London Adventures

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The Bloke and I have very different opinions on what constitutes as ‘a holiday.’ Give me a beach, a pool, a bar and glorious sunshine and I’m happy. He needs things to see and do. I like to adopt my inner vegetable and lay like broccoli, while he’s a ‘get up and go’ type.

We both, however, have a common love of London, and we try and visit as many times a year as we possibly can. Booked in advance, train tickets are very cheap and the journey is only an hour and a half, so getting there relatively easy. There’s something about it that we both connect with – the architecture, history and the atmosphere is wonderful, and over the years we have joined the millions of tourists with our cameras to experience everything the city has to offer.

Last Saturday I was attending the Annual Bloggers Bash, so we decided to make a little mini break out of it. We booked a room at the Premier Inn near Euston Station for Friday night and got a ridiculously early train so we would have the entire day to wander around. After leaving our bags at the hotel, we arrived at the Tower of London in time for opening, and it was already packed – it seemed like half of the U.S. had the same idea as us that day.

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A panorama of the view from the central building

We spent the morning exploring the buildings in the glorious weather, looking at The Crown Jewels and the views of the city and being amused at the tourists making victory signs as they had their photographs taken in the red phone boxes. Their fascination with them always makes me smile – the British use them for urinating in and for advertising pornographic services. As is always the case, there was building work going on to maintain the architecture, so some of my photographs are blighted by scaffolding and cabins.

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The central building

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The Bloke testing his new camera

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Can’t take him anywhere…

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Looking a little more normal…

Afterwards, we went to the food section at Harrods to treat ourselves to a few things for a lunchtime picnic and then ate it in Leicester Square while we watched the street performers. We enquired about discounted tickets for a show, and after discovering that they were a little out of our price range we decided to book tickets at the Odeon to watch the new Mission Impossible film that evening. Granted, we could have seen it when we went home, but this particular cinema is where they host the premier screenings of new films and hundreds to celebrities have been there, so it was something else I could tick off my tourist list.

We went back to the hotel, checked in and promptly fell asleep for a few hours, both being shattered from being awake since 5.00am.

That evening, we went to the cinema and were promptly surprised by just how big the screen was, and the fact that it looked just like a theatre. The film was great – one of the best of the five, and aside from a silly woman sitting next to me who laughed all the way through it even in the parts that weren’t supposed to be funny, I had a great time.

As we were leaving, I picked up my rubbish from the floor and I noticed something underneath The Bloke’s chair. It was an A4 piece of paper, with a still of Tom Cruise in Top Gun. It read:

Congratulations! You have won a prize – please take this to one of our staff to claim it.

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Our prize from the cinema – bonus!

We weren’t sure whether it was a prank, but we took it to the manager in the foyer. I half expected him to laugh at me and tell me someone had put it there for a joke, but I was pleasantly surprised when he smiled and asked us to follow him to a little cupboard near the entrance. Our prize was a Guardians of the Galaxy poster and a copy of John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars. It was completely random, and looked a little awkward carrying it back on the Tube afterwards, but I was delighted – I had wanted to purchase the book anyway, and let’s face it, it’s always nice to get free stuff!

I don’t remember my head hitting the pillow that night. Despite having an afternoon nap, I was completely exhausted…

I love the fact that we have little adventures together. I can’t wait to see what Barcelona has to offer in September!

What about you guys? Have you visited anywhere recently?

You can also find me on Twitter and Tumblr @suzie81blog and don’t forget to check out my Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/suzie81speaks, my Pinterest page http://www.pinterest.com/suzie81speaks and my Instagram page http://www.instagram.com/suzie81speaks

 

101 thoughts on “London Adventures”

  3. It sounds like you both had a great time. I love London as well and am desperate to take my little one down for her first trip. She keeps asking to go to the museums to learn about dinosaurs so thought I would try and make a mini-holiday for her. (And obviously for me as well)

  4. I stayed in the Premier Inn Euston in June, the beds are comfy! Love London too but coming from Scotland it’s more of a jaunt! I always want to go to the cinema in big cities too, it seems more exotic – and you got a prize, that would never happen at home! A tip for your next trip: the theatres themselves have cheap tickets on the day sometimes, we got to see Damian Lewis in American Buffalo for a bargain – it’s worth checking out! Have fun in Barcelona, dream destination! 🙂

  5. Ha! That’s so funny – while reading your blog about the Odeon, I was reminded of watching Top Gun there (with the most amazing surround sound – new technology at the time) and then you mention Tom Cruise – how funny! 🙂

    • Haha! I always think of him when I see that cinema because he’s the one that always arrives hours before a premier and spends lots of time talking to fans…

    • It’s great when that happens, not that it’s happened to me before haha! You wouldn’t believe the state of the cinema afterwards – it was if people had bought popcorn just to throw it around the place!

  8. What an enjoyable adventure – and what a treat to get a prize. I will definitely go see the new Mission Impossible movie now – I know my hubby will love it.

    • Thanks very much! I couldn’t get over the fact that there were so many people just walking last and not taking a moment to stop and look. I suppose you get desensitised after a while!

      Thanks for the link – I’ll check it out!

