London
Our flight was due to leave at (I think) 1.15pm from Belfast City, so us being us, we left most of the packing to do until that morning =) It was pouring with rain when we arrived at the airport, but the little bus happened to drive right past us in the car park-very providential, since I did not fancy lugging that bag to the terminal in any case, but during a rain shower it would have been even worse.
The plane was delayed an alledged quarter of an hour, but between that, the "one hour" flight and a late bus at Heathrow, we didn't get out until almost four. I spent the flight with the Lord of the Rings Appendices and writing, with frequent breaks when Mummy wanted to point something out (usually about plane safety!) or when the children in front did something particularly amusing.
Although Heathrow is supposed to be very confusing, we only saw a little of Terminal One, and I was just concentrating on not falling too far behind the strong and/or lightly laden members of the family to notice where we were going ;) Eventually we found the right bus stop and even later, after an unpleasant time on a platform that stank of cigarettes and reminded we of Pittsburgh, the bus turned up. We hauled our belongings ("...Four, five six, seven...we're missing a bag!" "No, I put my little one in my big one because I can only cope with one at a time.") upstairs and the bus left the terminal. We managed to get around one roundabout, all of two hundred yards as the crow flies, before coming to a halt. At first we thought it was just a normal bus stop, but after ten minutes someone came up to "tell us about the situation." I hate it when they start a sentence with that: always means something bad has happened, in this case a diesel leak. We couldn't even commiserate with our co-passengers since several of them left to find a taxi and the rest were German ("The boos ees kaput!")
After about half an hour the long-promised replacement arrived and fifty minutes later we were in Oxford Street. Our hotel mightn't have been the most classy, but it as in the centre of London and it was cheap, which were the main things-I think it would have been impossible to find one better situated.
By the time we had unloaded our stuff it was pushing six o'clock and in starved desperation we ate at the first place we came across, which unfortunately was a KFC. As far as chips go, the KFC ones aren't bad, but the chicken...well, that was an experience I hope never to repeat :P
We walked through Hyde Park and saw the Serpentine and Rotten Row. It was so...surreal. David navigated us down through the Sloane Street area, and we fetched up outside Harrods, at which point we officially became tourists: Daddy took a couple of photos of me outside the door, but it was just closing so we weren't able to go in. There were loads of gorgeous crescents of white houses and about a million Mercedes and BMWs: every so often David would point to a car and say, "That's two hundred thousand quid driving past!"
We wandered into Belgravia and what Ruth termed "Embassy Central": we must have passed the buildings of about fifteen different countries, of varying size and showiness...one had the side of the road in front reserved for "Diplomatic Vehicles Only". The German one was big and fairly modern, but the Swiss one was just a terrace on a side street. Afterwards we walked down Constitution Hill to Buckingham Palace and took a few photos from the Victoria monument. David again became tour guide and took us back via St James' Palace and Pall Mall. The palaces are so close together: the road goes right past the Queen's gable, and Clarence House is very exposed, while half the windows of St James' were bricked up! Pall Mall was rather fun; all the shops were extremely expensive, selling cigars, hutning equipment (£1,100 for a small bag) and gentlemen's barbering. We passed under the awning of the Ritz, but the most useful discovery was a M&S that stayed open until eleven and sold sandwiches. I've never been so glad to see a BLT in my entire life =) We got slightly lost (which wasn't fun, at nine o'clock in London) on our expedition to find the American embassy, but got there eventually after much arguing on the part of the people who thought they knew where they were going. Me, I just acknowledge I haven't a clue and follow someone else! The first friendly Londoner we met overheard us at a crossing and asked if we were lost, but at this point we had already found ourselves again, which was rather a waste. I didn't think much of the defences outside the Embassy...it was evidently built before anyone started worrying about terrorists who want to attack Americans.
Ruth and I were sharing a room, which was a bad idea from the start. She talked (*cough*grumbled*cough*) until pretty late and then stole all my blankets =)
We had to get up at 6.30 the following morning, something I've never done in my life. (Stay up all night, yes. Get up that early, no.) As I was getting dressed I discovered why my shoulder had been so painful: carrying that great bag had bruised the skin all along where the strap had rested: ouch.
We were first in the queue, however, so I suppose the earliness was worth it. Second friendly person was behind us in the line, but he lived in NY for the last four years so I don't know if it counts. He told us a bit about the 11th of September. We sat in the Embassy for ages, got called up, sat for even longer ages, (I wrote some story and got a crick in my neck from the fan) got called again, had a Biology-exam excuse for an interview and our fingerprints taken, and were then sent off to the doctor.
I had to have a blood test, which wasn't fun, but at least I didn't faint. The nurses were Australian and eastern Asian...honestly, the hardest thing to find in London was a native English person! All the wealthy ones were Muslims, the city workers were black and the hotel staff were...Indian, I think.
After my first X-ray and a bunch of inane questions we were free to go, and headed down to Piccadilly and that M&S. Of course, after being sunny all morning it proceeded to start raining as we attempted to find out way through the maze of minor streets and squares, but the real torrential burst held off until we were at the checkout. My shoes got saturated on the way back, but we took a picture outside the Dorchester, with a bunch of Arabs and about fifteen extremely expensive cars in the background =)
After re-arranging our schedule we decided to take the bus down to St Paul's. Typically, two number 15s passed as we were trying to get tickets, but we then had to wait fifteen minutes to get on the third. There are nearly always about a dozen buses in view, in that part of London at least. I can see why, though: driving would be a nightmare, taxis cost the earth and people aren't so keen on the underground since the whole terrorism thing started up again. You do get a good view from the top-we saw Selfridge's, Her Majesty's Theatre with all the Phantom banners, Trafalgar Square and Nelson's Column, complete with pigeons and people.
