Spent almost a week in London from Nov 6th to 12th. We had cool grey days mixed with sunshine and a few showers.
Hotels
Part of the trip was for business for DH so we stayed 3 nights at the Novotel Waterloo which is convenient for work for him (on the Strand). We've stayed here many times and it's convenient but the rooms are quite small. They do have queen beds which is our priority.
2 nights at Hyatt Regency (The Churchill). Very nice stay on the club level.
Only one problem. I left my camera in the lounge and somehow there were crossed wires between security and housekeeping so although it was found I was told it hadn't been. Spent the best part of a day following up with security who were reviewing security CCTV. Camera was sitting in lost property safe all day and eventually returned around 7pm after several attempts to get it delivered.
1 night at the Novotel Paddington
The last night was just somewhere to sleep after a day trip to Wales to visit family and we dropped the bags @7pm, returned our hire car then went out to eat and see Skyfall before finally getting to our room around 11pm.
Great breakfast and off to the airport the next morning
What we did of note
Saw Matilda at the Cambridge Theatre. Excellent cast and we enjoyed the show. It's all original and there are some very funny moments and hilarious song lyrics.
Really enjoyed seeing Skyfall in London. Probably my favourite Bond movie; Craig is perfect!
The Shakespeare exhibition at the British Museum (booked online).
Do see this if you're in London soon and interested in Shakespeare! It was amazing and not exactly what I was expecting.
A series of 'rooms' dedicated to separate plays with artefacts from Shakespeare's time or indeed from the time the plays were set (eg. Roman coin for Julius Caesar, Henry V's helmet and saddle, early maps of England from 1550 and Venetian glass etc)
The exhibition also included short videoed monologues made for the exhibition by various esteemed Shakespearean actors.
Wish I'd had more time but it was 2 hours well spent.
Food
We ate breakfast at our hotels.
Lunch was at the OXO Tower Bar one day Carluccios at Waterloo the next and at the V&A . Every day I met up with friends for coffee or lunch so not a whole lot of sightseeing was accomplished.
Dinners I remember were at Masala Zone, Covent Garden and Dishoom, Covent Garden where we got our curry fix. Dishoom was buzzing and the food was very good. I had some spiced cider which was fab.
We also ate at Strada on Baker St and my creamy risotto was sprinkle with pine nuts and contained pancetta, spinach and sweet potato.
That's about it!
London trip highlights
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Sounds like a nice mix of work and pleasure. Thanks for posting.
Lee Ann
Thank you, I feel better now. Was supposed to be in London this month and had to cancel, but I didn't know about the Shakespeare exhibit at the British Museum and would have missed it. Then I would have read your report and felt bad.
So thanks again.
Lee Ann, yes it was nice mix; work for DH and pleasure for me!
Nikki, I'm sorry you had to cancel your trip but if you'd been to the Shakespeare exhibit I'd probably have enjoyed reading your report more than my actual visit; your writing brings things alive. My daughter would have been even more pleased as then she could have skipped the exhibition entirely!
Sassy_Cat, thanks for your concise report. I always enjoy reading about what others do in London (or Paris, or Rome, or Madrid).
Shakespeare exhibit sounds interesting...
Hi, sassy-cat. Just read your report on London. I promise I'm not stalking you, but we will be in London in July and September 2013. This is part of the big OE neither of us had when we were young, and now we are about to retire I decided we need to go while the disposable income is still coming in. I hope the Shakespeare exhibit will still be on while we are there. I have noted the places you ate at - always good to have recommendations. There is so much to do and see in the short time we will have in London that I am preparing a 'bucket list' of absolute musts which may well have to be trimmed down. No doubt our DD and DS-I-L will also want to add to the list their favourite haunts from their 5 years in London!
Hi Dot,
Ha, ha, maybe I'll be stalking you as I'll also be in London in the middle of July 2013.
Since we almost crossed paths in Sydney this year I think we will eventually bump into each other somewhere!
Sadly the Shakespeare exhibit ends this month (Nov 25th) but there is always something great to see in London.
I'm sure you'll get lots of recommendations for your trip. I do enjoy the OXO Tower Bar for coffee or lunch as the views are fantastic plus the food & service is very good. If you go do make sure you don't book the restaurant by mistake as the prices are much higher there!
Sounds like a good trip. Thank you, Sassycat.
I'm sorry to miss the Shakespeare exhibit, but as you say there's always plenty to do.
The BM might possibly leave its exhibition website available in archived form:
http://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/exhibitions/shakespeare_staging_the_world.aspx
When's your trip stokebailey?
Patrick, thanks for that link, I didn't realise that the videos were online. My daughter spent most of her time watching them "better than all the old stuff" according to her!
I was impressed by the catalogue in the museum shop but I only saw the hardback priced at 40 pounds (beyond my budget!). I might have been tempted to buy the paperback version.