We set off at 10am after I'd opened my cards and presents and I was very happy with what I received - money and wine - what's better than that! We had a good journey down the M1 to London but driving was unpleasant as my windscreen wipers were constantly going and the spray and rain were horrible. We remembered the route from the M1 to Exhibition Road and although the traffic was busy, we made good time. However, driving along Cromwell Road we realised that we couldn't turn left to head up to Hyde Park we so we had to carry on and find a alternative turning. Just before we reached Harrods we found a turning and drove along some very narrow - and extremely posh - streets. I've never seen such a concentration of prestige cars parked along the road in my life!
Eventually, after a few more turns and U-turns, we reached Hyde Park and managed to find a space on the main road that runs through. We fed £7 into the meter which gave us five hours of parking and enjoyed our pic-nic before hitting the streets!
As it was such a horrible day, going to a museum seemed like a good idea to lots of people and the Science and Natural History museums were already busy with queues waiting to get in. The V&A was a little quieter and we decided to wander around the halls dedicated to Europe from the 16th century first. There was lots to look at and some really beautiful objects on display and we wandered from hall to hall marvelling at all the history.
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| Main entrance hall |
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| Not the real one! |
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| A fine specimen of a man! |
The kids took lots of selfies and although by the end of our tour they were getting a bit bored, I still think they enjoyed the experience.
We left the V&A and by now the queues were really long as the museum was at capacity. We trudged back up Exhibition road in the misty drizzle and had a peek at the menu of a Hungarian restaurant that we remembered from previous visits. One day we'll go! This road has been turned into one of those "shared" roads with no pavements or kerbs and it was quite confusing as to who could go where!
Opposite our car was one of the Serpentine galleries and as it was free to enter we went in, hoping there would be a small cafe. Alas, there was not, and the exhibition itself was weird in the extreme! It was by a woman called Lucy Raven and none of us had a clue as to what was going on! It was very dark with lights and sound and after a few minutes we beat a rapid retreat! Not really our sort of thing!
Another of the Serpentine galleries was a five minute walk away so we headed there and had a look at paintings by someone called Zaha Hadid. The cafe here was called The Magazine Restaurant and at first we thought they were just serving meals but when we asked if we could have a drink they were very welcoming.
Keith and I had a pot of tea while Mike and Soph enjoyed a creamy hot chocolate and it was very pleasant sitting in the cafe and looking out over the misty park. Outside it grew dark and misty but inside it was cosy and the place had a lovely atmosphere.
I paid the bill (£14 including service charge!) and we returned to the car. Gladys refused to turn on and direct us to Hammersmith so we used Sophie's phone instead which turned out to be wonderful. We drove straight there and managed to park on a side street a couple of minute's walk away, which was a bonus. I had worried we would find it difficult to park.
The Cross Keys in Hammersmith is situated in a lovely area of London with narrow side streets and terraced houses that look very cosy. As there was a football match on between Liverpool and Manchester United, the pub was packed to the rafters so we squeezed ourselves into a quiet corner and Keith went to the bar. We had a view of the televisions so Keith was delighted to be able to watch the last twenty minutes while sipping a pint of Fuller's London Pride. When Man U scored the equaliser, the whole pub erupted!
As we were sipping our drinks, Sophie gasped and whispered to me that one of the men sitting at a nearby table was Will Poulter who had starred alongside Leonardo di Caprio in The Revenant. He was wearing a baseball cap and if Sophie hadn't said anything I would never have known! She said that he'd looked at her and in that instant she knew exactly who he was. It was all very exciting!
Thankfully, after the match the pub emptied out a bit and we were able to sit down. We had a look at the menu and we were a bit disappointed to see that it wasn't the usual fare on offer, but a much more limited choice.
We swapped tables again and sat down where Will Poulter had been sitting...this gave us all a little thrill! Our food was OK, but I have to say it was nothing exceptional. I had Black Pudding Scotch egg to start and there wasn't a huge amount of taste. Sophie had asked if the kitchen could make her garlic bread and they happily obliged which was great. Mike had fish goujons and Keith had flat bread served with a harissa dip. For mains, Keith, Sophie and I opted for the battered fish with chips and peas while Mike went vegetarian with pasta in a very spicy sauce. The batter was nice and crispy, but again, there wasn't a lot of taste to my meal.
None of us had room for dessert and by now it was past 8pm so we paid the bill (£66 including drinks which I thought was very reasonable) and walked back to the car. We used Sophie's satnav on her phone again and before long we were on the M1 and heading north.
We arrived home at 10pm and I had a whisky and ginger wine to celebrate. Cheers!
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