London - February 2012

I've had a fabulous few days inLondon with my lovely hubby - I really am a spoilt lady - not sure why either as I'm no-one special, just me.
Anyway we stayed at Travelodge City Airport which is a s mple, clean hotel within a 10 minute walk of the airport (just a small one) with a good Docklands Light Railway station. It's a bit weird travelling on these trains as they have no driver - eek! We now have Oyster card so just swipe the card and travel wherever we like all over the city - it makes hopping on and off the tube very easy.

Valentine's Day we checked in then went into Oxford Street with all it's husle and bustle. Selfridges was our first stop to buy our Nespresso coffee - it's always amazing to see the handbags, perfume, and other luxury goods in there - amazing prices too !!

A lot of walking later - only the first day too - we popped into The Shakespeare for a drink before enjoying a fabulous meal at Cafe Rouge ( saumon salad for me; chicken for hubby; creme brulee for us both)

Wednesday we went to Westminster Abbey which although a little pricey it was stunning - we sometimes forget how intricate our own buildings are and what amazing history we have.

We walked past Big Ben and the Houses of Parliment - again such amazing architecture. This is a beautiful staute of King Richard the Lionheart against Parliment windows - we saw his tomb when we were in onholiday in France last summer.

I have always wanted to have a proper Afternoon Tea but the Ritz is a little too much for us - you also need to book a log way in advance. However I did find Johnson's Restaurant which is part of The Strand Hotel and we had a lovely tea of sandwiches, cakes, and scones with jam and clotted cream - accompanied by really good coffee.

The best part of our weekend was another trip to Queen's to see Les Miserables. Ramin Karimloo is now playing Jean Valjean and he was amazing - very different to Alfie Boe - both good in different ways. Ramin is very good friends with Hadley Fraser (they have a band The Sheytoons together) and Hadley is currently playing Javert who is the policeman after Jean Valjean. The chemistry between the two of them on stage was amazing, two friends playing two enemies :)

Today we popped to Milton Keynes on the way home - we bought some lovely salad dressing and oils from Oil & Vinegar, and I had some more fruit infusions from Whitards. Lunch was Strada today - using our Tesco vouchers - I had seafood pasta and hubby had steak and chips - they do a delicious pud which I can never resist, nougat ice cream with nuts, with an expresso coffee poured over - gorgeous.

So now we're home for a quiet few days before going back to school - I could do with a rest as my left leg definitely belongs to someone else at the moment - feet up then ....

NO WAY - PHILIPPA IS 18 TOMORROW - WHOO HOO PARTY TIME :)