Rich & Ann's London Trip ~ March 2006

[trickster]

Monday 13th March.

Our journey to London started off with me driving the 14 mile round trip to collect my parents from their house and bring them back to ours. We then went to the Railway Station in a taxi. We boarded our train, on time at 09:29am, and we were on our way to London!!

With being a driver for the company, I managed to get my parents cheap first class travel tickets – which is the only way to travel!! Needless, to say we were pampered on the way to London with coffee, juice and full English Cooked Breakfast!!

On arrival into London, we walked the fifteen minutes to our hotel and checked in around 1.30pm. The Bloomsbury Hotel is near the centre of London and also near to Russell Square Underground (tube) Station – which was very handy!!

After unpacking, we met up in front of the hotel and headed towards Russell Square Station where we took the tube to Knightsbridge Station – the location of the infamous Harrods store. The next couple of hours were spent looking round this store thinking what we could spend our money on – if we had ‘plenty’ of it!!

Upon leaving the store, we headed to Leicester Square where we got off the tube and headed on up into the square itself so that we could find something to eat. We ended up eating at Pizza Hut within the square and had a great meal.

After the meal, it was a case of going back to the hotel – via the tube – to freshen up before we left for the theatre. The theatre is located just outside London Victoria Railway Station and so this is where we got the tube too.

We went to watch the musical ‘Billy Elliot’ – a truly magical and fabulous show that we thoroughly enjoyed.

It was a long show and by the time we got back to the hotel, it was 11.30pm – time to sleep!!

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Relevant Web sites (If anyone is interested)!!!!

Virgin Trains - http://www.virgintrains.co.uk/default.aspx
London Underground - http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tube/
Harrods - http://www.harrods.com/Cultures/en-GB/KnightsbridgeStore/Default.htm
Billy Elliot - http://www.billyelliotthemusical.com/be_home.html

[dzney4lyf]

Hey Rich.. sounds like you spent an awful long time inside a "tube"... I'm guessing that's a subway...

Oh.. btw, glad you had a good time!!

now where's the rest of it???

[trickster]

Hey Rich.. sounds like you spent an awful long time inside a "tube"... I'm guessing that's a subway...

Oh.. btw, glad you had a good time!!

now where's the rest of it???

Yep Tube = Subway!! A fun and easy way to move around London!!

Tuesday is on it's way!!

lol

[trickster]

Tuesday 14th March.

We all had a good nights sleep, as the beds in our rooms were really comfy!! We were up and down stairs having breakfast by 9am with my parents. This is where we decided the ‘Plan of Attack’ for the day!! It was decided that we would go to the Tower of London (ToL on the photos in my photo album) to have a look round.



The ToL is where in days gone by the old Kings and Queen’s of England used to live. It is also where many people were beheaded – including past Kings and Queens and where the Crown Jewels are kept.



It was again another tube journey to get to the ToL. We arrived around 10.30am and had a good look round the Tower and all there was to see. This included: The White Tower, The Bloody Tower, The Crown Jewels and much, much more!! There is certainly a lot to do – so much so that we stopped half way through for a cuppa!! It was gone 3pm by the time we had seen all we wanted to see and it was time to leave!!



Next to The Tower of London is the impressive Tower Bridge – the one that ‘The American’s thought they were buying many, many years ago!! In fact, the bridge they actually bought was London Bridge!!



After a brief break, we decided to walk along the River Thames back towards the centre of London. This was a pleasant couple of mile walk, which took just over an hour!! Along the way, we past under a few bridges including the New Millennium Bridge which links St Paul’s Cathedral on the North of the River Thames with the Tate Modern Art Centre and Globe Theatre on the south. The Globe Theatre is the original place where Shakespeare’s plays were performed.



When we got to a Waterloo Bridge, we headed up onto the main road called The Strand. This is where ‘The Savoy Hotel’ is located and is an affluent part of London. From here, we walked along The Strand to Trafalgar Square had a brief look round. While we were looking around, I spotted a pink limo and my first thought was our VML Presidents were paying us a visit!!!


We then headed back along The Strand to an English Pub we spotted earlier called ‘The Wellington’ to have something to eat!!



We had some superb ‘Pub Grub’ before heading round the corner to The Lyceum Theatre to watch The Lion King. This was Ann’s and mine second time seeing the show but my parents first. Everyone was on agreement after the show that it was superb and well worth seeing!!



After the show, it was a short walk to Covent Garden tube station where we caught the tube train back to Russell Square. It was another late night and we went straight to bed!!

