More of my London memories (if you're interested), with pics!
Hello my darlings! Here's the final report on my oh-so-long-awaited-and-longed-for 5-day trip to England. Keep reading if you're interested, or just skip if you don't care. ;)
Well, it all started out quite simply: hubby and I had decided to take a short break from the stress of work and everyday life and do something completely different for once. At the same time, I was dying to see John Simm's performance in 'Elling', so we put the two things together and swiftly organised a long weekend (Thursday to Monday) in my favourite city ever. Our daughter was safely taken care of by my lovely parents, so we left Italy without too many preoccupations.
I can't even explain the joy I felt inside when the plane landed at Gatwick airport or when I spotted the first British houses at we sat in the train to Kings'Cross. It was like being back home again after a long, long journey. I love GB so very much, have lived there for a short period, and being there again - for the first time sharing my happiness with the man I love - was a real treat.
Moreover, we were graced with wonderful, sunny weather every single day of our stay, and I almost regretted having cluttered the baggage with useless pullovers and long-sleeved clothes when everything we really needed were some t-shirts and two pairs of jeans. Oh, well! Better to take them for nothing than to need and not have them, I'd say! *shrugs*
Here's the day-to-day report:
9th August:
Nothing much to say here, apart for my utter happiness at being there. Since we reached London only in the early evening, we just checked in at the hotel (conveniently located near Kings'Cross station) and went to explore the surroundings. Hubby had never been to London before, so I promised I'd take him sightseeing the following day. We had a lovely shish kebab with chips at a nearby deli and, back to the hotel, I organised the following day visits with the help of a tube map and the knowledge derived from my past trips.
10th August:
After buying our 3-day travelcard, we set off to Covent Garden, where I'd decided that our tour de force should begin. From there, I took hubby (who had no idea how long the day would be, but was eager to see the city) on foot to Leicester Square and Piccadilly Circus, while he took pics and I explained what we were seeing. Before lunch, I did some minor shopping at The Body Shop and HMV (bought two Stone Roses and Manic Street Preachers CDs at a bargain price. Yay me!). Afterwards, we went down to Trafalgar Square and I couldn't stop myself from popping into the National Gallery to see my beloved Van Goghs. I even bought the jigsaw puzzle of the 'Wheat Field with Cypresses', which I'm putting together right now and I'll soon hang up in the living room ( http://www.vggallery.com/painting/p_0615.htm ). Those paintings really made my day! :)
After a quick lunch, we walked down Whitehall and I started squeeing as soon as I spotted the 'Elling' posters outside Trafalgar Studios. Poor hubby was forced to take lots of pics and I couldn't help grinning like a 16-year-old girlie. LOL!
In spite of our aching feet, we walked down as far as the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, then we took a stroll in St James's Park and reached Buckingham Palace. Walking back to Piccadilly Circus, we decided we hadn't had enough yet, so we also visited Soho and got as far as Oxford Street, where I found a big newsagents and I bought a tonne of Doctor Who-related magazines and stuff. Back to the hotel, we rested our aching limbs for a couple of hours, then we met our friend (and hubby's customer) Neil for dinner near Covent Garden. We had a lovely chicken tandoori with rice in a small Indian restaurant in front of the Freemasons Hall, then went back to the hotel on foot (at this point my legs were on autopilot!), threw ourselves on the bed and slept like there was no tomorrow.
11th August:
In the morning we decided to take it easy, so we just went to High Holborn and to The Forbidden Planet (best sci-fi shop in the world!), where I bought some DW stuff for our little girl, who would turn 4 the following week. We got her a 5" Dalek, a Cyberman and a pair of Dalek slippers for her birthday (yes, she's a little DW fan who goes to sleep with her dalek & cyberman after kissing them goodnight!). I also bought the DW Season 3 Companion, the sticker book, another cyberman for my collection and two sets of fridge magnets for my friends Cla & Lu. :)
In the afternoon came the moment I was really waiting for: the play 'Elling' with John Simm, one of the main reasons why we went to London in the first place and definitely one of the best, funniest plays I've ever seen in my life! (More about this in my previous post: http://space-oddity-75.livejournal.com/9273.html#cutid1 ).
After the play, we had a little meetup at a nearby pub with some other Life on Mars fans and fellow members of TRA/LJ whom I've known through the internet (hope I can remember all the names: M31andy, Darthfi, Kirsteena, Wiccagal_1996, Elfbert, Wibble, Curlywurly, JeanGenie... gosh, I must have left someone out! Please correct me if I'm wrong). It was great meeting them, although we couldn't stay long because hubby has got tinnitus (ringing ears with constant drumming that never fades away. The ongoing joke was that I'm actually married to the master, LOL!) and he couldn't bear sitting in the small room with loud music for too long, so he had to stay outside. :(
I felt bad for him, so I took him around a little bit more and we had dinner in a little Korean restaurant, where we ate tempura prawn rolls and a sort of hot prawn omelette with onions. It was the first time we ever ate Korean food and I must say it was an interesting experience!
