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This trip had to be re-arranged from earlier in the year – they cancelled this due to high winds! For their Christmas presents, we had bought Callum and his cousins tickets to ride The Slide at the ArcelorMittal Orbital – that “red” structure next to the Olympic Stadium in Stratford.
With strong winds forecast for today, we were unsure whether it would go ahead today. No emails advising of cancellation so fingers crossed we would be OK.
Trains all straightforward – straight into Paddington. Circle Line or Hammersmith & City Line across to Liverpool Street. Finally, Central Line up to Stratford. Less than 2 hours! We walked through the shopping centre and once outside we started walking across to the Orbital and the winds really picked up. We were half expecting to get there and for them to inform us that the Slide was cancelled.
First things first, we went to pick our tickets up. We were early and asked if there was a chance they could slide earlier than booked (there was no one else around!). They sent us up to ask at the top. Three people in the queue waiting to slide down and it was fine for the kids to go early.
The views from the top were pretty stunning. You could just about see Wembley Stadium on the horizon before the rain clouds swept in. You could see the rain and dark cloud travelling over to us.
The most vibrant rainbow (a double one at that) appeared over the Olympic Park, with the pot of gold somewhere just outside West Ham’s stadium.
The slide was awesome (according to the kids). They had to be kitted out with scrum helmets (which only Dan looked comfortable putting on and wearing!) and elbow protectors. It only lasted about 30 seconds but they seemed to love it (and wanted to do it again).
We were planning to go to Borough Market for lunch and with the others having a little more time on their hands, they joined us. The street food area had completely changed since our last visit. It’s no longer lined up alongside the fence for Southwark Cathedral, but a new area established with tables and tiered seating and the food stalls around the edge. Thai, fish wraps and indian wraps were the choice of food for the kids!
From here, we left the others and headed over to the “More London” for the Christmas Market and the Snowmen.
Twelve Snowmen had been decorated along the theme for 12 days of Christmas. A good stomp around and we found all the snowmen.
Another first for us – we saw Tower Bridge being raised to see a boat sail through. Small boat but tall mast!
