Sunday 3 November 2013

A wee trip to London :)

Hi every one :) its gonna be a loooonnngggg post ...lol so grab your cuppa's and your dunkers and settle down for some excitement ;0)
Last Sunday DD and I went down to London via Globe Tours, they are building their website at the moment ... we had the front seats and a good view all the way down and the weather wasn't too bad , just a tad windy .... we stopped about half way down at Northampton service station I think  and we decided to have a Mississippi mud pie Mc Furry as a treat .... I went to order it and the young man behind the counter said " do you want hash browns with those ?"  well after I doubled checked as to what he said I gracefully declined the offer ....lol ...
we arrived in London with a few hours spare before our hotel room was ready at the Tower Hotel .... so we pottered around the tower grounds and found the tube station and got some maps and an idea of the prices of tickets etc ..... we then went to the nearest Weatherspoons and had a delightful Sunday lunch/tea  before meandering back to the hotel and checked in .... we were on the 8th floor and thank goodness for lifts ...lol ....
Our room was lovely and the view well it was fantastic .... we looked over onto Saint Katherine's Docks and beyond and looked down on to the Queens Jubilee Gondola ... in fact we didn't shut the curtains all week as no one could see in and the view was just amazing at night as well as the day time .....
Sunday night saw the start of the storm that hit the UK and apart from some minor damage we got off lightly where we were .....and luckily we had booked the coach trip to see the  Harry Potter Studios as the trains the next day were not running ....
The tour round the studio was fantastic and we even tried "Butterbeer" which is definitely an experience ....lol and I want to do it all again ... and again ....
that evening we went to see "Wicked " at the Apollo Theater and the peeps we saw were just amazing singers .... DD wasn't as impressed as they had changed a lot from the book which she had read ...but me... I thoroughly enjoyed it  :)
Tuesday ermmm what happened Tuesday ... ohhhh yeah we got up early and went to Covent Gardens and found .... they weren't open until 10.00am sheesh  sooo we hummed and ahhhd and decided to nip back onto the tube and go to Harrods ... only some one forgot to mention that the stairs down to the tube were equivalent to 15 stories high = 193 steps !!!!!  Any hoooo we got to Harrods in one piece and had a nice browse around without collapsing at the prices of stuff ...lol  and then we decided to go to Hyde Park for a wander while the weather was nice and some how we ermmmm managed to end up towards South Kensington and off my wee map ....lol sooo we did what all good explorers do..... find the nearest tube and get on it back to Covent Garden ... which by this time was open ...lol and we got to go in the Moomin Store :)
Needless to say by Tuesday early evening the intrepid explorers were snoozing ... I only managed to put a few stitches into Miss Peepers!!!
Wednesday we awoke bright and breezy and still foot sore ...lol and decided to stay near the hotel and potter around the shops and have a late lunch before we got back on the coach home and instead .... we walked over the Tower Bridge and down the water front to over the London Bridge and back again !!! then we had lunch ...lol 
All in all it was a wonderful few days away but I was glad I was still off to recover .... and do a wee bit more stitching on things I can't show as yet *sigh on the plus side a new patchwork shop has opened near to the mouse house and I have bought some dies that go in my big shot that cut the fabric into triangles with the 1/4 in seam in and some other shapes too ... sooo I have been playing :) oooo almost forgot to say I got my exchange piece from Jan (photo below) 
Well by now you will be needing another cuppa sooo I shall go and fill the kettle and load up a few of the photos I took ... don't think you want to sit through 792 of them do you ????
oooo and it is also TUSAL sooo I will show that too *waves to Daffy :)
November Tusal

My  Autumn exchange piece from Jan 

The journey begins

The Shard 

oooo there's me ...lol

aptly named "girl with Dolphin"

The Tower 

watch out below

these beefeaters are getting smaller 

seafarers monument in the fore ground  

ooo another beefeater

view from room window

we know all the best peeps you know ... the Queens Gondola 

getting dusk

says it all on the bus ....

compact and beju  Harry's room

The Great Hall

original costumes 

Diagon Alley
(death eaters there as it was Halloween and halfterm)

stupendous model of Hogwarts simply stunning :)

Back of Prince Albert's memorial 

Squibbelllll

Tower Bridge at night 

Cooo look a new start ... Miss Peepers by LHN 

she had just said she was engaged to Thomas Becket
hence the pulled face ..lol

And there you have it in a nutshell ....hope you have enjoyed your wee tour .... its back to work for me tomorrow and hopefully next time you call, there shall be some more stitching to show you ....
take care one and all and have a wonderful stitchy week :) love mouse xxxxxx


37 comments:

Barb said...

Mouse, this was a wonderful post. I am a bit envious as the DH and I are great lovers of the Harry Potter series. The views form your room were magnificent!

Jane said...

Oh Mouse, you should have squeaked me, I can be in London within an hour and I could have finally met you for real!!!
Looks like you had a fab time and London always looks so good when the sun goes down at night.
Those stairs at Covent Garden tube station are a killer for the legs I know and the dizziness of going round and round isn't too good either but I know when I last did it ... I beat my kids to the top!
Put your feet up now and catch up on that stitching and I look forward to seeing lots of progress in your next post xxx

Catherine said...

Fun times! Thanks for sharing the lovely pics from your adventures!

