Three Days in London

 

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Monday 13th May - Thursday 16th May (3 Nights) in London.

Summary: This was our first time apart since we'd left Perth back in March. I must admit I had a very enjoyable three days hectically trying to tick as many boxes as I could before Leb would me at Gatwick on Thursday for the next leg of our journey.

The first minute I arrived in London I headed for the nearest fish and chip shop and later on had a very nice pint in a local pub watching football. Bliss. The next day I ticked off some boxes I'd never even thought of on all the years I lived close to London. First of all I went to the Hunterian Museum, which was magnificent. I strolled around the LSE grounds and then walked to UCL my old stomping ground where I went to another museum I'd never been to. After this it was time to head off to the brand spanking new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to watch the end of season clash between Spurs and Manchester City. A win for Spurs would have helped their enemies, Arsenal, so that was never going to happen. 

I spent the final full day walking around old haunts near Ladbroke Gardens. I went along Portabello Road and then walked past good old Lithuanian House - although it's not been that for years. Then, onto the Ukrainian club, andother place I'd never visited before. It was closed so I went on a big long walk up Bayswater Road, past the "Russian" embassy and onto Hyde Park. It was a lovely day and I stopped at a few pubs on my way back to the Ukrainian club where I attended a fascinating talk on the on-going war and the need for drones. 

Arriving in London for Fish & Chips (Monday, 13th May)

Day 66 ~ First day apart from my loveliest dearest Leb. So it was au revoir to her staying in France with her sister for a few more days. I have to admit, apart from that, it does feel good to be back in Blighty and Leb will rejoin me on Thursday. So... First stop for me... where else but a Fish & Chip shop followed by a pint in a Youngs pub. Football later.

Waiting at Gatwick for the train to London

First Stop: Hobson's Fish & Chips

Proper Chips

Can't beat Good Old Fish & Chips. The first of many!

First pint of many

My home for three nights

Londongrad

Latvian House

Londongrad 

Villa v Liverpool later

Big day out in London Museums and visiting the new Spurs ground (Tuesday, 14th May)

Day 67 ~ I had a fantastic day in London. First, I took the tube to Holborn then walked past the London School of Economics, to the Hunterian Museum. It is an absolutely amazing place. All those years I just lived up the road and never went. So many fascinating exhbits for anyone interested in human anatomy and embryology, especially.

Not far from the Hunterian is a lovely old pub I'd been to before, with my daughter Laima, years ago. The Seven Stars, one of the oldest pubs in London. So that was the next stop.

I then walked towards UCL and briefly attended a pro-Palestinian rally (what else?) by LSE students.

Next, I walked to my old stomping ground at UCL where I went to another museum for the first time.

Then, having had a day looking at skeletal remains, developing foetuses and othe biological artifacts it was time for some football. So it was on to North London and Haringey where I had my hair cut by an Albanian barber shop.

Then it was on to The Antwerp pub to meet up with Gerry and the gang before heading off to Spurs' truly wonderful new stadium for the first time to watch the Premier League decider (well, almost. Man City winning means they 'only' have to beat West Ham on Sunday to clinch the title. I had the unexpected pleasure of meeting Chris Hughton after the match.

Walk to Portobello Road, the Old Lithuanian House, on to Hyde Park followed by a political evening at the Ukrainian Club (Wednesday, 15th May)

Day 68 ~ The very grandly named Lords Hotel where I was staying was close to old haunts so I spent the day walking around them. First stop was Portobello Road where I strolled along the market stalls. I had a very nice coffee before lunching at a not so good "fish and chip shop"

I did a Google search for a good local traditional fish & chips shop and it came up with "Fish & Bubbles" at Notting Hill as it's No 1 recommendation. I bit. It seemed to me to be a play on "Fish & Chips" and "Bubble & Squeak" - you can't get more Cockney than that, right?

Wrong. It turned out the "Bubbles" reference was to chanpagne. It was owned by Italians and what they presented was a bit disappointing. I should have known better and left before ordering but I was starving by now. Never mind.

Things have changed since I was last here. Not least in that som many cars were now electric. I was amazed to see one being charged in the street like lawnmower.

Near to Portobello Road is Labroke Gardens, the old home of Lithuanian House, where I spent many hours engaged in Lithuanian activities between 1983 and 2003. I had to pay homage to the site, long since sold off.

Not too far from what was Lithuanian House, was the Ukrainian Club, on Holland Park Road. Incredibly, I'd never been there before, so that was my next stop.

The Ukrainian club was not open to the public although there seemed to be some kind of school activity going on. I decided to come back later when the bar opened and spend the hours in between walking up along Bayswater Road, past the Notting Hill tube station I used to get off at to go to Lith House. On the way, I also passed the Czech and Russian embassies, to wich I gave appropriate levels of respect.

