Brace for impact - London

Wed 22 Mar

A Frankfurt stop-over on the way to London - yes, it's the long way around, but that's what happens when you fly Lufthansa. Arrived at 05:30. Steph got a bit of sleep on the way over - I didn't. Once we got off the plane we had to find gate B20 for the leg to London. We must have walked 2km in that terminal - maybe in a circle - before we found the gate. Got to Heathrow at 07:45 local then caught the Tube to Bayswater. (Immigration & customs was a breeze, by the way.) Got the keys in the rain and into the apartment were we found the cupboards were bare, so a quick trip to the supermarket for supplies. Nana nap in the afternoon, dinner and early night.
___________________________________
Thur 23 Mar     OMG it's Kate!

Slept kind of late (jet lag?), made a packed lunch and headed out to walk around Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens about 3 minutes away. Everything is trying to struggle into spring and there are many daffodils and tulips blooming. Wandered around Kensington Palace and had to stop with some other people near a rear entrance as a motorcade was leaving: 3 Police motorcycles, large Bentley, 2 big 4WDs, 1 more bike! "Oh my god! It's Kate! It was Kate. Did you see her? In the first car. It was definitely her. Oh my god!"  ... Um, no. Saw the driver. Didn't see Kate. Continued through the gardens and Hyde Park and eventually back to the apartment.

 Scenes around Hyde Park - waiting for spring

Part of the Italian Gardens in Hyde Park

We went online and got some tickets to tonight's "Book of Mormon" at the Prince of Wales Theatre. Took the tube in to Piccadilly Circus by 6pm to collect the tickets then wandered up through nearby Chinatown to get some dinner. Stopped at O'Neills (doesn't sound very Chinese) but we got a nice meal, beer and wine before heading back to the theatre for the show.

Wardour St, Chinatown

Irish pub in Chinatown?

Prince of Wales Theatre

Book of Mormon: never laughed so much! What a blast! All I'm going to say is: Go and see it!
__________________________________________
Fri 24 Mar

Walked over to Paddington Station to buy our tickets to Oxford. Paddington Station is huge but there's plenty of help around. Headed towards Hyde Park then down Oxford Street. Didn't realise how many shoe shops there are along here. Steph was very tempted but was restrained in the end.

Bought tickets for the hop-on-hop-off bus and rode it to the Tower to eat our lunch. Then back to Speakers' Corner in Hyde Park followed by a walk back to Bayswater to check out the Main Street. Found lots of pubs, cafés and restaurants for eating out.

Views from the hop-on-hop-off bus

Our local