After going back to the pub to say goodbye to our wonderful TRA friends, and finally getting to briefly meet John Simm and Adrian Bower at the theatre stage door (*insert major squee here*), we decided to call it a day and rest our aching limbs at the hotel. Needless to say, I dreamt of Simm and Bower all night. ;)
12th August:
Upon hubby's request, we went to visit the Science Museum in South Kensington, which I had never seen before, and spent about 5 hours in there (my poor feet!). It was really interesting, although in the end we were really knackered. On our way back, we stopped in a little pub to have a beer, and were served a nice plate of baked potatoes and chicken in a basket (!) free of charge. Gotta love British pubs! :)
After sleeping the afternoon away (my legs wouldn't support me anymore), we went out for dinner in a nice Indian restaurant and had a lovely tandoori chicken, chicken tikka and pilau rice with curry sauce. Very tasty! As it was our last night, we didn't want to waste it at the hotel, so we went back to the centre and mingled with the crowd in Piccadilly Circus, then we went for a beer at Waxy O'connors' pub, which a friend of mine had indicated as a nice place (indeed, it was). We went back around midnight, sad at the thought that our trip was almost over.
13th August:
After a short walk in the Kings'Cross area, we packed our bags and headed for the train station. After a quiet journey, we arrived at Gatwick a few hours early and spent our last pounds in books and DVDs: I got a copy of Human Traffic for £ 2.99 and the Life on Mars soundtrack for £ 5.11, which was not bad! I also bought a few magazines and a book by Bill Bryson, 'Neither here nor there', which I'd been wanting to read for a while. My handbag was practically bursting with stuff! :)
When we landed in Milan and the horrible Italian summer heat and humidity hit our faces, we almost wanted to book the next flight back!!!
Mr & Mrs KISS! :D
Not the TARDIS... but the Master is not far away! ;)
Not the TARDIS either... but at least the city is wonderful!
A glimpse of Buckingham Palace from St James's Park.
Meet the Queen! (Well, not exactly...)
Oh, how I love Trafalgar Square!
He really is larger than life, isn't he?!? ;)
One of my favourite quotes! :)
;)
Well, it all started out quite simply: hubby and I had decided to take a short break from the stress of work and everyday life and do something completely different for once. At the same time, I was dying to see John Simm's performance in 'Elling', so we put the two things together and swiftly organised a long weekend (Thursday to Monday) in my favourite city ever. Our daughter was safely taken care of by my lovely parents, so we left Italy without too many preoccupations.
I can't even explain the joy I felt inside when the plane landed at Gatwick airport or when I spotted the first British houses at we sat in the train to Kings'Cross. It was like being back home again after a long, long journey. I love GB so very much, have lived there for a short period, and being there again - for the first time sharing my happiness with the man I love - was a real treat.
Moreover, we were graced with wonderful, sunny weather every single day of our stay, and I almost regretted having cluttered the baggage with useless pullovers and long-sleeved clothes when everything we really needed were some t-shirts and two pairs of jeans. Oh, well! Better to take them for nothing than to need and not have them, I'd say! *shrugs*
Here's the day-to-day report:
9th August:
Nothing much to say here, apart for my utter happiness at being there. Since we reached London only in the early evening, we just checked in at the hotel (conveniently located near Kings'Cross station) and went to explore the surroundings. Hubby had never been to London before, so I promised I'd take him sightseeing the following day. We had a lovely shish kebab with chips at a nearby deli and, back to the hotel, I organised the following day visits with the help of a tube map and the knowledge derived from my past trips.
10th August:
After buying our 3-day travelcard, we set off to Covent Garden, where I'd decided that our tour de force should begin. From there, I took hubby (who had no idea how long the day would be, but was eager to see the city) on foot to Leicester Square and Piccadilly Circus, while he took pics and I explained what we were seeing. Before lunch, I did some minor shopping at The Body Shop and HMV (bought two Stone Roses and Manic Street Preachers CDs at a bargain price. Yay me!). Afterwards, we went down to Trafalgar Square and I couldn't stop myself from popping into the National Gallery to see my beloved Van Goghs. I even bought the jigsaw puzzle of the 'Wheat Field with Cypresses', which I'm putting together right now and I'll soon hang up in the living room ( http://www.vggallery.com/painting/p_0615.htm ). Those paintings really made my day! :)
After a quick lunch, we walked down Whitehall and I started squeeing as soon as I spotted the 'Elling' posters outside Trafalgar Studios. Poor hubby was forced to take lots of pics and I couldn't help grinning like a 16-year-old girlie. LOL!