  12. Sounds like a perfect day 🙂

    (The bloke is smokin btw, my husband says it’s okay to tell you, lol 😉 )

  13. I love London as well.
    The Odeon is a magnificent theatre to catch a movie. Once I saw The Kings Speech there with my Aussie family. It was quite funny hearing all the English laugh at the jokes about the Australian. We sort of stayed quite for that part.
    One of the best things to do in Harrods, beside visiting the spectacular food hall, is going to the bathroom. I love their choice of perfumes and soaps to use just to freshen up. Crazy I know but worth a look.

    • I haven’t seen the Kings Speech yet, but I can imagine that it was a bit strange for you to hear your nation being mocked…
      I like Harrods for the food court, but I must admit that every time I have been in I have been treated quite badly by the people behind the counters. When I went in I asked for a macaroon, and the woman serving asked me if I wanted a crushed one because it was cheaper, and then got all snooty with me when I said I wanted a normal one. It was silly I know, but I was offended that she assumed I couldn’t afford it – it was £3.50!

  14. I really want to go to London again properly. Been there heaps but always with work and it’s not the same. Did you hear about all my little adventures coming up over the next few months?

  16. The impromptu win made me smile – such an interesting combination too, come to think of it!

  17. What a great idea with the prize! Last vacation I took was a pool and beach one and in a way I’m a mix between the two of you. I love to stay put but then I need to get out and about too. Last city trip was to Hong Kong and that city is truly amazing. I’m sure you will love Barcelona. It’s such an amazing city, so much to see and so much great food and wine to taste.

  18. Cool vacation! I asked Andre if we could go to the Blog Awards in London and he said no! I tried! Lol. I think we’re going to Phoenix this month. It’s super hot there but we’re thinking of going to Ikea and maybe to the Grand Canyon. We were thinking of Las Vegas too but maybe later on I hope 😉

    • Ooh the Grand Canyon. That’s at the top of my bucket list. The Bloke has been to Vegas and loves it, but it’s far too expensive to go! Looking forward to seeing your posts about Phoenix! Have a brilliant time!

  19. Brilliant! London and its Tower! My favourite places in the whole world. Thanks for the memories you stirred in my heart!

  21. And I thought I was the highlight of the weekend 🙂

    Glad you had a great time. I lived in London for 27 years and loved just about every minute of it. The stories I could tell you. Maybe, over that drink?

  22. Nice post about a nice break. Shame you had to spoil it for yourself by meeting us lot!

    In spite of the fact that it’s not my normal kind of genre, it is a good book you’ve got there. I’m sorry to say that I shed a tear at the end. Hope you enjoy it

  23. sounds delightful! Would love to see London some time. We just got back two weeks ago from Washington, D.C…. went to celebrate Little Man’s third birthday. Today we went antiquing in North Carolina… nothing as glamorous as London though, and I definitely didn’t win anything! You and the Bloke are a very cute couple… loved seeing the photos. DAF

  24. What an awesome post, Suzie! I have never been to London, and I know you were there for the bloggers bash last weekend. Thanks for posting these photos and on top of it all, you won a prize besides your bloggers awards! Well done, my dear! Cher xo

  26. Suzie, another great thing about blogging is when you take a comparatively humble local trip, it seems very exotic to bloggers in all other corners of the globe. Today, we had a half hour ferry trip from Ettalong Beach to Palm Beach where “Home & Away” is filmed in Sydney and coming home the sunset was magnificent! The entire Western sky was orange. I’ll be doing a few posts but https://beyondtheflow.wordpress.com/2015/08/09/look-what-i-caught-yacht-at-sunset-palm-beach-sydney/
    This of course doesn’t mean that I’m not completely jealous of your London trip, especially being at the Bloggers’ Bash and meeting up with all these people who feel like they inhabit my local neighbourhood and yet they’re “over there”.
    I went to London for a week in 1992 and a highlight was going to Keats’ House in Hampstead. I used to live and breathe his poetry…by choice and necessity.
    xx Rowena

  28. Reblogged this on ronovanwrites and commented:
    I guess without a computer I could become a full-time reblogger but I don’t think would keep me going. However, this article from Suzie helps and I wanted to share. I wanted to say her writing style has changed slightly since her career change and there is more joy in my friend from England and her writing has developed into something richer and even more relatable than it was, if that is possible. I love the photos of London and her real description of a trip. I felt as though I were there.

  30. Next month I’m heading to London, yeah! Love it. Love the history. Love the architecture. Love the theatre. Love the fact that I can get tea and not just coffee. Can’t wait 🙂

  31. Next time grab your food at Borough Market. On Fridays thru Sundays they have so much free stuff you’ll probably not need to buy anything! Or if the budget stretches try Duck and Waffle for brekkie, or if you manage to up early head for the Beigel shop (Bagel to you and me)on Brick lane (oh so gooooood) and then on to Shoreditch and Hoxton: the pop up villge at Shoreditch high street is fab. Glad you had fun

  32. Oh yes, love London too! We took our little girl for the first time in April. Did Buckingham Palace, Big Ben… and it happened to be the day Princess Charlotte was born too! Lots and lots of lovely memories from that day… and a couple of weeks later a letter from the Queen’s Lady in Waiting to our little girl to say thank you for the birthday card she coloured in for her at school! There’s so much to do in London, always something to do and see.

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