**I'll preface this with "please don't judge". This is somewhat my personal diary, so I'm not just putting the glossy, shiny happiness out there. But I know you're all amazing and kind, so this comment was entirely unnecessary!**
Well, we're here! It was a super looooong day! The poor kids were awesome, as they navigated some ridiculously exhausting travel conditions.
We left for the Skybus at 10am AEST, 2.5 hours later, arriving at the airport. 3 hours through security, and 14.5hrs in a tin-can to Doha, it was an A777 for the boffins of you out there. 2 hours until the next flight departed, and 7.5hrs until we hit London (in an A380 - which was MAGNIFICENT, I might add!!! My new favourite plane!!). 2 hrs from disembarking, we got into an Uber, to take an hour to cover the 13 miles to our hotel. Sadly Johnny was stuck in the back back seat, jammed in among the bags. We stop/started, with a high speed of 30mi/hr to our hotel in Bayswater. Eek!
Magnificently our VW Uber was keeping up with the 300,000GBP Bentley's next to us!
Just under 33hrs of travel (I think!). So lucky that our hotel had a room ready for an early checkin!!! 10am!
Qatar Air was excellent! Our thorough packing for all seasons was completely unnecessary, much to Johnny's disgust. The flight temp was ambient, and they provided blankets, pillows, and the seats were fine. Not exactly roomy for our 6"+ frames, but not too squeezy. Especially given that the kids were not thrilled to have to sit with strangers elbows in their personal space.
The food was excellent, but was a 2am wake up call for brunch REALLY necessary? Their hearts were in the right place though, and I did appreciate the scrambled eggs, hash brown and creamed mushrooms. With their teeny tiny cans of coke.
The hotel is just big enough for the 5 of us. The kids are sharing beds in the lounge, and the big fella and I are in the room next door. We have just enough basic items in the kitchen to work out breakfast & dinner.
Once we hit the hotel, despite VERY limited sleep on the planes (I reckon a broken 5 hrs at the most for each of us the entire trip), none of us wanted to stay inside. So after a shower or two, we headed out.
We're about 5 mins walk from Diana's Memorial Garden, and Kensington Palace. The garden is SOOOOO beautiful. Actually, all of the foliage reminds me a little bit of Nana Sprott's garden. Lol! Maybe slightly more fancy!
Then I took my hangry little troupe down to Kensington via Albert Hall, where they shoved Macca's down, to take off the edge. Which was lucky, because we then hunted out the Harrod's Food Hall. Which was HEAVEN!! Couldn't afford to buy anything, but I imagined licking EVERYTHING in sight!! Wagyu Rib Eye was 300 pounds / kilo.
We wandered to Buckingham Palace, where we saw the guards stamping their feet with great aplomb! Taking in all of the Commonwealth Gates & monuments, we crossed Green Park to Piccadilly Circus/Soho, through a SUPER fancy arcade, whose name escapes me right now (it was Burlington Arcade), but it was FULL of VERY EXPENSIVE jewellery. A watch was a very reasonable 59,000 GBP. Amazingly, someone was in the process of purchasing it!
We were well in need of a break by this stage, so we took the kids for their first beer at an English Pub - The Glassblower. 1 wee glass of bubbles gave me a nice jetlagged beer buzz, so it was time to head home.
We got our tube passes sorted for the week, with the super helpful Underground Station Master, and dragged our feet back to Baywater. The gentle gusts of wind through the tunnels were quite nostalgic.
My fitbit tells me we walked 22,000 steps, but who knows what day that was! Probably over 2 days, but considering we sat at least 33 hours of those, I'm suitably impressed with the troops! Approx 6 miles.
We got microwave dinners on the way home, and were all asleep between 5.30-6.30pm. Very minimal tears were had, and not too much grumpiness!
We were all up at 5am this morning, woken by the gentle trumpeting of someone's bum!
It's currently 8am, we're showered and breakfasted, and we're headed out shortly to try to find James Bond. MI5 & 6, Downing Street and Scotland Yard are on the agenda, along with Westminster & Big Ben. We'll try to find a Westend show for tonight. If we can stay awake!!! Lol!
So far, loving London!!!
Photos to come!!