London

Saturday 8^th October, 2011

Ok, we got up early as usual and had decided to go upstairs for breakfast but then decided it was too expensive for what was on offer so we headed down the road for breakfast instead. Much better deal. With that underway and it only being 8:30 we decided to walk the streets again and have a look around. We went in another direction to what we usually do and found this area that was full of shops that we hadn’t discovered before that was right nearby where we were staying. Unfortunately being Saturday they didn’t open until later so we were unable to go into any, typical!! We wandered around for a couple of hours and then made sure we’d packed everything ready for our Eurostar trip from Paris to London that we’d booked a few days earlier. It wasn’t until 1:00pm but we decided that we wanted to get there early to be on the safe side especially with all our baggage. We both had a big suitcase, a smaller cabin bag and another couple of extra carry bags. We got the receptionist at the hotel, who had also been very helpful to us throughout our stay, to order a cab for us which because they were just around the corner came literally within a couple of minutes.

I’m not sure he was all that happy with the luggage we had and how heavy it was but he’ll get over it. We got to the station which cost 11.80 euro or something very close to that and I handed him 15 euro to which he pocketed it and that was that. The same happened when we got a cab from the airport to the hotel but the difference wasn’t as much. We couldn’t believe that was how they operated. We might’ve given them a tip anyway cause god knows they earn it with our luggage but the fact that you don’t get a choice really pissed us off.

Anyway we got ourselves together and walked into the train station. We had no idea where we had to go so asked for some assistance and when he told me upstairs I think I went white… until he told me there was a lift. Up we went and then after asking someone else we found out we had to fill out these cards before going through, which we did and then we saw the ticket office so we headed there as we’d booked the tickets online and I wasn’t able to print them. That nearly turned into a disaster as the ticket guy said someone had rung up and cancelled your tickets. We thought well nobody could have done that because no one knew we were even booking the train so we were very confused. Anyway the guy ended out sorting it out so in we went lugging everything behind us. Passed the immigration officer, through the scanners and we were ready for London.

Onto the train we got with a little bit of a struggle but with one passing the bags to the other we managed ok. We settled in for our journey of just over 2 hours, down to the food/drink carriage and we were set. The country side was lovely and the part through the tunnel was only 20 minutes. Once again though we were very disappointed in the lack of fanfare when crossing from one country to another. We obviously expect too much. Anyway into the station we pulled and that’s where it all began. Once again we managed with the bags using the one passing to the other method but then we had to lug this stuff the whole length of the bloody platform, we didn’t think it was ever going to end. Finally we came to the end and came through the doors and Kim spotted her friend Anne. We then left the St Pancras station and rounded the corner to the King’s Cross station where we caught the train to her place in Potter’s Bar. We had a 10 minute walk from the station to her place but fortunately we now had her to help carry our stuff, her face was priceless when she saw what we had.

Five minutes after arriving Anne’s next door neighbour rocked up for a sticky beak. She thought it was really funny as did we. He arrived under the cover of leaving some apples so Anne invited him in for a cuppa. We spent the afternoon with Kim and Anne catching up until Alan, Anne’s partner got home with the puppy from doggy training. We’d already met Jet who is a huge black German Shepherd as is Beau but jet is nine years old where Beau is only 17 weeks. We then walked into town to the local pub for a drink and then onto the local fish & chip restaurant for some dinner. Back to the house for a cuppa and then bed after a very, very long day. Anne and Alan are a lovely couple and have been very welcoming, not always easy adjusting to extra people in the house.

Sunday 9^th October 2011

We rose early again and sat around chatting and then headed into London on our 10 pound travel card. From here we go to Kings Cross Station and then from there we can go anywhere. We got off at Tower Hill and went straight to The Tower of London. We arrived there at about 10:00am which was right when it opened so there was only a short queue and we didn’t have to wait long. Anne had a 2 for 1 booklet for us which the tower was in so that saved us a few bucks. We’ve noticed it is quite expensive here for entry fees so every bit saved is good. The tower was bigger than we thought and contains some amazing history, armoury, weapons and the crown jewels.

We then walked to St Paul’s Cathedral and had a look around, no charge as it is Sunday. From there we went to Covent Gardens which was a nice little area. We wandered around there for a bit, actually found some more bags to compact down our luggage, and then made our way to Camden Market. That was a real eye opener, coming out of the underground the sign said turn right. Well we did and we were smack bang right into it. There were stalls selling all sorts of things all along the road and in shops, from the usual touristy stuff to more unusual stuff. We made our way up the street to the Camden Lock where it was like a big shed that contained more stalls. We managed to find a shop where we both bought something, what’s new. It was starting to get late so we started to make our way back to Potter’s Bar.

We arrived home to Anne & Alan and a delicious roast dinner with all the trimmings followed up with a fantastic apple crumble, just what we needed after another huge day.