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Saturday 20th October
The clock had ticked around for another milestone birthday and we were heading into London to make a weekend of it.
Early start as Callum had his swimming lesson first thing in the morning then we headed down to the station to catch the train into London. A little pile of cards and pressies would be opened when we got back tomorrow evening. It was a direct train and the platform at Thatcham was packed. We would keep fingers crossed that a lot of passengers would be leaving the train at Reading. Callum managed to get a seat but it was standing room only until Reading. A few passengers got off at Reading – enough for the three of us to have a seat.
Quite a few Brexit protesters on the train – there was a big march in London today. Hope the chap with the big placard realised how big a sign he was carrying and stopped whacking everyone he past on the head (he was worse than someone carrying an oversized umbrella!).
From Paddington, we headed over to Euston to find our hotel. Not our usual area for a stop over in London but it was convenient for our plans.
We were staying at the Hilton London Euston and when we checked in, we were pleasantly surprised to find out our room was ready. Bags dropped off and headed off towards Tottenham Court Road – a 15 mins walk away.
Dominion Theatre found and we popped into VQ, a 24 hour cafe just around the corner for a late brunch. Service was speedy but the food was surprisingly good. Callum went for a full english whilst Jon and I went for the Breakfast Muffin (sausage, bacon and egg). A little bit of time to kill before doors opened so we wandered further down Tottenham Court Road and had a look in Foyles (bookstore). It was massive with a great selection of books.
Doors opened and we headed in – we had tickets for Bat out of Hell, a musical based on the songs of Meatloaf. We weren’t quite sure what to expect but friends had been and really enjoyed it! Our seats were fairly central in the Circle and were well tiered so no problems seeing the stage even with a tall lady sat in the row in front! Loads of legroom too which was an added bonus.
We had a drink in the bar, sat on the motorbike and ordered half time drinks. The bar area was massive which is a pleasant surprise as which most old theatres, these are usually small and packed.
The show was amazing – even though we had a lot of understudies taking on the lead roles, they all had really powerful voices. Total wow moment before breaking for the interval. We all really enjoyed it – if you enjoyed Queen – We Will Rock You you will enjoy this musical.
We headed back to the hotel to get changed before going out to dinner this evening. From the hotel, it was a short walk to Kings Cross to get a tube straight down to Victoria. Our hotel was right opposite St Pancras Church – a stunning church with several interesting statues in the grounds and Jon noticed the crypt was open on Sundays so the plan was to explore further in the morning.
We also had to walk past St Pancras Station – the station frontage was just stunning (they don’t build buildings like this anymore!) and most of the old building was now a hotel.
We were on the tube and heading to Victoria in no time at all. Just the little matter of working out where the restaurant was in relation to the exit. Not far – a 5 minute walk and we were walking into one of our favourite restaurants – The Mango Tree.
We had to be out by 9.30pm so arrived a little earlier than our 7.30pm booking slot. In the corner of room was a table of girls – looking as though they were celebrating someone’s 18th (nice treat!). Lots of Tiffany bags on the table too so one lucky lady!
We had a platter of mixed starters that were as good as we remembered them. Callum insisted on ordering Pad Thai and we also had a thai red duck curry and a thai green prawn curry. All very yummy and absolutely no room left for pudding.
We had found out earlier in the day that Harry Potter / Fantastic Beasts wands were on display by St Pauls and the Millennium Bridge. Blackfriars was the nearest tube station although it took a while to get our bearings for St Pauls!
Must admit we were a little underwhelmed by it all. May have been better to see the wands during the daytime. The display had only just opened and it was busy – by the time word gets out, it’s going to be packed.
From here, we walked to Bank and caught the Northern Line straight up to Kings Cross and back to the hotel.
Sunday 21st October
The following morning we all managed to have a lie-in – it was 9am before we all woke up. Breakfast was being served until 11am and we didn’t have to check out until noon.
Today’s plan was to complete another Treasure Trail around the Kings Cross and St Pancras area – somewhere we haven’t explored previously.
First stop though was at St Pancras Church – and the Death Exhibition.
The Treasure Trail started in Kings Cross Station itself. After solving several clues here, we moved onto St Pancras then we headed out the back of the stations to explore St Pancras Gardens and then a walk alongside the Regents Canal.
St Pancras Gardens was hidden out the back of St Pancras Station. One place the trail took us was to see the Hardy Tree. A graveyard was dug up whilst the stations were being built – all the head stones were moved into these gardens and placed around a tree. Over time, the roots have grown around the stones.
The gardens is also home to a very ornate sundial. There’s a bench in the gardens dedicated to The Beatles (they sat here on their Mad Day Out) and Charles Dickens Schoolmaster was buried here too.
Out the back of the gardens, we then made our way over to The Regents Canal. The old gas towers had been brilliantly converted into apartments and the modern and old blended together really well. We walked along the canal and eventually reached Canopy Market. Nothing really to eat for lunch so we made the most of some churros from a street vendor!
Treasure Trail complete and we made our way back to Paddington after a fabulous weekend in London.
