Yep, took a short break:
Day 1.
Up early to drive to Calais and then get the ferry over to Dover. Nice weather all the way. Found the hotel easily enough, on Lillie Road just along from West Brompton tube station. Outside the congestion zone and a decent price (with car park) for pretty much central London. Walked down to Earls Court Road for a meal and went into a place called Masala Zone which weren't too bad.
Day 2.
Up early and down to the tube to get a 3 day anytime travel pass. Got the tuve to Westminster and took a boat trip down to Tower Bridge. I know London pretty well having driven, walked and ridden around it over 35 years but have never seen it from the river. The guide was quite informative and funny and a very enjoyable trip was had. Didn't bother with the Tower as the queue was huge so walked up to Monument to have a look and then onto St. Pauls. From there we caught a bus to Bloomsbury and spent a pleasant afternoon in the British Museum. In the evening went to Gourmet Burger Kitchen which I had been to before so knew the set-up. Had the Habenero Burger. The only downside was they had the air conditioning on pretty high so was a bit drafty. Friendly service though. Back at the hotel we tried the bar but wasn't too good (full of Italian kids playing pool loudly.)
Day 3.
Up early and the bus to Regents Park. Strolled through the park and visited the zoo and saw the lion cubs. Pretty full and I thought a bit expensive. Got some good photos of the Meerkats though. No elephants or bears and the gorillas were pretty comatose. Went down into the shopping area and did a spot of bunny hopping and then a couple of beers in Soho. Down to the Kings Roda for a few Frappes in the sun afterwards. Only wanted something cheap and cheerful for the evening so went to O'Neills where a few beers and watching the footie helped unwind.
Day 4.
Up early and got the bus up to South Kensington and visited the Wallace and Gromit Inventors exhibition at the Science Museum followed by the Dan Dare British Technology exhibition. Afterwards we strolled over the road to have a leisurely afternoon in the Victoria and Albert as I wanted to have a look at some the 20th century exhibits there. Really fancied an Indian so went to one I had seen just off the Earls Court Road. A real bag of tulip, should have walked out immediately but we braved it.
Day 5.
Up really early and the long drive back but still nice weather. Stopped off at Sainsburys in Ashford and filled up the car with stuff.
Plus:
Excellent weather, even got sunburnt in Regents Park (admittedly it was 8 degrees hotter in Darmstadt though)
Prices were pretty good for most things. Hotel was reasonable, food was good, booze was good and shopping was good
Most people were pretty friendly
Getting buses instead of the tube was great fun even though we ended up in the wrong place a lot of the time
Loads of tottie although most seemed to be tourists
Minus:
London Zoo was a bit expensive and letdown
Fags well expensive, lucky I bought 200 with me
Unfriendly and expensive crap Indian restaurant
How many shop assistants does Selfridges need? We walked in and out after 10 minutes of being harassed by them
The amount of Police (and those not-quite-police) and CCTV is unbelievable
A not too bad short break.
Day 1.
Up early to drive to Calais and then get the ferry over to Dover. Nice weather all the way. Found the hotel easily enough, on Lillie Road just along from West Brompton tube station. Outside the congestion zone and a decent price (with car park) for pretty much central London. Walked down to Earls Court Road for a meal and went into a place called Masala Zone which weren't too bad.
Day 2.
Up early and down to the tube to get a 3 day anytime travel pass. Got the tuve to Westminster and took a boat trip down to Tower Bridge. I know London pretty well having driven, walked and ridden around it over 35 years but have never seen it from the river. The guide was quite informative and funny and a very enjoyable trip was had. Didn't bother with the Tower as the queue was huge so walked up to Monument to have a look and then onto St. Pauls. From there we caught a bus to Bloomsbury and spent a pleasant afternoon in the British Museum. In the evening went to Gourmet Burger Kitchen which I had been to before so knew the set-up. Had the Habenero Burger. The only downside was they had the air conditioning on pretty high so was a bit drafty. Friendly service though. Back at the hotel we tried the bar but wasn't too good (full of Italian kids playing pool loudly.)
Day 3.
Up early and the bus to Regents Park. Strolled through the park and visited the zoo and saw the lion cubs. Pretty full and I thought a bit expensive. Got some good photos of the Meerkats though. No elephants or bears and the gorillas were pretty comatose. Went down into the shopping area and did a spot of bunny hopping and then a couple of beers in Soho. Down to the Kings Roda for a few Frappes in the sun afterwards. Only wanted something cheap and cheerful for the evening so went to O'Neills where a few beers and watching the footie helped unwind.
Day 4.
Up early and got the bus up to South Kensington and visited the Wallace and Gromit Inventors exhibition at the Science Museum followed by the Dan Dare British Technology exhibition. Afterwards we strolled over the road to have a leisurely afternoon in the Victoria and Albert as I wanted to have a look at some the 20th century exhibits there. Really fancied an Indian so went to one I had seen just off the Earls Court Road. A real bag of tulip, should have walked out immediately but we braved it.
Day 5.
Up really early and the long drive back but still nice weather. Stopped off at Sainsburys in Ashford and filled up the car with stuff.
Plus:
Excellent weather, even got sunburnt in Regents Park (admittedly it was 8 degrees hotter in Darmstadt though)
Prices were pretty good for most things. Hotel was reasonable, food was good, booze was good and shopping was good
Most people were pretty friendly
Getting buses instead of the tube was great fun even though we ended up in the wrong place a lot of the time
Loads of tottie although most seemed to be tourists
Minus:
London Zoo was a bit expensive and letdown
Fags well expensive, lucky I bought 200 with me
Unfriendly and expensive crap Indian restaurant
How many shop assistants does Selfridges need? We walked in and out after 10 minutes of being harassed by them
The amount of Police (and those not-quite-police) and CCTV is unbelievable
A not too bad short break.
Comment