Karyn said...

What a fun post, Mouse! I loved your adventure, what fun the Harry Potter tour looks, I too am envious!
The pics are all gorgeous, thank you for sharing it all, it seemed like we were all there with you. I especially adore the pic of you, our stunning Mouse :)
Hugs
Ma

Dani - tkdchick said...

What a cute exchange piece. I'd love t get back to London someday.

Tamra said...

Thank you for the lovely tea and dippers Mouse. I so enjoyed our visit and hearing your stories. Sigh...maybe one day I'll get to Britain :) It is such a beautiful country. Have a wonderful week and lots of stitching time :)

Lesleyanne said...

Looks like you had a great time. Great pictures. Lovely exchange.

Christine said...

Looks like you had a wonderful break. The HP tour looks amazing

Ali said...

Sounds and looks like a great trip - quite fancying Harry Potter World. xx

Julie said...

How exciting, a trip to the capital, the HP tour looks fabulous.

Chris said...

What a wonderful getaway! So nice to travel along with you!

♥ Nia said...

Sounds like a great trip! Happy for you :)

Barb said...

Thanks for the tour Mouse , loved the card from Jan . OOH That Harry Potter tour looked great and I loved the girl with the dolphin. How nice to sit in a chair and see all these lovely places .
Now off to make a cup of tea here , if you visit Dorset anytime I will make you one too.

Margaret said...

I would so love to go to London someday! I loved the tour for sure! Fantastic pictures of a fantastic trip! What fun!!!

Denise SA said...

Looks like you had a good time so much to see so much to do. Yes the underground is not always too easy to get to. You might have been better using the buses.

The Inspired Stitcher said...

Oh Mouse, what a fun trip. Wish I could have been there with you. Lovely picture of you there! That's a keeper for sure. Have a great week!

butterfly said...

Lovely post mouse , did you find your feet hurt , we went a couple of years ago and my feet were hurting like mad . Great photos. So happy you had a great time.

Linda said...

Oh I loved seeing all the pics Mouse. Looks and sounds like you had a great time.

Linda

gracie said...

I enjoyed the journey to London...thank you!

Pete's Pixie said...

Oops did I forget to mention the stairs at Covent Garden Tube Station? They're bad enough when you're fit!!! Was good to see the photos and what a lovely view you had from your bedroom window. I wouldn't have closed the curtains either :) See you in two weeks and two days :) :) :) Hugs, Ally xx

Mary Ann said...

I so enjoyed the tour of London through your photos--thank you for sharing! Wonderful start on Miss Peepers, and a lovely exchange piece!!

DJ said...

Thank you for the lovely tour of London!! I would have enjoyed all the same things you did...so next time TAKE ME WITH YOU!! LOL I love the music from Wicked...So glad you had a wonderful time! Your pictures are magnificent!! *Hugs*

Jackie said...

Looooovveee the pictures of your visit!!!
Jackie:)

AnaCristina said...

wow! london!
I have a post about TUSAL too:
http://anacristinap.blogspot.com.br/search/label/tusal

Wellcone in my blog!

Shirlee said...

Thanks for sharing the photos of your visit mouse! I really enjoyed seeing them!

Daffycat said...

*waves back*

I love London! Thanks for the memories!

Tigermouse said...

Great photos Mouse, I especially like the night time shots. Sounds like you had a brilliant time, glad you enjoyed it all.

Jan Gartlan said...

What a fabulous trip and photos!

Jo who can't think of a clever nickname said...

Fantastic trip, you certainly fitted alot in!
Hash Browns always remind me of my friend Tricia. She ordered them for breakfast in MacDs and was disgusted to only get one. She complained and the server said "you only get one" so she pointed out that the menu said "Hash Browns" - plural - and she wanted two. They would not give in but did swap it for an Egg McMuffin (singular). The next time we went in the menu said "Hash Brown", no sign of the "s". Hah, victory for the pedants LOL.

Andrea said...

Sounds a great visit you had. I do like a day out in London but I'm always glad to come home, I don't think I would like to live or work there permanently ... sorry Londoners. Great photos.

Ruth said...

Wow -- I'm green with envy! Congrats on the wonderful adventure -- well deserved too :)... and on the new start.

Good call on the hash browns -- with a Mcflurry? Whatever for????

Maggee said...

What a great trip you had with your daughter... deja vu! Tho we did not get in such famous sights. LOVE LOVE LOVE the London Bridge at night picture! Fantastic! Thanks for sharing! Hugs!

Jo said...

You've just become a heroine in my boys eyes after I showed them your photos of Harry Potter world LOL!

Glad you had a great time, some amazing photos. Been years since I've been to London although we pass it regular visiting the in-laws!

Sally said...

Glad you had a fantastic time Mouse. I told you it was amazing at Harry Potter didn't I? Can't believe it's almost a year since we were there!

Brigitte said...

Great pictures from a great adventure. Travelling there with your daughter must have been extra fun.

Ruth said...

Hey Mouse --- squeak your way over to my blog for an announcement ;-)

Anne said...

What an amazing tour you took us on!! Love the picture of the woman who got engaged to Thomas Beckett. LOL!!! So funny. So lucky you got to see Harry Potter sets! I wish I could see them!! HUGS!