Given they wanted a kings ransom to travel by train its was ‘all aboard the Megabus’ to head for the bright lights of London. To be fair despite the slightly odd route it was a very smooth & efficient means of travel that delivered us to Victoria Coach Station.
From there we headed for our now favourite haunt for coffee & cake. Honestly I would forgive anyone who thinks all I do now is drink coffee & eat cake but seriously these cupcakes are worth the effort.
Ever keen to keep up with the tech I ditched waving plastic cards at the underground turnstiles. Choosing to use my phone thus removing any kind of juggling to pay or read the underground map.
The cashless world is with us & woe betide anyone who fails to keep up. I’m currently trying to embrace the evolving technology. Ever fearful of waking up one day & being unable to function due to being unable to use new methods.
In The Big Smoke
Arriving at such an early hour gave us time to venture across town to the cost effective Point A Hotel & dump our bags. From there we set about exploring a bit of Camden. To start we nipped into the vegan restaurant we had ear marked to try. Here we had a lush meal before heading back to get an early night.
Next day we met up with one of my daughter’
s old ship mates. Followed by fun day exploring The Angel Islington & Camden Market. When I attended Download festival a couple of years ago I marvelled at the outfits some of the festival goers were wearing. Wondering where you bought such items – now I know!
I could have spent much longer in Camden Town so think it’s a place to revisit at some point. Ever the awkward one. I ended up ordering a vegan salad with bacon as the standard salad in one venue didn’t appeal. I just was grateful we had to order via an app for that one.
Don’t Lose Your Head
Six, a musical of sorts based on the wives of King Henry Vlll with elements of modern humour was the show we planned to see. However it finished early so we were able to snag more tickets to see Jamie at the theatre next door.
As we criss crossed our way around London on the tube I couldn’t help but think of the places on the monopoly board. Indeed the visit to the Angel Islington made me think it would be fun to see if you could actually visit all the places named in that game.
I used to listen to a Radio 4 quiz show which featured a game called Mornington Cresent. Which I thought was fictitious until we actually passed through the station!
To The Palace
For the final day we opted for a visit to the gardens of Buckingham Palace. It was weird for me as I last went there as a guest to a Garden Party in 1990. The middle photo was taken just before the Garden Party & the company I worked for gave me the day off to attend.
The weather wasn’t great but we still managed to get a good look around & picnic between the downpours.
Remarkably it hadn’t seemed to change over much. Other than the addition of a shop & toilet block where the marquees that held the tea things had been located previously.
In 1990 the Queen, Lady Diana & other royals were in attendance at the garden party however no one seemed to be home this time around.
Our visit done we headed back to the coach station and back to Bristol having had a brilliant little break. It provided a fun escape from the trials & tribulations of lockdowns. Where everyone had been the long time cooped up for far too long.
Hope all reading this are staying safe & will have more to tell shortly as will have hopefully been to a couple of festivals if the music gods are on my side.
Use link to find out more about how to get tickets to see Buckingham palace.