In spite of our aching feet, we walked down as far as the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, then we took a stroll in St James's Park and reached Buckingham Palace. Walking back to Piccadilly Circus, we decided we hadn't had enough yet, so we also visited Soho and got as far as Oxford Street, where I found a big newsagents and I bought a tonne of Doctor Who-related magazines and stuff. Back to the hotel, we rested our aching limbs for a couple of hours, then we met our friend (and hubby's customer) Neil for dinner near Covent Garden. We had a lovely chicken tandoori with rice in a small Indian restaurant in front of the Freemasons Hall, then went back to the hotel on foot (at this point my legs were on autopilot!), threw ourselves on the bed and slept like there was no tomorrow.
11th August:
In the morning we decided to take it easy, so we just went to High Holborn and to The Forbidden Planet (best sci-fi shop in the world!), where I bought some DW stuff for our little girl, who would turn 4 the following week. We got her a 5" Dalek, a Cyberman and a pair of Dalek slippers for her birthday (yes, she's a little DW fan who goes to sleep with her dalek & cyberman after kissing them goodnight!). I also bought the DW Season 3 Companion, the sticker book, another cyberman for my collection and two sets of fridge magnets for my friends Cla & Lu. :)
In the afternoon came the moment I was really waiting for: the play 'Elling' with John Simm, one of the main reasons why we went to London in the first place and definitely one of the best, funniest plays I've ever seen in my life! (More about this in my previous post: http://space-oddity-75.livejournal.com/9273.html#cutid1 ).
After the play, we had a little meetup at a nearby pub with some other Life on Mars fans and fellow members of TRA/LJ whom I've known through the internet (hope I can remember all the names: M31andy, Darthfi, Kirsteena, Wiccagal_1996, Elfbert, Wibble, Curlywurly, JeanGenie... gosh, I must have left someone out! Please correct me if I'm wrong). It was great meeting them, although we couldn't stay long because hubby has got tinnitus (ringing ears with constant drumming that never fades away. The ongoing joke was that I'm actually married to the master, LOL!) and he couldn't bear sitting in the small room with loud music for too long, so he had to stay outside. :(
I felt bad for him, so I took him around a little bit more and we had dinner in a little Korean restaurant, where we ate tempura prawn rolls and a sort of hot prawn omelette with onions. It was the first time we ever ate Korean food and I must say it was an interesting experience!
After going back to the pub to say goodbye to our wonderful TRA friends, and finally getting to briefly meet John Simm and Adrian Bower at the theatre stage door (*insert major squee here*), we decided to call it a day and rest our aching limbs at the hotel. Needless to say, I dreamt of Simm and Bower all night. ;)
12th August:
Upon hubby's request, we went to visit the Science Museum in South Kensington, which I had never seen before, and spent about 5 hours in there (my poor feet!). It was really interesting, although in the end we were really knackered. On our way back, we stopped in a little pub to have a beer, and were served a nice plate of baked potatoes and chicken in a basket (!) free of charge. Gotta love British pubs! :)
After sleeping the afternoon away (my legs wouldn't support me anymore), we went out for dinner in a nice Indian restaurant and had a lovely tandoori chicken, chicken tikka and pilau rice with curry sauce. Very tasty! As it was our last night, we didn't want to waste it at the hotel, so we went back to the centre and mingled with the crowd in Piccadilly Circus, then we went for a beer at Waxy O'connors' pub, which a friend of mine had indicated as a nice place (indeed, it was). We went back around midnight, sad at the thought that our trip was almost over.
13th August:
After a short walk in the Kings'Cross area, we packed our bags and headed for the train station. After a quiet journey, we arrived at Gatwick a few hours early and spent our last pounds in books and DVDs: I got a copy of Human Traffic for £ 2.99 and the Life on Mars soundtrack for £ 5.11, which was not bad! I also bought a few magazines and a book by Bill Bryson, 'Neither here nor there', which I'd been wanting to read for a while. My handbag was practically bursting with stuff! :)
When we landed in Milan and the horrible Italian summer heat and humidity hit our faces, we almost wanted to book the next flight back!!!
Mr & Mrs KISS! :D
Not the TARDIS... but the Master is not far away! ;)
Not the TARDIS either... but at least the city is wonderful!
A glimpse of Buckingham Palace from St James's Park.
Meet the Queen! (Well, not exactly...)
Oh, how I love Trafalgar Square!
He really is larger than life, isn't he?!? ;)
One of my favourite quotes! :)
;)