St Paul's itself was something of a let-down since they are currently renovating it and large parts were covered in scaffolding, but we went into the entrance hall and I sneaked a couple of (illegal) photos. It's amazing...the Dome is so huge, rising up over the city. We bought postcards in the shop they have set up in the old crypt, one of that picture of the Cathedral surrounding by the smoke from the Blitz. You have to pay a load to get into the main part of the crypt, but some of the tombs and monuments were outside. One grave commemorated four children of the same family, one who died at six weeks, one as a toddler, one at eighteen and one at twenty-six, while the parents lived on to their eighties.
The best part of St Paul's was the walk back from it, along the Thames on the Embankment, past all the bridges. We saw Cleopatra's Needle, St Thomas' Hospital and the London Eye, and fetched up in Westminster. There is nowhere in the world like that place. You don't realise just how huge the Houses of Parliament really are, nor how close they are to Westminster Abbey. It was so incongruous: the hordes of tourists getting mixed up with the governement officials who really weren't interested in architecture and just wanted to get home. The abbey had an ice-cream stall just outside it, and looks onto a Seventies' office block...funny how all the films of royal events manage to avoid that ;) It was closed to the public when we were there, as there was a funeral on inside. We went across to the school and sat on a set of steps and heard Big Ben again. I wonder how many people stop for a snack outside Westminster *grin*
We looked down and saw the Cenotaph but went through the park to the palace again. At one point there is a bridge, with the most gorgeous view of the palace in one direction and Westminster in the other. What I didn't like was the way strange men kept talking to me...it was okay becausen Daddy was just up ahead, but if you were living on your own in the City it wouldn't be so pleasant.
By this point most people's feet were aching, although Ruth was the only one who said much about them ;) We went back to Hyde Park and almost got to Speakers' Corner before the rain came on. There was a dog (one of only about half a dozen animals we saw the whole time) with the most ridiculous way of walking-its legs swung from side to side as it ran, and we laughed at it the whole way up the park. As we were sheltering in one of the little house-thingies, about twenty cyclists went past us. I don't know how they do it; business men and women (one memorable lady who raced through the lights at the Mall in a pair of yellow stilettoes!) in their long coats, with briefcases strapped to the bikes as they scoot in and out of the horrendous traffic. Some of them were wearing the air masks you see in places like Japan, and the traffic lights even had a special signal for cyclists (of course, there was one for horse, too!)
That evening we stayed in to rest our feet and get dried out. It was nice, having a little landing all to ourselves so that we could pop in and out of the two rooms, although the broken latch on our door was rather annoying. There was nothing much on TV apart from the Olympics and some reality shows...nothing changes, then.
On Wednesday Mummy and I walked down round Bryanston Square and up a couple of mews before going back to collect the others and going for a random walk through the city. We ended up in Baker Street, so after depositing Ruth in a Waterstones' we headed off to find 221B. As we walked up, a cavalcade of uniformed men on horseback, proceeded and followed by police cars and horses, went past. They must have been keeping in training for the next Royal or government occasion when fancy cavalry are required =)
Holmes' actual house was a bit disappointing since someone had planted a bank on top of it, but at the top of the street there was a "fake" number 221B, with a gift shop and museum. We looked through all the souvenirs and took a couple fo photos of us wearing deerstalkers and bowlers but didn't go upstairs: it cost quite a bit and all there is is a couple of rooms done up to look as they would have in the 1880s, so there wasn't much point.
There are some amazing huge houses at the end of the road past Regent's Park, with about five storeys of elaborate architecture. It must cost millions for one of those...I think some Sheikh owns one. Actually I thought they were nicer than Buckingham Palace, and certainly the one with the view over Queen Mary's Garden had a better situation ;) There were loads of tame birds and squirrels in the park, all coming over looking for food. We saw herons, different types of geese and a million ducks.
On the way back we stopped at a Pret to get food for the home journey before going to collect the bags and lug them down to the stop. I was on lookout for the bus since I was wearing a bright shirt and would attract the driver's attention when the right one came along :) There was a rather scary moment when we thought we had missed the airport bus, but it was an A6 rather than an A2. The rain came on just before our bus arrived, but we were nice and dry upstairs with a great view over the city. We originally were far too early for the flight, but the machines at check-in weren't working so the queue was huge and they were pulling people out as their flights arrived ("Anyone else for the 1.20 to Holland!") so by the time we actually checked in it was time to go around to the lounge. I texted a couple of the girls who were sitting in a caravan in soggy Portrush and wrote a few more paragraphs before we boarded.
There were a couple of darling babies from Spain who wandered around the lounge grinning at everyone and playing with the two wee American boys.
The plane taxied for absolutely ages, which was slightly annoying, but you could see right across England when we finally took off, and later on Scotland and the Isle of Man and our coast.
One of the little Spanish girls was making a bid for freedom when I was crossing the baggage reclaim area, so I said her name and told her to go back to Mummy: bad move. She proceeded to follow me instead, so I had to walk her back to the family and make sure that her mother had noticed her.
It was quite weird being home-after being in the wealthy end of London for a couple of days, Banbridge and Belfast seem kind of grotty and small town-y, but I suppose that's to be expected, since they are =)