London, the long way round

Last weekend we had our family trip to London which was part of my Christmas presents. Unfortunately due to the snow and other weather chaos Friday turned into a very long and frustrating day. We got to the airport slightly early because our flight was at lunchtime so we thought we would get something to eat beforehand. We got through security and literally just got the food we had ordered only for an announcement that our flight had been cancelled. We had to leave our food half-eaten in order to rush back down to the airline desk to see what our options were. We didn't see any point in just giving up given the fact we had tickets for the Tottenham match the next day, not to mention the apartment we had booked to stay in and also the fact that we had taken our cat to the cattery. The good news was that we were able to switch to another flight going to Southampton. The bad news that it wasn't for over four hours. We ended up having to sitting in the airport for all that time, and ended up getting some food from a cafe which wasn't exactly nice.

The flight wasn't too bad but we ended up landing in a snow covered Southampton late in the day. We got off the plane to discover that there were no trains/buses/coaches running. We ended up a desk, i'm not even sure if it was actually the proper help desk but the staff were very kind. There was the option of staying in a hotel overnight but that would've cost nearly £200 and we still would have had to get to London in the morning and get to the match. Thankfully they were able to organise a taxi for us instead and we ended up having the long journey to London in the taxi, which wasn't great for me I was in the middle seat in the back! It was quite surreal arriving in the outskirts of London and then driving past places like Buckingham Palace at that time of night especially with the snow. We got dropped off at our apartment and after dropping our suitcases off we ended up walking through the snow and slush to find something to eat. We ended up having burgers in an american themed diner after 11pm!

The robin that greeted us Southampton airport!

On Saturday we got up and had breakfast. Due to the afternoon kick-off of the match we were going to there wasn't time to do anything else. We relaxed for a bit and  got ourselves ready and then got the train to the station close the stadium. We had a look around the nearby area and decided to try and get some lunch before going to the stadium. We ended up in a chain restaurant that was very busy but it took almost 40 minutes to get our food and then we had to rush. I didn't realise how high up Wembley stadium and that was even before we got to our seats which were in the top tier! It was a good match but it was freezing cold, especially on your feet with the cold concrete underfoot. Tottenham won 2-0 which was good for my dad since he supports them. We ended up having a long walk back to a tube station and then made the journey back to the center of London. We went for dinner at a very nice restaurant before walking back to the apartment. I had brought my tablet and a hdmi cable with me so we were able to watch a movie on the apartment's tv (we are not ones for staying out in bars/pubs etc.!)

The view from our seats

Sunday was a very busy day, we ended up walking miles and miles! The first thing we did was walk to Spitalfields Market which was nice, we had a walk around it and I ended up buying a "unique" t-shirt with the blueprint/patent of the model of one of my guitars. We then headed to Denmark Street which I wanted to visit for the guitar shops. That said we ended up only really looking in one because I didn't feel there was any point in starting to sit down and play any guitars when it was highly unlikely that I would buy anything not to mention the logistical problems if I did buy anything. We then walked around the comer and I had a look in the Forbidden Planet megastore which was huge! Though I ended up not buying anything. We had a lovely lunch of fish and chips across the road before walking to Leicester Square. We had a walk around and through Chinatown before seeing about getting tickets for a show. Unfortunately since it was Sunday our options were limited to three shows. We were a bit skeptical but we ended up getting tickets for a show called "A comedy about a bank robbery" that evening. We then walked a fair bit more talking in the bank of the river Thames, the London Eye, Westminster and later passed Downing Street. We also passed through another indoor market. We had an afternoon snack before making our way to the theater for the show.

The show was very clever and very funny. Lots of slapstick humour, inventive stage design and the actors must've been exhausted by the end of it! It wasn't a musical but there were some songs which were decent. We were hungry when we came out after so ended up getting a quick pizza before heading back to the apartment. We flew back on the Monday at midday so we didn't have time to do anything else other than travel to the airport. Obviously the trip didn't get off to the best start but it was definitely worth it in the end. After being stuck at home so much doing these suggested revisions for my PhD thesis/job searching it was great to have a proper change of scene.

Thanks for reading.