We treated ourselves this past weekend with a few days in London.
We took a bus to Marlow railway station and two trains (change at Maidenhead) to Paddington Station. From there as we had small suitcases to carry we went by taxi through the city traffic which took nearly an hour to the Premier Inn at Tower Bridge ... at a cost of over £31!!! We decided then that we'd get Oyster Cards! When we returned to Paddington yesterday on the underground it cost us £4.80 and took just 15 minutes!
Taken on my phone from the taxi as we approached and crossed Tower Bridge ...
The hotel was just a few minutes further and we were soon in our room which was bigger that we thought it would be and had everything we'd asked for, the most important of which was a bath which we made very good use of!
... and had a good view of the city skyline.
Clothes and paraphernalia unpacked we soon set out on our first outing. It's a 15 minute walk to the nearest tube (London Bridge) where we purchased the Oyster Cards and used the tube for the first time in many, many years (why pay when you have free bus travel?) so that we could get where we want to be so much quicker.
St Martin in the Fields for candlelight Bach concert by the
... but first we needed nourishment and chose to eat in St Martin's Crypt where we didn't enjoy the worst fish and chips we'd ever tasted! It's an atmospheric place and holds jazz evening on certain Wednesday throughout the month, something I would like to attend one day.
We had a little time to spare so had a walk round the gallery before making our way upstairs
We always try to visit here when in London it's such a welcoming place. Some lunchtimes there are free concerts when you can come and go as you please to listen to some wonderful music at no cost (or a donation) or even pop in on a cold day for a warm and a sit down.
We really enjoyed the music, lots of bass and lively too, the musicians enjoyed it as much as we did.
St Martins and Trafalgar Square as we set off back to the underground
London Bridge underground station is alongside the Shard and is at it's most impressive in the dark!
Yesterday (Monday) morning when we were leaving there was a really long queue of people waiting to ride up to the viewing platform which was at that time in the clouds so not good value for money at that time!
I like St Martin in the Fields. I have also been there a few times to concerts but not of a classic type.. More like folk type music. I really enjoyed one evening when John Martyn was performing.
ReplyDeleteGlad you had such a nice weekend we might do that some time too.
You can use a contactless debit or credit card on the underground now. The cost is the same as an oyster card for travel and you use it in just the same way touching in and out.
Thanks Sue, I didn't realise that we could have used our contactless instead - next time though!
DeleteWell it looks like you both had a great weekend in the Big Smoke :)
ReplyDeleteI tripped across this blog recently which might be useful to you
for any future trips... https://www.ianvisits.co.uk/
BTW does the west window in St Martin's really look
like that in real life or is it an optical illusion?
We had a great time Kevin! Thanks for the website I've added it to my blog list for future reference and yes the window really does look like that - it reminds me of the picture 'the scream!'.
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