Back from London!

We had a great time!! We arrived in London at around 5:30 pm and thanks to Google streetview and transportdirect.info, I not only knew beforehand which Underground train connections to make, but even what the road was going to look like, right down to the cafes and restaurants we'd pass along the way, so finding the hotel was absolutely no problem. We checked in, had a little rest then went for dinner to a nearby Italian restaurant. After dinner we walked around a little bit, but Katia said she was tired so we headed back to the hotel.

We had a fairly early start on Saturday; we decided to check out the hotel's breakfast buffet. It was ok, not great though and not worth the money even though Katia's was free. After breakfast we headed to the tube station (very busy!!) and then made our way to the London Eye. Unfortunately, it was a little drizzly with rain, but as our hotel room was on the 16th floor we knew that there was plenty of visibility. I was worried we might have to queue awhile, but I think it was 15 minutes in all, and it was under cover! It was very nice - I'm not sure how to describe it, it's not really 'thrilling' but you do get awesome views over London. After that, we decided to pick up our theatre tickets on the way back to the hotel so that we'd know exactly where to go later that afternoon and then we grabbed a quick lunch before heading back to the hotel to change. We arrived at the theatre about 30 minutes before the show - Katia was SO excited - she could hardly believe we were really there! We had good seats - I had wondered about this since I booked it with a hotel package, but we weren't disappointed. "Wicked" was very good - funny and entertaining and the singing was very good. We both really enjoyed it. After the show, we headed back to the hotel again, changed our clothes and went in search of some dinner. Although there are a few restaurants close to where we stayed, there weren't that many, so I thought maybe we'd get on the tube and head to a slightly busier area but on the way out of the hotel I asked the concierge where we should go and he suggested walking to South Kensington and he gave me a little map with instructions. Unfortunately, it started raining just after we left the hotel AND we ended walking too far (I couldn't see the map too well in the rain and the dark!) and by the time we got to the right area we were well and truly soaked!! Katia remained in good spirits - she was hungry and wet, but didn't even blame her batty mother for getting lost! We had a very nice meal (Italian again!) and by the time we finished, we were both dry and the rain had stopped - hurrah!

Sunday's forecast was for miserable weather, and after sampling it the night before, we decided to try and spend as much of it indoors as possible. We left the hotel at around 10 am, stopped for a light snack at a cafe then hopped on the tube and headed for the Natural History Museum. I figured it would be busy - but WOW! The queue was enormous; it took us several minutes just to walk to the END of it - so much for staying indoors! Fortunately, it wasn't raining too hard, and the queue moved fairly quickly and we were in by about 11:05 am. We spent a few hours wandering around before noticing what was going on in the main hall. An even bigger queue had formed to get into the dinosaur exhibit - it snaked all the way around the hall - must've been about an hour's wait. Needless to say, we didn't queue! Perhaps we'll see it one day.... We left the museum (the rain stopped!) and headed to Bond Street where we had some lunch (Italian for a nice change!); then walked to Regent Street because I wanted to take Katia to Hamleys. Hamleys was very good - but personally, I think FAO Schwartz in America is better! We were a bit short on time here and only managed a quick buzz around the shop before going back to the hotel to collect our luggage and then onto Euston Station where we were caught our train back to Wales.

It went so quickly, but it was great - we both thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and Katia was the perfect little companion. I was more than pleased to treat her to this special weekend and it turned out to be good timing as she has just won "Star Pupil" for the 2nd month in a row!