Visited: Mar 17, 2018
My long time friends Nigel and Sarah visited for a week. I was with them for 4 days only but they stayed for a week and had a great time! I had been to London with Nigel before in April 2001 and Sarah lived in London for 4 years in the early 2000s!
Day 1 - it all starts at LHR
Knowing the flights a bit too well now I knew when to head out to LHR to pick up Nigel and Sarah. I headed out on the Piccadilly line as usual and found them around the T2 passenger exit as they came out from customs.
Nigel had buggered up his ankle so was dependent on crutches. We caught an Uber back to 24 Westgate Terrace where they could settle in. We arrived back mid afternoon and Sarah and I went out to get some wine and snacks which we ate up nice and quickly. We then headed out to do some touring of the city.
We didn't stay out too long as they were a bit tired from the travel but did see quite a bit. We got some falafels for dinner and hit the Bolton for a couple drinks at the end of the evening.
Day 2 - South Ken
We got up at a decent hour Day 2 and headed out for brunch with Sarah's friends in South Kensington. They had a couple kids so post brunch we ended up at the Natural History Museum for a couple hours. I had been a few times before but I do love it so it's nice to go around and see it - even just the entryway is brilliant!
We went to a bar in the area afterwards and had a couple drinks then Nigel and I put down some bets before we headed back for a rest at the apartment. Nigel and Sarah went back out for a while and I chilled then we ate curry and ended up at the Bolton again!
Photos: Natural History Museum and a little taste of Toronto.
Day 3 - I worked
Day 3 Nigel and Sarah went out on their own up to visit Sarah's old friend aways north of Holland park. I didn't catch exactly where but apparently it was an area with really nice views south over the city.
Day 4 - another day of touring around the city
This was Tuesday and I took it off from work as we headed out to Portobello Road Market in the AM. We first had a nice English breakfast then shifted on to walking the market. We started further south in the fancier Notting Hill area but ended up far enough north that it started to get just a bit edgy. Sarah was also enjoying seeing some of the sights from the Notting Hill film!
Photos: Portobello Road Market (quiet on a Monday!) and Notting Hill
From there we went over to Kensington Palace and Hyde Park - both I'd see before but they are always nice to visit! For some reason I took a photo of a jump in front of the Albert Memorial - a lifetime goal of mine which I had had for a couple moments before the photo was taken. The memorial is to Prince Albert, V1's husband who sadly passed away in this early 40's.
We also ended up checking out Covent Garden and had some beers at Sarah's favorite Waxy O'Connor's. Additionally we ate dinner at an Asian restaurant pre show which was great but I forget the name so it gets no props here. Pre show you say! Yes see below!
Photos: Covent Garden, Kensington Palace and the (in?)famous Albert Memorial Jumping photo.
Post dinner we went pick up our Book of Mormon tickets at the Prince of Wales Theatre. There was a bit of a mixup where they had bought tickets for the following night - which would have been fine had it not been for the fact that I had to leave for Toronto on Wednesday morning.
Fortunately they were able to put 1 on for sale which sold and we were able to get last minute tickets to the Lyric Theatre to see Thriller! Thriller was a musical with a storyline following the musical rise of Michael Jackson, first with the Jackson 5 then on his solo career. It has 5 or so different performers who play him each with a different level of similarity and skill in dancing, singer and appearance. While they were all very good to amazing none of them suffice it to say were as good as the king of pop himself!
We had a great time and ended up getting a bit tipsy on vino!
Photos: N&S at Waxy's, outside of the theatre and inside!
Post show we headed back for to the flat after a long but fun day.
Sadly I left the next day for Toronto but they stayed around and enjoyed the rest of the week including a day in Ireland (or did they have that before they arrived in London?) I can't remember.
Nigel kindly left me his crutches as his ankle recovered which I found weeks later.
Cheers to a great visit!
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