LONDON (2 VISITS)

FIRST VISIT WEEKEND OF NOVEMBER 29 2013

It was the last chance to get away for a weekend before the end of 2013, I’d left it far too late to go away for new years eve and a possible Germany trip in mid December had been cancelled due to work commitments. So with Louise going to London for a week (again) to be joined by Sarah over the weekend I took it as the chance to getaway for a couple of nights.

Due to the amount of traveling I’d been doing and the fact I needed a new passport meant the best way was to get one from the office in London. Unfortunately this meant a large chunk of the full day would be spent going to and from the passport office. For this reason I have merged this entry of the trip with the next trip to London.

It was the usual head down Friday afternoon after work, this time I stayed at a hostel in Pimlico which like Swiss cottage was a nice area. I met Sarah and Louise at the premier inn later that evening. It would have cost the best part of 300 pounds for a single room booking late at their place where my hostel cost less than 50.

We went out for food, unfortunately Louise’s favourite Indian the Spice bazaar was closed so we had an all you can eat buffet in Chinatown. They were both pleased with the food unlike the previous time. After that it was a walk round winter wonderland which was nearly closing then back to the hostel for a couple of beers then bed.

Saturday was taken up by my time at the passport office with 2 visits, first the form filling and finally collecting with not much time to do anything in between. As per the previous night it was out for a meal this time at a Thai restaurant.

Finally we headed back to the hostel bar which Sarah and Louise both liked as well as the area I was staying in. It was so quiet in the streets despite only being 15 minutes walk from the main areas of London. A drunk Irishman offered us half a guinness with a shot glass of baileys dropped in it.

With only half a day remaining on the Sunday we went to the aquarium which was good but blatantly expensive. On the way out they tried to sell us a massively overpriced photo set which I thought was bad. After that it was a spot of shopping on oxford street then head home.

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With the world cup and my birthday just around the corner I organized a last minute weekend trip to London as I wouldn’t be going away again for at least another month. Leaving it until late caused 2 problems, I had to go by coach which was an extra hour travelling in each direction and due to being summer all the centrally located hostels were booked up so I was a bit further away in the Fulham area.

I didn’t arrive until around 20:00 so it was straight down to the bar which was essentially a normal London pub with a hostel on the top. It took a while to get talking to other travelers but it did happen eventually, I went bed around midnight……….

It had been the best part of 30 years since I had been the tower of London and that was on a school trip. The crowds were not as bad as I thought except for the viewing of the crown jewels which I didn’t bother with since you are not allowed to take pictures anyway. It was a good place overall to go back to and I spent around two and a half hours there.

 

I took the tube to Camden which as usual was absolutely packed out with people, I only went for the great food having first a Thai curry followed by an Indian as well. I didn’t eat again for the rest of the day. Louise had sent a list of places she thought I would be interested in and I picked the London transport museum which kept me there for a lot longer than I expected.

I ended up walking along the river back to the hostel which took an hour by the time I got back it was 18:00 and I was absolutely shattered and slept for at least an hour.

I headed out at around 21:00 to find a pub with the boxing on but unfortunately every drinking place I came across were some very upmarket looking bars with no big screen so I headed back within half an hour. I spent the evening the hostel bar and got talking to several Americans and had a fairly social evening. There was talk of us going out to a club but we had left it far too late and I was about ready for sleep by that point anyway.

Overall not a bad weekend, the journey home was helped when I arrived in Leicester literally 30 seconds before the hourly bus back to Whitwick left the station………...