London to Rome

Boxing Day – Arrived in London

The flight (via Kuala Lumpur) was quite interesting. As we flew over Afghanistan there wasn’t a cloud in the sky and we could very clearly see all the mountains and valleys and villages dotted throughout. Everything was a browny red colour.

Last minute bag check . . .

. . . then off we go!

Our wing tip over rugged Afghanistan.

Flying over England was a different picture, though. Snow, snow and more snow on the ground right out to the edge where the land meets the English Channel. Quite an extraordinary sight – one we’ve never seen before.

 

First sight of England's snow covered fields.

London from above - Tower Bridge in center of photo.

Making our way from Heathrow to our accommodation wasn’t as easy as it usually is. We knew our local tube station was closed because of track work, but hadn’t anticipated the industrial action which saw many services reduced. Ended up getting to Kings Cross station and then getting a cab from there. Unfortunately timed our arrival to coincide with that of the Eurostar so had to queue for a cab for a fair while. We certainly knew we had arrived – it was freezing!

27 December – London

Today was always designated the ‘shopping day’ – and shop we did. But first, we needed some breakfast. As it was a bank holiday, the kitchen at our accommodation was closed so we headed off to a genuine local café (which avid watchers of British TV will know is pronounced ‘caff’). This was a genuine ‘caff’ – frequented by tradies at smoko. We joined them for our eggs and beans, but drew the line at chips for breakfast!

Louise at the Cafe opposite the Smithfield Markets.

After ensuring sufficient sustenance for the day, we walked towards the shops via St Bart’s (a favourite church with a beautiful church yard) on to St Paul’s Cathedral and then to Covent Garden for Ted Baker, Paul Smith and other great little boutiques.

The Kissing Tree in Covent Garden. As you kiss, the tree lights up. (Promised you we would, Mum!)

Took a few moments rest by the fire at one of our favourite pubs – the Lamb and Flag – before making our way to Carnaby Street. 

A favourite shopping spot - Carnaby Street.

This year's theme is 'Space Age' - note Santa the astronaut!

Last stop was Oxford Street. It was quite late in the day by now (nearly 10pm) and most of the shoppers had departed leaving the department stores absolutely littered with rejected clothes, shoes, everything. A real mess!

As we ended our day in a beautiful pub just off Oxford St, it was agreed that this holiday there should be a challenge – while in England, we should try one new pub and Phil should try one new beer every day. Not surprisingly, Phil agreed very enthusiastically to take on this challenge! Always the overachiever, he had actually tried three new beers before the night was over.

New pub: The Argylle Arms

New beers: Bombardier, Eagle IPA, Timothy Taylor’s Landlord Ale

28 December – London

Today we played tour guides to Phil’s son Ryan and his girlfriend Ceridwen. London is their first stop on a fantastic European journey.

After meeting at Piccadilly Circus, we walked down Piccadilly, through Green Park to Buckingham Palace and then through St James’ Park for a visit to Westminster Abbey.

Phil and Ryan off to visit the Queen at the palace.

Louise at Big Ben.

Checked out the abbey then wandered over to Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. Walked down Whitehall, past Horseguards and Number 10 to Trafalgar Square. Jumped on an old double decker and went down The Strand and Fleet Street up to St Paul’s Cathedral – quite a ‘Monopoly board’ experience! 

After our visit to Westminster Abbey.

Horseguards - we have to leave the horses now Ceridwen.

On board the No. 15 old double decker bus.

Finished the tour with a great meal by the fire in a beautiful pub on Fleet Street, just across the road from the magnificent Royal Courts of Justice.

Bid farewell to the young folk and then made our way to our entertainment for the evening – ‘Seasons Greetings’ at the National Theatre. This was a fantastic play which starred Catherine Tate and several other favourite actors (including Jen from the IT Crowd) – a real treat.

A beautiful walk across Waterloo Bridge – the perfect way to see the London skyline by night – finished the evening brilliantly.

New pub: The George – Fleet Street

New beer: Badger

29 December – London

Commenced the day exploring around our local area – great little streets and alleys with fantastic medieval names like ‘Cheapside’ and ‘Poultry’.

Made our way by double decker bus to Chelsea for a wander through some favourite shops and a stroll down some beautiful streets. How great it would be to live here!

After lunching in another favourite pub, we continued our strolling towards the Conran Shop (of Ab Fab fame).

This evening’s entertainment was dinner with Ryan and Ceridwen followed by a performance of Les Miserables – always a tremendous show.

Waiting for the show to start!

Finished off the evening with a post theatre drink at a great little pub in Soho.

New pub: The White Horse – Soho

New beers: Doom Bar and Alpine

30 December – London

Enjoyed exploring our local area so much, we set off to do some more today. This time we walked via the banking area towards the Monument (built by Wren just after the Great Fire of London) and on to the Tower of London and Tower Bridge.

Guildhall

The Monument

Continued our walk through St Katherine Docks towards Whitechapel and back towards the financial district. While we’ve been within a couple of streets of ‘the gherkin’ building before, we’ve never actually walked around its base. Enjoyed a beverage in ‘The Sterling’, a café on the ground floor of this truly amazing building.

A beautiful ruined church - Wren's St Dunstan in the East

Spent the afternoon with our friends Tim and Stephen at The Prospect of Whitby – a beautiful old pub built on the banks of the Thames in the 1500s. We even climbed down the stairs and took a walk on the river bank itself!

Finished off a perfect day with a trip to the Rosemary Branch for their annual Christmas panto. Readers of last year’s blog may remember that we had a ball at Dick Whittington last Christmas. This year’s performance of Robin Hood didn’t disappoint. The Charles Court Opera did another fantastic job and had us all rolling in the aisles!

New pub: Hung, Drawn and Quartered – Tower Hill

New beer: Palm

31 December – London to Rome

Up early to make our way to Gatwick for our flight to Rome. All went well and we arrived in Rome right on schedule.

Our hotel is perfectly located in one of the little streets directly off Piazza Navona – so we didn’t have to walk too far at all to find some New Year’s Eve atmosphere! It was fantastic just strolling around, sharing the evening with all the other people celebrating the occasion.

We had a fantastic meal (oh how we love Italian food!!) and saw the new year in with hundreds of other people (most of whom seemed to have fire crackers in one hand and champagne in the other!) in Piazza Navona. 

We then walked down to the Tiber and watched the fireworks over St Peter’s Basilica – a really beautiful sight. Wandered home through lots of little alleys and piazzas – everywhere we went was packed with people having a great time. Rome is so much fun.