Day 1 - 31 July 2014

Thursday, 31 July, was the day of travel.
We had decided to fly from Rygge Airport, just south of Oslo, and went there by car from our summerhouse. The trip was pretty eventless, but I have to say I was very uptight and tense. The entire trip was ahead, and this was the first time I went with my Dad and his family on a joint trip.
I'm generally nervous about these things, and as I've learned to cope with that and my anxiety attacks alone, I tend to feel even more stressed when I am around other people ...

We arrived at the airport and found long-term parking without any problems, and had one bag to check in (we sort of shared it, which was a great solution, as we could all have shampoos and stuff in the checked-in bag, and didn't have to worry about that going through security.
There weren't even a line to the check-in so things certainly worked out smoothly. Through security without a hitch, and for me it was great seeing what it was like travelling with a family, with kids (my two little sisters are 10 and 7½ years old - they are very used to travelling and are just amazing!!). I usually think I have enough of a worry to take care of myself and my bags and my passport and my boarding cards - and here it's everything times four! Incredible!!
My Dad and his family travel a lot, so they have a routine and a familiarity with a lot of things that I don't have, but I still think it's amazing they make it work so effortless.

I think we timed everything exeptionally well actually. We waited maybe 15-20 minutes after having checked in the bag for the security checks, and then we had to wait maybe another 20 minutes before standing in line for the passport control, and I think that is great ... I'd like to have a little extra time, just in case something happens.
We did stand in line at the gate a bit early and had to wait, but not too long. I do love Ryanair's new seating system, which is fantastic and should mean that you don't have to wait in line at the gate at all (although people do anyway!). The seats are numbered, if you like you can pay an extra fee to get the exact seat you want, providing you check in online more than seven days before departure. If you don't do this you will simply be allocated a seat when you do your online check-in, without paying anything extra. As there were five of us travelling together, I know my Dad and his partner watched this very closely and logged in at midnight, seven days before our trip, both to and from London, to check in, and in doing so, we all got seats together!
But since, when you come to the gate, you already have your seat, there's no need to stand in line or board the plane early, nobody will occupy your seat, so why hurry?!

So, we did get seats together at the plane, meaning I sat with my little sisters on one side of the isle, and my Dad and his parter sat on the other side of the isle ... perfect! Although I was constantly on edge and very uptight and nervous. In retrospect, I know there were no real reason for it, but reason and sense don't quite come into it when you have problems with anxiety.

The flight was ok, almost had a hard time catching up with my sisters as they talked almost constantly, but it worked out really well. I'm not used to flying now, and I did think it was quite bumpy going up, and a lot worse going down - but I have a feeling I'm a bit oversensitive too ...;)

We landed at Stansted Airport about 20 minutes early, walked to Passport control, which worked very smoothly. I usually let my Dad and his family go before me in queues and such, as they are a whole family, they have kids etc., but usually I was done before them ... in Passport control, in various security checks - they had a lot to check when four people come up, but I am alone and they usually just waved me through! :)
Though I did make a fool of myself a little, when the officer at Passport control asked me where I flew in from and I replied: "Swede....um, Norway!!" *LOL!* Felt like an idiot not even knowing where I came from - but it didn't feel like we were in Norway! :)

Our bag came quickly and then we headed for the bathroom, before going down to Stansted Express. We decided not to stress or hurry, but still made it on the 2.15-train, and it was nice and quiet and not a lot of people at all.
At this point I was almost exhausted ... from being so nervous and dealing with anxiety the whole day (I could never really relax), and I also suffered from my usual after-flight-heading, which kept getting worse because of the anxiety ... *sigh*

We came to Liverpool Street Station and it took a little while to figure out exactly from where our bus was leaving - and there actually is a different to "just check on something" when you are alone with one or two bags, or if you are five people with seven or eight bags!! :)
It didn't take very long to find bus 23 and be on our way but I think all of us were tired and I know the kids were really hungry. We got off the bus at Charing Cross station, where we saw a McDonald's sign, and the others went on ahead to get food.
I was going to pick up my London Pass, as the place closed at 4.30, and even though I was nervous and it was extremely hot, I felt quite all right. I think it was partly because I knew where I was going and what I was going to do, as I had done this in 2012 as well, and also because this was the first time on this extremely intense day that I had some time to myself.
I know, it sounds horrible that I'm complaining so much about my Dad and his family, and trust me, it won't continue like this!! They are amazing and I love them to bits, but this particular day was very hard for me, and when I'm having difficulties dealing with things, being around other people makes it ten times worse.
So anyway, collecting my London Pass worked out really well - and I just love the place where you do it because it's almost unreal ... Maybe I'll even make a separate post about it later on! :)

I met the others at McDonald's, and believe it or not but they had just gotten their food when I got there. I hurried and ordered my meal and we were basically done at the same time.

