London with Madison 2015

London trip September 2015

I survived the London trip with Madison and actually had mostly a very good time.

Chris went ahead of us for his medical conference 2 days ahead ( of course he had an excellent time on his flight by my standards-- you get to drink alcohol, watch countless movies, eat and sleep at your whims )

Actually our flight there was quite pleasant. Madison is quite a good traveler. She had her meals, watched a few movies and then went straight to sleep on the flight. Can't really complain. Of course I had difficulty really sleeping because as we all know cattle class is really like a huge flying public bus. We were also stuck between 2 nice gentlemen in the middle row all because we weren't able to check in and secure seats online before departure.

Anyhow... the biggest boo boo was that I FORGOT TO BRING MY CREDIT CARDS to London. What kind of idiot does that??? I realized this 2 steps AFTER we cleared immigration. I was so preoccupied with the voting for Singapore Elections on the day we returned I forgot to pack my credit cards. I spent the first 30 minutes after immigration rummaging for cash and getting whatever SGD I had changed into pounds. That was major shopping right out of the window.

We arrived bright and early in Heathrow and made our way into town. With the Heathrow express service it was simple and seamless! There was wifi on the train, plenty of clean seats and in 15 minutes we were in Paddington station. An excellent service.

We took the train to Oxford circus station by underground and then I had to navigate to the hotel without Google maps ( no internet yet ). I was a little bit disorientated but eventually did find the hotel. We stayed at The Marylebone Hotel on Welbeck street. It's a smallish hotel off the main Oxford street, well located and cosy. Service was unobstrusive and quite good.

The first day it was just Madison and me. Since it was Saturday we visited Borough market first, then Buckingham Palace. Borough market was excellent and fortunately wasn't too crowded. The produce was first class. We shared some sausages , had a chocolate brownie and some fruit.

We ended the day with a spot of shopping and met Chris for dinner. Madison barely made it through dinner and we were done for the day.

The next morning we rocked up bright and early at The Riding house cafe. Didn't even realize it was a popular place requiring reservations. We had pancakes, eggs Benedict and some pork and beans. All excellent. If we didn't have to correct for currency it was good value as well.

After breakfast we collected our London passes and did a bit of sightseeing. To be honest I think overall Madison was happier chasing the pigeons around in the park with her scooter than walking around the sights. She did enjoy visiting the Westminister Abbey because she got her audio tour handset and we took a bit more time with it.

So the days went like that: breakfast, see 1-2 sights, lunch then shopping. We visited Hamley's twice during our trip! Hamley's is a massive toy shop. 5 levels of toys and paraphernalia for kids.

On Wednesday afternoon we saw The Lion King musical. The theatre was just off Covent garden. I think the show was full! On a weekday matinee! Our tickets weren't cheap either. 90 pounds for Madison's and 70 pounds each for Chris and mine. But it was an excellent performance, worth the effort and money spent.

Thursday was our last day and we spent it on the London Eye, and of course more shopping.

Overall the trip was excellent. I really enjoyed the trip, and am looking forward to more visits to London in the near future. I'd probably choose a warmer month so we don't need to pack warm clothing. The 13 hour flight to London is a bit challenging so that'll be what will deter me from going back sooner!