At the Marble Arch end of Bayswater Road I was hoping to sample more nostalgia, to Speakers Corner, to the place where I gave a short speech on behalf of the ELG (European Liaison Group) - the one that was embarassingly shown on UK TV in 1985. Unfortunately, today there were no speakers.

A lovely walk through Hyde Park follow, I strolled through the botanic gardens and then along the Serpentine and back out on Bayswater Road.

I stopped at a couple of pubs: The Swan for a nice pint of London Pride among a packed throng of people after work, followed the best pint of Timmy Taylor's Landlord at The Castle.

By now it was time to return to the Ukrainian club for some more beer (Obolon, Ukrainian) and some delicious varenyky. I didn't know this but the club were hosting a very prominent speaker from Ukraine that night. So, that was a bonus. It was a powerful talk by Mariia Berlinska, about the growing importance of drones in modern warfare, brilliantly translated for me by the amazing Valerie Lera.

London Expenditure Summary

After spending a few frugal days with Lucy, I was expecting for the expenditure to rise in London and that turned out to be the case. My accomodations at the Lords Hotel wasn't too bad and I hardly ate luxuriously, but I must admit to having a few pints and the Spurs v Manchester City ticket wasn't cheap.

Absolutely no complaints from me.

London Mood Summary

I had two cracking days in London. The first one had a mood score of 20-0 and the second 15-1. The only bit of a "downer" was seeing Lithuanian House sold off. That felt like a berevement.

Still, neither of these days even get in the top five so far, which are.

#1 14th March in Queenstown, New Zealand - 34-0. Brilliant, long day going up and down mountains and hills.

#2 5th April in La Paz, Mexico - 30-0. Last full day, spent on magnificent snorkleling with seals trip.

#3 16th March in Invercargill - 23 - 0. Drive from Queenstown. Hiking up Hills in windy weather followed by magnificent oysters.

#4 4th April in La Paz, Mexico - 21-0. Fantastic day snorkelling with baby whalesharks.

#5 10th March in Bendigo, Victoria - 21-1. Lovely day bimbling around with Zemyna and Frankie.

London Booze Summary

The chance for some fine British Ales had been on my mind for weeks and - of course - I indulged in plenty pints. I had two skinfulls in two days, averaging 113.5g of alcohol for the two days.

Neither of these piss ups made the top five either.

#1 3rd May in Logrono, Spain - 195g - Rioja Windery tour, followed by tapas bar crawl

#2 26th April in Lisbon, Portugal - 168g - On the Ninja.

#3 23rd March in Marlborough, New Zealand - 157g - Tour of the local wineries.

#4 27th April in Lisbon, Portugal - 153g - On the Ninja again!

#5 11th May in Nerigean, France - 150g - Chateaux de Camarsac.

Holiday So far

This was the eighth stop for me and, in terms of packing in "good mood" events, it was the best with an average score of 17.5 - 0.5. It was also the booziest place so far with 113.5g of alcohol per day. It was good value for money because apart from the Spurs ticket and several pints of excellent ale, I was pretty reasonable with the money. It was one of the least expensive stays - although, of course, it should be remembered that I was alone for this part, whereas up until this stop, the budget had counted for both of us.

Together again with mi darlin' (Thursday, 16th May)

Day 69 ~ So, after a few days apart, it was the day that I'd be reunited again with Leb. I got up early, caught the train to Gatwick airport to meet her off the plane. Then, we picked up the car that we'd hired for the next few weeks and then drove south to the lovely village of Alfriston.

Meanwhile, Leb was winging her way across from Bordeaux...

At last... we met!

Once we'd met up it was time to pick up the car...

The next leg of the journey was to Alfriston and then along the South Coast of England.

Financial Summary 

This wasn't a too expensive three days as my accomodation and flight were quite cheap. When I'm on my own I can certainly go "down market" more than I would that if I was with Leb. Fish & chips and ale are not the most expensive food and drink options. Still, having said that, despite being on my own, my expenditure was still just above the average daily spend for the holiday so far.

Mood Summary 

This was a short but very sweet stay. The only "bad mood trigger" was more of a nostalgic reminder of times gone by and just made me feel sad. It was when I saw Lithuanian House, venue of so many happy times, looking alien and lifeless. The Tuesday was one of the best days so far. The visit to the Hunterian Museum, followed by a bimble around UCL before heading off to meet mates and watch Sprus v Manchester City at the sparkling new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was just brilliant.

Booze Summary 

Of course, being let loose in a big city on my own was bound to result in some serious boozing. Perhaps surprsingly, the average alcohol consumption didn't even reach the top two locations so far.

So, this was the eighth country visited so far and certainly, from the point of my mood score, the best. It was the 5th most expensive and the 3rd most boozy.

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