Took another bus to Sussex Gardens, managed to get off at the right bus stop and it didn't take long to find Olympic House Hotel. Checking in was a bit ... weird... Again I let my Dad and the others go first, but we had a hard time speaking English, and the lady in the reception had a hard time speaking English (and I think she was hard of hearing as well) so it took a while before she realized we were travelling together but had booked two rooms! :)

Eventually it all worked out, the other had gotten a room on the ground floor while I was on the third floor, so I took the elevator up - and couldn't find my room! *slightly panicky!* It turned out I had my room out near one of the staircases (apparently most single rooms are situated like that, it was the same in 2012 at the Orchard Hotel). The room was quite nice, very small of course, but everything was clean and tidy and seemed to work out, with a really nice bathroom! And they had one normal EU electrical socket - meaning the adapter I had convinced everyone we needed to charge cellphones and batteries was completely unnecessary! *lol*
After a little while I heard a knock on my door and there were my Dad and my two little sisters, wanting to see how I was going to live! :) :) We decided we would get settled for a little while and that I would come down to their room in about half an hour and maybe we could go for a little walk or something.

I was completely exhausted and was afraid I'd fall asleep, so I tried not to relax too much, and managed to, after a bit of a wander, find my way to the "family room" (as I later on used the stairs, which were quite narrow, very steep and very uneven and felt like the were leading up to a tower, I came to call my room the Tower-room, with the Tower-staris leading up to it! *lol*).
We decided to go for a walk, and ended up at Paddington station. Before the trip I had read the story about Paddington to the girls and they were of course excited to be at the station where he was originally found. I didn't expect to find much there, but there's this gorgeous wonderful lovely Paddington statue (have tons of beautiful photos of the girls with Paddington, but for privacy reasons I won't publish them here) - and they also had the most amazing Paddington store!! Everything was superexpensive, of course, but it was fantastic just to go around and look at everything.

I didn't feel very well at all though, all the tension and anxiety and weariness caught up with me and after Paddington station we split up. My Dad and the girls went back to the hotel, the girls' mother went to buy something to eat and some water, and I really felt I needed to be on my own for a while, so I took a walk around the area for about half an hour. Went by the "family room" when I came back to collect some of my luggage from their bag, and then climbed up the stairs to my Tower Room! :)

I have to say that this day was the hardest. Everything worked out really well on a practical level, but emotionally it was really rough. I'm very grateful I had my own room at the hotel and that the room was so nice, because I could truly relax and unwind there, and I think I very much needed that!

Day 4 - September 27

I felt better when I woke up this morning, but I still did get off to a bit of a late start. I usually watched BBC1 in the mornings at the hotel as they had a pretty decent morning programme and this morning I found out that about 8.50 a.m. they would have as their guest Ruthie Henshall - who played Fantine in the Tenth Anniversary Concert of Les Misérables at the Royal Albert Hall in 1995 - who would be talking about "making it in the West End". Of course I couldn't miss an opportunity to see her on TV, so after having had breakfast I went back to the hotel room and relaxed a bit.
Unfortunately the timing wasn't the best, so it wasn't until about 9.10 that Ruthie actually showed up!
It was quite an interesting interview, and while she wasn't one of my top favourites in TAC it was really nice to hear what she had to say about the business, about her way to success and so on!

When that was done, I collected my things and walked down to Bayswater Road, where I had to wait a while for the 274 bus toward Islington Angel. It was quite nice to take a bus ride where I'd never gone in London before, so the ride didn't feel like it took any time at all, although I think it is a fair bit to travel to get to Regent's Park and London Zoo.

