Three Days in London

About 4.30 pm on Monday 2nd August we arrived in London (Paddington) and caught a taxi to our Apartment in Curzon St, Mayfair. A single London taxi managed to squeeze in 4 people plus four large pieces of luggage and assorted backpacks. Fortunately, it wasn't a long journey and we soon found ourselves in our strange accommodation. Now Mayfair is the best address in London because it's very central to all the sights - the great London parks (Hyde, Green, St Jame's), Oxford and Regent Streets, Buckingham Palace, Piccadilly, Trafalgar Sq. and so on. And we were parked almost opposite the Saudi Arabian Embassy with its armed guards. Moreover we had a huge amount of space: two bedrooms, a small kitchen, two bathrooms and a huge lounge. That's the upside. On the downside, our accommodation was rather shabby and in need of an urgent upgrade! Since the price was reasonable, however, we simply used the accommodation as a springboard for all our plans.

Our first full day in London was spent at the Tower, which Max found awesome. We went there by tube, which was also exciting for the little fellow as we had to change train lines twice and we had to walk through tunnels and use lots of escalators. Once we got into the Tower there was much to see and do. We walked on the walls; saw the traitors gate; visited tower where the Princes were murdered; saw the exhibition on torture; roamed around the white tower (keep) in the middle of fortress where we saw the weapons of war; saw the execution site of Anne Boleyn and others; looked at the ravens (birds) who live at the tower; looked at the Crown Jewels; saw the famous Tower Bridge with its lifting roadway; admired the Pool of London with its Cruise Liner and the Warship on which one of my distant relatives served; and finally ... and perhaps best of all ... saw a joust between two knights at the court of Edward IV and Queen Anne. Max was instructed in the use of swords and in jousting by attendants to the knights, and the whole thing was great fun for him. It took place in the Tower moat, which used to contain water but is now dry. We took masses of photos, including one of me talking to Queen Anne. I got the impression that Max was unimpressed by the crown jewels. The diamonds were too small!

The pictures show Max at the Palace and banged up in the tower, me consorting with royalty, and Max after the joust - both knights survived.

Wednesday, the second day, was also exciting for Max as it started with me and mummy taking him to the Princess Diana Memorial Playground in Kensington Gardens. It opened at 10.00 am and was soon crawling with masses of kids, some with their parents and some with nannies. The playing equipment included a replica pirate ship which Max liked best of all. He made some instant friends and ran fast all over the ship, climbed its mast, and tried out the other play items. Admittedly, I wasn't overly enthused by the play equipment, but acted as official photographer. After about 90 minutes we had ice creams before catching the tube to the south bank and a taxi from there to the Tate Modern Art Gallery. We needed the taxi as it had started to rain heavily and had a fancy lunch at the gallery before I headed off to visit my brother, Phillip, and a long-time friend. So it was left to Max and Beck to roam the old power station and look at all the weird and cranky art exhibits. Max ended with a cool Tate Modern T-shirt at the gallery and they headed off to an evening meal at the Hard Rock Cafe in Mayfair (on Piccadilly). It was a fun occasion for Max, but very noisy for poor Dot who had joined the party after a day of sight-seeing. I ate at the Civil Service Club off Whitehall, which wasn't quite a swanky as it sounds.

Our final day in London started with a long walk through Mayfair (including Berkeley Square where apparently, according to the song, nightingales sing) to Regent Street where one of the world’s largest toy-stores (Hamleys) is located. We spent two hours there visiting all 6 floors and Max had great fun trying out lots of toys. He especially liked a flying disc, radio-controlled cars, and the displays of magic. He liked the magic show so much that Beck bought him a set which he'll use back home to Canberra. I think he’d like to be a magician when he grows older. When we finished at Hamleys, we all went shopping in Oxford Street, but we didn’t buy very much. Dot and Max went to lunch while the other two looked at Selfridges and other stores. That had to end early as we returned to the hotel by 3.00 pm to collect our luggage and head to Heathrow, London’s main airport. We left on a Finnair flight for Helsinki at 6 pm and, because of the two-hour time difference, arrived there very late at 10.30 Helsinki time. So it was a quick taxi ride to the Cumulus Hakaniemi Hotel and straight to bed.

AS