Going to the big smoke

I love to travel and wherever I go I like to see life pass by so a window seat on the train to London was a given. Relaxed and aimlessly watching countryside and townscapes whiz by, my stomach somersaulted when the outside seemed to be coming towards me and lurching like a crazed animal. Welcome to my first experience of tilting trains.

Less stressful than taking the car, we alighted at Euston to head for the tube to get across to Earls Court area. Tubes are another thing that I’m a novice with and I wasn’t particularly looking forward to it as I hate crowds and have a tinge of claustrophobia: usually corrected with a mental slap across the face and logical thinking; I cope. The amount of people around on a weekday afternoon surprised me, all surging forward and downstairs with Oyster cards and tickets thrust out to scan them through barriers; another surge towards escalators that were moving at a rapid pace. Deep breath and I was on, then realised I was standing the wrong side: no concession for being a lefty! Swiftly moved over and off, we trundled cases towards the platform and the seemingly incessant stream of trains/trams or whatever you want to call them! A gust of warm air tumbles along the platform as one pulls up, doors screech open and people splurge out, eager to be on their way as we became the new sardines to cram into the tin before the doors shut and we were whizzed off again to the next station. [I'm not dwelling on the suicide doors]. No personal space here, cheek by jowl with who knows who as we all swayed along with the rattles and grunts of the train. Spat out at another station to join another line, we repeated the procedure before finally getting to Earls Court. It was in truth a matter of minutes but my nerves were jangling and I needed to stop to get my breath.

But the long weekend adventure had begun!

The main reason for going was to see Les Mis as the Garrick, so once changed we were off to conquer the tube again. I was much more relaxed this time and it was great to get to Chinatown with plenty of light so we could wander around and have an early evening meal before the show. But what was it going to be? 

English, Chinese, Thai, Korean..whoa, Korean? With noses pressed to the window, there were tabletop BBQs and cuts of meat presented on a platter. Appreciative noises coming from the other half, myself not so much: there appeared too much fat but I was assured it melted away much like Iberico ham. Should I try something new or should we go for something within my comfort zone? 

Ah to hell with it, there were king prawns on the platter if nothing else!

Always a sign of a good restaurant is when there is a mix of ethnicity eating there so we ploughed in for what we hoped was a traditional style meal.
The lid was taken off the BBQ and once we chose our meal, it was delivered to us along with side salad and dips.

 The first delicately sliced and rolled meat [Chadol Bagi] was placed on the BBQ and gave a gentle nose twitching sizzle. It began to uncurl before our eyes. A waitress came over and flipped it over and added onion and mushroom to the fire. The fat was rendering away and as it cooked gently I began to look forward to tasting the feast that was opening up before me .

Before we started nibbling on that we added the rib eye which, once it had started cooking, the waiter came along and snipped into bite sized sections

Then the marinated and un-marinated belly pork went on.

 All were dipped into delicately flavoured oil and beautiful bean paste.

We did relegate the steel chopsticks for easier to use bamboo though!

 Lastly the prawns went on which i did take full advantage of as the pork belly was not my thing [well that's my excuse and i'm sticking to it!]

Olle was certainly a place i wish was closer to home as I'd love to go again.

This set us up great for the theatre.

The theatre was packed and we were over an hour early so we could have a drink before the show. There was an excited buzz in the air as we took our seats, the only photos we could take were of the stage prior to the performance but then i'd rather watch and enjoy anyway.
What did I think? Amazing. The whole cast were brilliant and Michael Ball just a part of a very large team. I would certainly go to see it again. The underground trip home was even enjoyable as I hummed along to the songs.

The underground. 
i was getting used to the bustle and also understanding the routes and change overs...I even began to understand 'Mornington Crescent; for those of you who have listed to Radio 4 and 'I'm sorry i haven't a clue.' But when I started to think how deep we were on some of the lines, I dragged my thoughts away before claustrophobia set in. 
What I was enjoying about the tube was the people. Such a variety and very few making eye contact, everyone in their own little world. Although I did end up chatting to a few people, the majority were self absorbed, or phone absorbed. One young lady did make me smile though as she was applying her make up with precision in the rocking carriage and looked model perfect...except for the runs in her tights!

After a second day zipping around London, I began to understand the usefulness and speed of the underground system but i still wouldn't fancy it on a permanent basis.

Borough Market
                                        It was on my must see list. 

 It was much bigger than I thought and from looking around the Artisan stalls were making a good living from the prices they were selling things at, £4 for a loaf of sourdough? 

            Beautiful displays of fruit and veg 

 An amazing array of spices and herbs, some of which I had never heard of

            Cheese Gromit?

          and more cheese

      Artisan breads were flying off the display











There were places to eat, to drink, including Chocolate wine??? Now what is that all about? I didn't try it!

 A quick shot of the Shard and we were back off to Earls Court. Unfortunately I had picked up some sort of lurgy and needed a lie down before going out in the evening. We could see the Shard from our penthouse room so I could visualise how far we had travelled that day.

The Troubadour.
Never heard of the place, sounded interesting, so we gave it a whirl and we were glad we did. Happened to be 2 for 1 on cocktails which was a bonus. Had a bunch of inebriated hooray Henry's next to us but they were OK. All sorts of stuff hanging on walls and from the ceiling. Staff were pleasant and food was pretty good. We had a few small dishes and shared rather than a full meal. 


Then we headed downstairs for the jazz......we were
 about three times older than the clientele down
 there and the musicians but no one batted an eyelid. The music was good: OK the second set was a singer who loved herself more than the music, There was also a photographer who could only take photos of the musicians whilst blocking everyone's view and standing upright. No creative angles and she insisted on checking shots whilst still blocking the view!




We stuck around for a couple of bands before heading
back to the hotel for a nightcap. 





The National Gallery
Is huge!
We were lost in the whole place meandering here and there. I'm sure you need to plan your route to maximise your visit. Well actually I'm going to say visits as it's far too vast to take in all at once. Tea and cake were nice though!

The Science Museum
Set across many levels this was also a great place to visit and was popular with half term families. Although negotiating the levels was a bit of a pain when some of the lifts were saying they weren't working but actually were!

Phantom of the Opera
Due to the fact the weather was due to
 be 100% wet stuff on our heads we added in another theatre visit for the matinee of Phantom. Very stringent photo opportunities due to the technology involved with the chandelier [having been on a backstage trip at Birmingham Hippodrome I knew it was highly protected]. We were as eager to see this as Les Mis. The props and effects were amazing and the performance good but unfortunately it didn't hit the spot for either of us. But at least we have seen it now.

Thankfully not raining on leaving the theatre we wandered up the road to spot a Lebanese Restaurant.

 Feeling a tad hungry, the mezza was ordered along with pomegranate and orange lemonade. It was delightful, mini cheese pastries, falafels and three different types of humus along with fresh flat breads. It hit the spot!

The restaurant had a very traditional character to it and the staff were very friendly

Another one to recommend




It was a frantic few days in the capital city that was a mixture of first and fear at times. It is a great memory and I'm sure I'll be back again and be a bit better prepared next time.