Running Dad ragged across London!
Sigh.
Yes that’s how I feel. I don’t know whether to talk from now backwards, or begin and go along in chronological order. Well today was busy, usually Thursdays is a grocery shop and then not really much, but today my 9-9 shift also involved the doctor and the dentist, which didn’t mean much me time.
The next few days is work, work, work and the previous few days was work, work, work. But last weekend Dad came over from Jersey because Lija managed to get tickets for Chelsea’s home game against Tottenham. It turned out to be a mini fiasco, because several days before, and just after I booked the plane tickets, they changed the day of the game from Monday night to Saturday afternoon. So we had to cancel and re-book a ticket over, but it worked out in the end. I took the weekend off work, but spent Friday morning doing a spring clean because I don’t get a lot of time when I’m working so much. Dad buzzed me when he got to Bromley-by-bow and I went up to get him, complete with fishing rods over the shoulder! We went hunting for a Chelsea shirt along Oxford St and ended up in Piccadilly Circus and eventually down in Trafalgar Square before catching the train home again. I made a stir-fry for dinner and then had to pop out to Mrs Ayers for an hour for work.
On Saturday the three of us stopped off to see if Liverpool Street’s markets were open, but they weren’t, so we continued on into Oxford St for lunch. We went to the nice little Lebanese restaurant in James St at Bond St Tube, the one we took Ashley to. Mmm, it was great, we just had a platter of dips with warm Turkish bread, and falafels and aubergine.
We had to catch the tube up to Notting Hill Gate and then swap to go south on the Wimbledon Line to Fulham Broadway, the closest station to Chelsea’s home-ground, Stamford Bridge. The train was packed with the mighty blue and white supporters, and we all barrelled out at the station and moved along in one big group to the stadium. It was a nice afternoon in the sun, but damn chilly.
We were high up in the bleachers, close to the rafters, about three rows from the back. Seriously, the camera man was just above us and he had his own ladder up there – he had to call the steward to help get him down. The stairs were just too steep for Dad, mostly because we’d been running him around the city. But the steward was really nice, told us he’d get us at the end of the game.
The game was great. Watching how the different players worked the field, there were several yellow cards, and some really tense off the seat moments. We could see all of the play, apart from when the dopey people in front were standing up, although when Chelsea scored for the second time we all jumped up pumping the air!
The guys next to Kristy and Lija were half drunk and ended up spilling their beer onto these Korean tourists in front of them, so that caused some excitement to begin with. Well, I don’t need to tell you who won – it’s quite obvious, Tottenham didn’t even score. We learnt some great Chelsea chants too, a few blasphemous ones, but all in good fun. Dad found a great new polo shirt in the Chelsea shop for only 20 pounds, and he had got a scarf earlier because it’s blimmin cold in London at the moment – neck warmers are essential.
We hiked down to this pub called the Wheatsheath where some of Kristy’s mates were, and we had a few drinks there before grabbing the bus back to Fulham Broadway and the tube back to our side of town. The whole carriage next to us was full of celebrating fans, and they were rocking the whole carriage so much that we could feel it, as well as hear them.
We made it over to Brick Lane, and found a nice curry house for dinner, it was a late dinner, but we were so hungry we ate it all. The service was a bit slow but the meal was nice. To get us in the restaurant the door guy said we could have free drinks and 20% off. We caught the bus home afterwards and fell into bed exhausted.
On Sunday we went up to Camden town and showed Dad the whole goth scene they’ve got going on up there. We saw a huge red Mohawk, flare pants with bright green spikes on them, chicks with half shaved heads, you name it and we saw it!
The markets were great too, and Lija and I forgot why we haven’t been back sooner. I got another few pairs of funky knee-high socks, to keep my legs warm. And Dad found this doughnut cart which has THE best selection of doughnuts, fresh and huge – way better than those awful Krispy Kreme things. Camden also has the beauty of the canals, which you don’t see in the heart of London, but we also have them down in Mile End and All Saints, not far from Bromley.
We went home for dinner, which was vegetable soup – really nice, and then headed out again to Highbury and Islington, to the Hen & Chicken pub where Cath and her two kiwi friends do their Slap, Tickle and Squeak show. We all fell into the aisles laughing our arses off! It’s an hour of pure comedic fun. So another late night, and then we mooched in Lija’s room for a night of CSI episodes.
Lija was back at work on Monday, so Dad and I caught the train down to Embankment and walked along the South bank of the Thames. It’s a nice walk, kinda long, but we went up the Tate Modern to get the view from there. Then we walked across the Millennium Bridge and caught a bus into Piccadilly Circus where we found the cutest tea pot for Gran, and then we went down to have some lunch at Leicester Square.
We took the train back to Stratford to get some vegies, and then went home where we let Brett in. We had to pop into the post office to check the weight of the rods, and then I did a red kidney bean hotpot for dinner before catching the train out to Mrs Ayers’. I left Dad at the pub, but it turns out there was a mix-up and one of the other girls was already there. So I was back before he took a sip of hs pint! We caught a bus around town, with this great driver. He was really young, crazy guy totally in control, moving with this bus, Dad gave him compliments and he gave us a wave as he drove off!
We went to see the lights of Big Ben, and the London Eye, and then hopped back on the train and went home. Tuesday we spent at the airport organising things. We ended up talking to this Jewish Australian family from Caulfield, delayed for their flight to Israel with three tweens in tow and going to their oldest daughter’s wedding. Funnily enough, they had food vouchers from the airline because of the delay, and she said they’ve bought everything they possibly could, and left us with £10 of free food we could buy, so we were thankful to them. When Dad checked his bag in at 4, I had to go because I needed to be in Clapham by 6.
A fun weekend but now back to the hard yards!!!
xoxo
Tags: Travel
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