Love and Laughter in London
Wednesday 12 April – another day, another train! No sitting around for us, Stella, Chloe and I were back at the train station this morning. This time it was Stansted Mountfitchet to Liverpool St in London, and then on to our hotel near Paddington.
We have two days in London before Stella and Chloe reunite with their Mum who will then take them back to Rome. Determined to make the most of the day, we dumped all our bags at the hotel and headed straight out. A lovely walk along Westbourne Grove which runs across Notting Hill in West London and has a great variety of independent shops, galleries and eateries.
Back to Bayswater Road and along to Marble Arch and into Oxford Street. Lots of shops to pop in and out of and a very pleasant wander around in the iconic Selfridges Department Store. Up as far as Regent Street and then we called it a day as we were all flagging, but not before we went into the Food Hall in Marks & Spencers and bought the most delicious selection of treats for our dinner in the hotel. Oh what a joy it would be to have Marks & Spencers in Auckland – the choices and presentations of the gourmet foods and wines are beyond compare. You Brits don’t realise how lucky you are!
Don’t want to brag but I have walked over 18kms today – that’s why I am writing this horizontally!!!
Thursday 13 April – Yes, Stella, Chloe and I were off out again this morning –for yet another reunion, this time to meet up with my other sister Denise who caught the train up from Eastbourne to see us for the day. We walked from our hotel in Paddington through Marble Arch, Mayfair and into Covent Garden. Denise surprised us and brought along her granddaughter Eva and after an early lunch, we spent the day mooching around and covered a fair amount of neighbourhoods and sights into the bargain – the Theatre District in Shaftesbury Avenue, Soho, Carnaby Street, Camden and we ended up on the tube down to Knightsbridge, after all, London wouldn’t be London without a visit to Harrods!
Back to the hotel tonight with a detour to M&S for some more treats, we fairly crawled back to the hotel to rest our weary legs – another 18+kms covered today. No wonder I can hardly stand up straight. It’s been a great few days with the girls, but tonight is my last night with them for a little while as they are meeting up with their Mum tomorrow and I will leave to stay with Denise on the South Coast.
Friday 14 April – all packed we had a few hours to spare after leaving our room so decided to have a walk around the area of the hotel. It was in such a great location, the surrounds have been part of a regeneration of the area and it is really attractive. It’s located by the Grand Union Canal so there are a lot of houseboats both homes and restaurants, and a lot of greenery, always very welcome in a big city.
We walked up to Little Venice and back and by the time we had done this, Clarissa and her friends had arrived at the hotel to meet us. A very convivial lunch followed before we made our way back to the hotel for me to pick up my luggage and make my way over to Victoria Station. It’s never easy saying goodbye, but the good news is that I am seeing Clarissa, Stella and Chloe again before I return to NZ so it wasn’t so bad this time, and we have an exciting plan ahead! All will be revealed in June blogs!!!!
Now on the train to Eastbourne on the coast in East Sussex to stay with my sister Denise and her partner Glyn, and to put my feet up on the sofa and give them a well-earned rest!