Sophie and I were up, showered and dressed by 8.30am this morning, and Keith drove us to Wellingborough train station for our 9.30am train. On the way over, it had rained heavily, but by the time we got to the station, it had stopped. We had our usual coffee in Bewiched, and Sophie treated herself to a sausage roll.
We crossed over to the other platform using the lifts, as unfortunately, I now have a pain in my left heel. I always seem to have a pain somewhere these days! I wasn't going to let it spoil our much-anticipated two days in London, though, but it did mean we'd have to rely heavily on taxis and Ubers while away.
Our train was a little late, but we were soon speeding towards St Pancras in a quiet carriage. It's so much better travelling from Wellingborough! When we arrived in London, we made our way to the luggage storage facility downstairs and checked our small suitcase in. This cost us £15 (up to 24 hours) for the privilege and set the tone for an expensive couple of days!
We hailed a black cab to Marylebone High Street, and our driver was friendly and chatty. He asked us what we were going to be doing, and we told him about the Proms tonight. We were looking forward so much to the evening!
Our taxi dropped us just off Marylebone High Street, and we walked to La Brasseria for brunch. I fancied sitting outside, as the only other tables free were downstairs in the windowless basement, and Sophie reluctantly agreed. We sat on the edge of the seating area and studied the menu, choosing an omelette with ham for me and Eggs Royale for Sophie. I ordered a side of toast, and we splashed out on a Mimosa each.
Overhead, it was sunny, but behind, I could see dark clouds massing. We were given cutlery, but before our food arrived, the heavens opened and we were pelted with rain! We grabbed our knives and forks and ran into the restaurant, where we were shown to a table downstairs. This dining area was a lot nicer than I had imagined, with glass shelves containing wine behind us and several tables curtained off if you wanted privacy.
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| La Brasseria, part 1 |
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| La Brasseria, part 2! |
Our food arrived, and it was delicious, with enough toast to feed a small army! We sipped our cocktails and lingered over breakfast, seeing people run in from the rain and take refuge! I had thought it would just be a shower, but the wet weather looked like it had set in.
While Sophie used the facilities, I asked for the bill, and nearly fell off my chair. It was a shade under £70! Not really what we'd been expecting to pay for brunch! Our Mimosas were £25, and I was glad we'd decided not to have another!
We paid the bill, and I started a note on my phone of all of our expenses, so we could keep track (and horrify Keith tomorrow!). From La Brasseria, we strolled to Daunts, glad that the rain had finally stopped and the sun had appeared from behind the clouds. We went our separate ways, and I looked at the travel books, picking out one written by a wine buyer on his travels through France, and another by an American author who had walked the Camino Way, starting in Le Puy-en-Velay, a journey of around 900 miles.
Sophie bought three books in Daunts and was jealous when I was given a free canvas bag for my purchases! The shop was packed, and it was heaven to browse all the fantastic books for sale. We made a brief stop in Bayley and Sage, and I bought a bar of soap from Labre's Hope, a company that helps homeless people get into work by making soap and candles. The packaging is beautifully designed, and the soap smells gorgeous!
We visited two charity shops (more books) and then walked to 31 Below for a drink. We were able to sit outside this time and do some excellent people-watching! We both ordered cocktails again: an Aperol Spritz for Sophie and a Peachy Hugo Spritz for me with St-Germain Elderflower Liqueur, Prosecco, peach and sparkling water.
We were fascinated with the two men sitting next to us, as one of the men never stopped talking the whole time we were there, with his companion nodding and uttering the odd word every now and then. I have never known anyone, not even Keith's old mate, Ian, to talk so much! He just droned on and on... and on.
I was also drawn to three men who had sat at a table in front of us. One of them, an American, looked very weird indeed. He was dressed in a lurid black jacket, black trackie bottoms, and a baseball hat pulled down low, and I had the feeling he'd been under the knife one too many times. He looked plastic and unhealthy. Although they had vacated their table, they hung about waiting for the American to finish a long, drawn-out phone call, and it must have been forty-five minutes before they finally walked off.
We had another drink, enjoying the sun when it appeared and relishing the warmth which took the edge off the brisk wind. After paying the bill, we walked down to a street corner and Sophie had a difficult job ordering an Uber to take us back to St Pancras to pick up our suitcase. We haven't used Uber for a while in London, and now she realised why! It took ages for one to arrive and to whisk us back to the station.
There, Sophie went to reclaim our suitcase and was told the card machine wasn't working, so she had to go and draw cash out of a machine. What a faff! We went back outside to order another Uber, and this time, he pulled up a long way away and wouldn't come and meet us. You get about five minutes to get into the car, and if you miss this slot, you still get charged, so Sophie was seething. Luckily, we managed to find him and collapse in the back seat!
Scenes from an Uber:
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| A puzzled tourist - note the red London bus to the left |
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| Swanky café |
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| Immigration bust |
On the way to our hotel in Kensington, near the Edgeware Road, we witnessed an immigration bust at a Thai massage parlour. There must have been about twenty officials gathered outside the front, while two others went around the back. Our taxi moved off before we could see anything happening, but it looked like they meant business!
Our Uber dropped us off outside our hotel, The Park City Grand Plaza, and it was situated on a quiet residential street of beautiful buildings.
We were able to check in straightaway and realised that we didn't have a great deal of time. It was taking us so long to get around by taxi or Uber! Our room was wonderful! It was huge, with a super-king bed and a large bathroom up a short flight of stairs!
We unpacked, and while Sophie showered, I called Keith to let him know we were at our hotel. I asked him to do his best to get the cats in tonight, especially Gomez, but I didn't hold out much hope!
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