoon, we stopped for a quick bite and drink at the Sawyers Arms pub. The mini burgers & onion rings were perfect and we had a nice corner table upstairs from which we could watch the rain without getting wet...
Today is Monday, June 4th & today’s high is hopefully going to reach 50 degrees! I’m so glad I threw a jacket into my carryon!
In honor of the queen’s diamond jubilee, Monday(today) & Tuesday are official bank holidays. There are many families out & about enjoying their holidays.
We checked out "things to do in London today" on the internet this morning & found a street food fair at Southbank Center Square. We got there before they opened so we used that as an excuse to stop in Caffe Vergnano 1882 for a cappuccino ( & to get inside out of the wind & use their wifi, which turned out to be quite slow. ). Their coffee was wonderful!
Our next stop was the street food fair closer to opening time. There was an amazing selection from around the world. We split a spiced lamb flatbread from the North African food vendor then went back to the Moroccan booth because the Spinach& Feta flatbread was calling my name.... :-). Gary had the Moroccan spiced grilled chicken flatbread. Yum!
We were trying to decide what we really wanted to do today & realized that we really wanted to go see a movie. (really!!!!!) There are several out that we want to see & we decided on "Snow White and the Huntsman" showing at one of theaters on Leicester Square.
This is certainly not Walt Disney's version of Snow White! It is a combination of Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Joan of Arc, a bit Game of Thrones & even some Team William & Team Huntsman intrigue. The evil queen is very very evil! Really good show as they would say here! I wouldn't mind seeing it again sometime....also love the theme song at the end.
We stopped by a discount theater tickets store but really didn't see anything that we would want to see...so we stopped at our third pub, The Brewmaster. Nothing outstanding but an average London pub.
Trying to decide what we want to do with the rest of the afternoon, we decided that we really had no desire to see a museum again or repeat a tourist stop or even shop!!! I must be ill! (LOL). I know Gary really wants to see Prometheus ( & it's not out in the US yet) so we found that its playing at the Empire Theater on Leicester Square....got the tix & decided on the giant 3D screen option so with another hour to wait we then stopped at pub# 4..... the Imperial. This now appears to be a pub hopping visit to London....haha!!!
P. S. Tip: most pubs here also have free wifi so that is a real plus, especially when you are paying big money for data while overseas.
-------------
After the movie, which by the way, was an "Alien" version 5 or 6, we stopped at pub#5..... Slug & Lettuce. Doesn't sound appetizing but the appetizers were! ;-))
Sad to say bye for now to London but hope to be back soon..... Love this place!!!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment