London Baby

Made it to the train station this morning and figured out ticketing etc and got on the correct train, as a result we made it to London.  We also managed to arrive into London in the middle of a major tube strike and needed to get across the city from Paddington to Waterloo with two of the world's largest suitcases.  After asking at the information desk at Paddington on the best option, he sent us up to street level to find the "bus Marshall." We never saw such man, so we looked into google maps. This said that the Elizabeth Line and the Northern Line were still in operation and should get us to where we needed to go. So we headed to the Elizabeth Line managing to get our super large suitcases onto the escalator to go down, because if we waited for the lift, we would still be standing there.  We headed for the ticket machines and double checked with a staff member first who said take this line to blah blah blah and then swap trains etc etc.  This all sounded like it was going in the wrong direction so we decided to go with gut feeling and trusted google maps.  Thankfully google maps came through for the win!  There are 14 tube services that service London and this morning when we needed them, there were only 4 in proper operation, (2 of which we needed to use to get to our hotel).  Since then one of them has also been suspended and the other is on reduced service.  Thankfully they will all be back in service by the time we move from this hotel to our flat on Saturday. While trying to get onto the second train in the tube, Carrie had some technical difficulties trying to get her jumbo suitcase onto the train. This resulted in wedging her self and her case, on the door of the train, while it was closing, a gentlemen helping her lift her case and the door hitting her head (this did not hurt). When she finally got on the train, Claire noticed the gentleman who had helped he with the case, cleaning a large dark mark off his hand where he held the door.  Claire then looked at Carrie and noticed a solid black line on the side of her face and in her hair, where the door had made contact.  Too concerned either Carries wellbeing, Claire didn't. manage to get a photo of the mark before it was cleaned off. One job, and she failed!!!!

Once we arrived at the hotel, we dumped our bags, checked in (although we couldn't have our room for another few hours) and then headed to pint o'clock.  We found a pub and had a delicious meal of scotch egg with brown sauce, quiche and salad and some chips. We were also lucky enough to find some delicious warm scones with jam and cream for dessert at the same pub. So we decided it would be best to have another pint to go with the scones.

After scones we headed to the local nail salon from Carrie to get her nails sorted.  While waiting here we got the message to say that the room was ready.  So Claire headed back to the hotel and Carrie was only about 10 mins behind.  On check in they asked us if we wanted the room cleaned every day or every third day (we could get top up towels TP etcas required regardless), so we said every 3rd day was fine.  This was great because if you opted for this they gave you a bottle of wine.  When Claire went to pick up the key after the nail salon they gave her two, winning.

We came up to the room, unpacked our stuff, had a shower and headed out to meet some of the guys that Carrie is attending the conference with.  Went for a pint and then had another, then headed to a pizza bar with delicious pizza.  Due to the fact they needed 10 or so mins for the table to be ready, we stopped at another pub for another pint on the way, only responsible thing to do really.  Arrived at the pizza place and ordered a sensational tasting pizza, another pint (Carrie joined in the wine instead at this point) and then had a fantastic dessert (Pistachio Misu). After dinner upon leaving the restaurant, they give you the complimentary shot of Limoncello.  Needless to say it was nice to walk in the cooler air back to the hotel back across the river.