London 2006

I went to London in July 2006 with Annika, first time we went to London together, first time for me since my not-so-great trip in September 2004 - and I think it was Annika's first time in London! :-)

Day 1 - July 3

I went by car to Gothenburg and met Annika at the City Airport. Everything went well and we got good seats on the plane. I ended up getting a headache during the flight, but apart from that the flight was okay and we bought tickets for the Stansted Express train on board.

It was really hot when we arrived at Stansted but we went through the aiport without any problems, the train trip was okay and we arrived at Liverpool Street Station on time. We bought bus passes and took a bus to Regent Street - a bit of a disappointment to find out that they had covered the Nelson column and the stone lions for renovations at Trafalgar Square ...
We were supposed to find a shop on Shaftesbury Avenue where we could get cheap musical tickets - but unfortunately we never found it. I guess it had disappeared some time since I was there in 2004.


We ended up buying tickets for Les Misérables at Queens Theatre instead, before walking back to Regent Street to find a bus to our hotel. We were really tired, it was superhot, we hadn't eaten anything, and I was getting quite nervous about finding the hotel. We got off the bus right after Lancaster Gate and I saw the street our hotel was on straight away! Nice!
We checked in at Queens Park hotel and found our room, it wasn't that great and it was SO hot!
I didn't feel very well, I was starving, had a massive headache, was probably dehydrated - and I guess Annika felt the same way!

We rested for a little while before walking to Queensway where we had dinner at Burger King. We bought some drinks and snacks as well before going back to the hotel, where we relaxed for a while. Then we changed and headed out, took a bus to Regent Street and walked to Queens Theatre, where we took some photos, before buying programmes and souvenir brochures.

Les Misérables - the third time for me in London - was amazing as usual!! (Will make a separate review on the London Musicals page)
After the musical we just headed back to the hotel.

Day 2 - July 4

I was really tired when I woke up but managed to get up - unfortunately the shower didn't quite co-operate with us, but we didn't have the energy to do something about it. We had some breakfast and I truly enjoyed that coffee! :)

We went to Queensway and bought bus passes and then we took a bus to Piccadilly Circus and went from there to Leiscter Square, where we had hoped to find the Dress Circle shop ... which we didn't.
Instead we went to Trafalgar Square and went down Whitehall, checked out 10 Downing Street before going to the Horse Guards. It was really hot and I was so impressed with the horses, they were amazing!! After having seen the Horse Guards we took a break in St. James' Park and then we walked through the park to Buckinghamn Palace.

It took us quite a while to find a bus from around Buckingham Palace, but we finally managed it and went to Queensway to buy some sandwiches and drinks. We ate at the hotel and then headed out to Oxford Street to do some shopping - found lots of cool books, dvds, souvenir shops, the cool Disney store ...:-) We also went to Harrods to check it out, but I always feel so completely lost there ...
We took a short break back at the hotel before walking to Queensway for a meal at Burger King, on the way back we checked out some more souvenir shops!

Day 3 - July 5

I slept really poorly, it was superhot, even though it rained, and I had quite a sore throat. After two or three cups of coffee for breakfast at least I could swallow without extreme pains and my head was almost functioning, so we headed out, bought bus passes at Queensway and took a bus to Oxford Street. We bought some souvenirs and then took a bus to Parliament Square and took some photos - I just love the area!!

From there we took a bus to Aldwych and tried to find Temple Church. At the time I hadn't even seen The DaVinci Code so I wasn't 100% committed, but it was still nice to see it. Unfortunately we couldn't go inside though...

We had lunch at McDonald's and we tried to figure out what to do the rest of the day. We ended up taking a bus to the Adelphi Theatre where we got tickets to Evita, with my number one absolut super favourite musical artist Philip Quast as Peron!! :)
I couldn't quite believe I was actually going to see him live that same night! :)

We took a bus to Oxford Street and did some shopping, got something to eat and went back to the hotel.
That night was of course Evita-night, I'll make a review on it at the London Musicals page ... it was just so fantastic to see Philip Quast live, I really hope  I'll be able to see him again some day!

Day 4 - July 6

We took things pretty slow this morning and did some packing before we went out. Bought bus passes at Queensway (same old story! *lol*) and went to Regent Street. We went to Hamley's which is such an awesome store, it's hard to describe it! I can easily walk around there just looking at stuff forever! Then we went to HMV (a great dvd-book-cd-store) at Oxford Street before we went back to the hotel and checked out.

We took a bus to Liverpool Street Station where we had lunch at McDonald's and then we took Stansted Express to the airport. We arrived fairly early and had no problems checking in.
The security check went fine and we discovered we were going to ride a monorail (a small train!) to the gate! COOL! I hadn't ridden one since we were in Florida in 1989!!
It was a bit chaotic at the gate and we were about half an hour late taking off, but we landed at Gothenburg City Airport almost on time.

Everything went smooth at the airport, but it wasn't very easy to find our way out of Gothenburg ... I drove Annika home and spent the night, as it was quite late. I did however leave early the following morning, to go to the summerhouse and see Zorro again!

All the photos of me were taken by Annika, thanks for letting me use them!

13 comments:

The Darkest Night said...

Gotta say I love that every photo of you seem to be in a special location! :)

This entry was really interesting to read! Mostly because I (thanks to a certain health issue) don't remember that much from this trip sadly... but yes, this was my first trip to London...my first trip by plane....my first musical... lots of first! It was a really awesome trip, and for several reasons very important to me. I remember you were a wonderful support all through this trip, so big thanks! (as I was both pretty clueless to most things in London - and not feeling well at all)

btw was this the creepy basement room?

Jessica said...

Lol! I hadn't even thought about where I was in each photo, but now that you mention it! :)

Happy to hear you enjoyed the entry - totally cool that this trip included so many firsts for you! :D Happy I got to share that with you!! :) :)

Don't think this was a basement room ... it was a bit off, in a corridor to the side ... extremely hot, and not very nice, and with a no-working-shower - but not basement ...

The Darkest Night said...

totally cool :)

yeah it sure was a very special trip for me ! :)

Ok..I must have gotten the hotels mixed up then, wouldn't surprise me LOL
I do remember the not-working-shower (with the water-bottle-solution LOL)...

Jessica said...

Well, you have been to London a lot during the last few years, so it's no wonder if there are some mix-ups at times.
Yeah, the shower was so totally NOT cooperating!!! Lol!

The Darkest Night said...

yeah..all my london trips have been in the last 6 years...they still don't feel like "a lot" LOL but I understand what you mean...

Jessica said...

LOL! Well, for me it feels like "a lot" but I think basically that is because you've made quite a few trips when I haven't! LOL! :)

The Darkest Night said...

LOL yeah I think I've had 5 trips, and you were only on 2 of them.. so yeah, you need to come with me next time! :)

Jessica said...

Hmm, feels like more than five! LOL! And yes, we'll have to check if we can go together again at some point!

The Darkest Night said...

Pretty sure it was 5 times! LOL
2006 and 2009 with you, 2008 & 2010 with Dakota and 2012 alone,

yeah that would be fun! :)

Jessica said...

Well, you should know I guess!?! LOL!! But I still say it feels more than 5! :) :) (but yes, I will give in and accept that you know that better than me!)

The Darkest Night said...

Well..I think it feels like less than 5! LOL!

Jessica said...

LOL! For once we are NOT identical ... ;)

The Darkest Night said...

Had to happen sooner or later I suppose ;)