Anniversary Minus One

If I had had my way and a bit more money to spend, we would have been going to Paris for our wedding anniversary this year, but alas it was not to be, so instead we organised a weekend in London.  It was the end of the half term holidays so Katy went to stay with her grandma, and after dropping her off in Leyland we went to Preston to catch the train.  After arriving at the station a bit early, we found we had time for a nice hot chocolate in the cafe.  There was a group of men chattering and drinking coffee, and after a bit more sneaky looking, we decided they were definitely train spotters.  Bobble hats, anoraks, note books and coffee, all sure giveaways, and also the fact they there was a bit more chatter and some quick note taking when a particular train went past.

Couldn't afford first class on the way down, so the next best thing was the quiet carriage.  Soon after we set off, a mobile phone rang and a young man began a relatively noisy conversation.  He didn't seem to notice that the lady sitting next to him was glaring at him (I wasn't the lady).  The guard on the train was also fairly noisy as he came through checking tickets.  He was trying to be a bit of a comedian and was whistling.  I have to use quite a lot of self control when I hear people whistling because it makes me want to rip their heads off.

By the time I had thrashed Robert at Scrabble we were very close to London and after arriving at Euston, it was just another short ride to our hotel in Maida Vale.  The room was quite nice as we expected because we had stayed there before, but I was a little disappointed with the bathroom.  The toilet roll holder was broken, the grouting around the bath was quite dirty in places and there were buttons missing from the shower controls. Nothing drastic, but it did take the shine off it a bit.  I wouldn't have said anything, but reception rang our room to see if everything was ok, so we mentioned the bathroom, and were immediately upgraded to a room on the executive floor, which was much nicer and had a better view.

After a short rest, we ventured into town to find somewhere nice to eat in Covent Garden.  We were torn between two places we had both eaten at before, a Greek restaurant called Sofra and a bistro called Cote.  We ended up flipping a coin to decide and ate at Cote.  This turned out to be a good choice as our meal was lovely and I tried crab for the first time ever.

After the meal we walked back to Picadilly Circus to catch the tube to the hotel.  It was about a 15 minute walk, and as always it was still teeming with people even though it was around 10 o'clock.  The picture below doesn't show teeming people, but this was the quietest part of the walk.

Covent Garden

While we were walking through Covent Garden I heard what sounded like a Canadian accent behind me.  I looked round and there was a woman in a very nice gold evening dress talking with her friends who were also all dressed up.  I decided she must be Canadian because to me she sounded just like Tricia Ross.

Our route back to the tube station took us through Leicester Square which was very crowded.  I was attracted to the bright lights and colours of one particular store and wanted to go in but Robert wouldn't let me, and I'm still not sure why he didn't want to go into M&M World.  It made me a little sad.

I've walked past this statue/fountain several times, but this was the first time I had stopped to take a photo even though it always impresses me because you just come across at the corner of a normal looking building.  We had to wait quite a while for a gap in the crowds in order to get a clear view of it.  You can see a bronze plaque telling you about it but I didn't read it because it was very busy and I was rather self conscious.

Fountain near Picadilly Station

Due to the peculiarities of my teeth I sometimes have problems with food getting stuck in very small gaps that can only be got out using floss, and if I don't get it out then the pressure builds up and gives me a headache.  The one thing I forgot to pack was floss, and now I needed it.  Just down from the hotel is a Tesco Express so we hurried there, but they didn't have any, so we spent the next fifteen  minutes walking up Kilburn High Road until we found somewhere selling it.  Back at the hotel calm was restored after I flossed.

We have a bit of a tradition when we stay in hotels, and that is to find a channel showing Road Wars and watch cops catching naughty people before we go to sleep.  Luckily we found one.