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Relevant Web Sites:

The Tower of London - http://www.hrp.org.uk/webcode/tower_home.asp
Tower Bridge - http://www.towerbridge.org.uk/TowerBridge/English
The Globe Theatre - http://www.shakespeares-globe.org/na...n/frameset.htm
The Savoy Hotel - http://www.fairmont.com/savoy/
Trafalgar Square - http://www.london.gov.uk/mayor/trafa...uare/index.jsp
The Lion King - http://www.disney.co.uk/MusicalTheat...ome/index.html

[kylewhit89]

isn't there something over there in the english channel
called the chunnel

[Tricksters Girl]

Wow I didn't realise we did so much.

It was a good break away.

[trickster]

isn't there something over there in the english channel
called the chunnel

Yep - sure is!!

It is 'The Channel Rail Tunnel' which links England to France.

[trickster]

Wednesday 15th March.

Again we were up and having breakfast by 9am and planning our day!! It was a clear day and so we decided to head down to the Thames and have a trip on ‘The London Eye’. The ‘Eye is basically a large Ferris wheel which rotates very slowly allowing you to gain un-paralleled views over London.



It was another tube journey to get there and a walk over Westminster Bridge. We were lucky that there was no queue and so, after buying our tickets, we were straight on the ‘Eye – all of us except Ann that is!! Ann doesn’t like heights and so she waited the 30 minutes for us in the café. The London Eye was cool and allowed us to have some great views over London.



After going on The London Eye, we headed back over Westminster Bridge and had a look round The Houses of Parliament – our Government’s Head Quarters and Westminster Abbey – where many Royal Weddings have taken place and many Kings and Queens are buried.



From here we headed up Whitehall – passed The Cenotaph (One of our War Memorials) and Downing Street (where Tony Blair lives) up to Trafalgar Square.

Off Trafalgar Square in one direction is ‘The Mall’ which leads to Buckingham Palace – a place we didn’t go to this trip. We had a good look round and then made our way along to Leicester Square where we had a sarnie from ‘Subway’. The large Odeon in Leicester Square is where most of our film premiers take place.



In Leicester Square, Mum and Dad booked to see a play that evening and we booked to see the film ‘Date Movie’.



After a lunch break, I decided we would walk back to the hotel for an afternoon rest. The walk took us through Piccadilly Circus, along Regent Street – where the infamous ‘Hamleys Toy Store’ is, along Carnaby Street and passed the London Palladium Theatre. We then turned into Oxford Street – the main shopping area for London and walked our way through various streets back to our hotel. The walk took around 90 minutes and took us to 3pm.



After a three-hour rest, Ann and I caught the tube back to Leicester Square to go to the movies. Upon arrival, we saw loads of crowds outside one of the Cinemas – it was the Premier Night of Basic Instinct 2 and we caught a glimpse of Sharon Stone!! Date Movie was a very funny film – short but funny!!



After the movie, we decided to eat in Burger King and sat upstairs over looking Leicester Square. There were still crowds of people around – more than there would normally be!! From here we saw Sharon Stone getting in to a car and leaving – obviously before the end of her Premiere to avoid the crowds!!



After our burgers, it was a final tube trip back to Russell Square and back to the hotel!!

_________________
Relevant Web Sites:

The London Eye - http://www.londoneye.com/
The Houses of Parliment - http://www.parliament.uk/
Westminster Abbey - http://www.westminster-abbey.org/

[butlers]

Wonderful trip report.... glad you had a wonderful time... let me go check out the pic..

[trickster]

Thursday 16th March.

The last day of our trip!! After our breakfast we went to our rooms to pack and checked out of the hotel. We left our bags though and went to The British Museum – a five-minute walk from our hotel.



We spent three hours in here looking at various cultures of the ancient and modern world. My favourite section was Egypt where there are many things to look at – and many photos were taken!!



From here, it was a case of going back to the hotel, collecting our luggage and walking up to London Euston Railway Station. We boarded our 1.46pm train home and again we were spoilt with the First Class service!!! We had sarnies, snacks, coffee and drinks!!



Upon arrival into Lancaster, we caught a taxi back to ours and I then took my parents home while Ann unpacked. When I got back, we popped next door and thanked them for looking after Nala & Simba!!



By the time we got back in, it was 7pm and time to unwind and relax!!



And that’s it!!

_________________
Relevant Web Sites:

The British Museum - http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/

THE END!!

[dzney4lyf]

nice pics rich and ann

[dzney4lyf]

now where are the dirty ones.. nevermind!!!

[trickster]

nice pics rich and ann

Cheers, sweetie!!

[kylewhit89]

great pics
i posted something for you lori
with the crowns!!!

[dzney4lyf]

great pics
i posted something for you lori
with the crowns!!!

????