I got off at the right bus stop and they had signs toward the Zoo, but it was about a 10-minute walk from the bus stop to the entrance. I was going to use my London Pass but had no idea how that worked, so I ended up going to the wrong place. It was no big deal, I was there just after they had opened, so there weren't a lot of people around and I could easily go back and head for the correct place.
I think I will be making a separate entry about the London Pass, because I really like the idea, and it was so smooth, they just swipe it through a machine and you're in! :-)

The Zoo was amazing of course, and I can't go into details about everything I did or saw!
They did do a bit of work, construction work and maintenance work, so you were allowed in all areas, which of course felt a bit sad - but I guess that a zoo that big always have to do something like that.
I was a bit disappointed that they had closed off a fair bit of the 'Outback' Area, where they had wallabies and emus, you could see them, but at a great distance ... would have loved to go closer there!
Also, there were no tigers at the zoo at the point. They were building a brand new, really large, habitat for the tigers, as they are running a major campaign to save the tigers, and while that was being done, the tigers had been transferred to another zoo ...

There were however, tons of other really cool stuff to look at. Lots and lots of different species of monkeys, the lions were really impressive, the have a new huge penguin pool that was awesome, the giraffes were totally cool ... the list goes on and on and on.
I didn't have time to go to all areas of the zoo, which was a shame when I had made my way there, but I had to collect my tickets for Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty's Theatre around 2 p.m. - and I had no idea how long it would take me to get from the Zoo to Haymarket (knew I had at least one bus change on the way).
I walked around checking out the animals until about 12.15, then ended up in the souvenir shop - very very dangerous!!! I could easily have spent a fortune, all those ADORABLE stuffed animals, and other cool stuff they had ... wow!
I ended up buying the most gorgeous looking tiger as well as a cool magnet and some small presents, before heading out.

And then I couldn't find the exit! *lol* The signs weren't that easy to understand actually and I ended up walking another way, but found a very small exit there - and it was marked exit, it wasn't like I jumped a fence or something! :-)
Luckily for me, that entrance was just next to the bus stop!

Took a bus to Baker Street Station (and felt a bit guilty that I still haven't read any Sherlock Holmes books, meaning the only thing I know is that he lived at 221B Baker Street ... I think?? *embarrassed* ), and changed to another bus, which took me all the way down to Haymarket.
I still had a little time to spend so I went up to the HMV store and bought the cool Millennium DVD Box :-) before going back to Her Majesty's Theatre.
Collecting the tickets went quick and they had already opened the theatre so I bought programme/souvenir brochure at once and went to find my seat.

Won't say more of Phantom now, as I will write a separate review on it later on.

When the musical was over I realized I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast (it was now about 5.30 p.m.) - oops! Headed up to Marble Arch had a late lunch/dinner at McDonald's, checked out some souvenir shops on Oxford Street and then went back to the hotel.

Day 3 - September 26

I didn't sleep very well the second night in London, and I woke up not feeling that great. I decided to take it easy in the morning and try to get myself in better shape in order to face the day, so decided to skip breakfast (which was served between 7.30 and 8.45 a.m.) and get a bit of a late start.

I went out about 9.30 in the morning, and it took a while to find the buses going into town ... as usual in London the buses travel different streets in different directions - which is a bit confusing at times. I did however find the bus stop without problems and went from Praed Street down to Charing Cross Station to pick up my London pass. The directions I had gotten were both very detailed but at the same a bit vague (yup, definitely confusing) but it turned out the address was a ticket booth where you, for instance, could buy cheap musical theatre tickets, but if you went downstairs, through some quite terrifying stairs, you ended up at the London Pass Desks! I collected my pass without any problems at all, and went to photograph a bit around Trafalgar Square.
Unfortunately, the weather wasn't great, so I didn't take a lot of photos, and I only used my small camera (am I a bit more scared for the larger camera, with regards to damages from humidity).
I walked up to Leicester Square and walked around there, found a (rather small) HMV there (dvds, books, games, cds - great store!!) but I didn't find much. The only thing I really fancied was a dvd box with all three seasons of Millennium, but I didn't buy anything in the end.

I took a bus from there to Marble Arch and had some lunch, walked along Oxford Street a bit, and went into the Disney Store! Apparently it's a new store, different from the one Annika and I went to in 2009, but they had tons of lovely stuff, already starting to prepare for Christmas with fantastic gifts already wrapped up!
It's difficult in these kinds of stores, I think, because there are lots and lots of things you want, but everything is so expensive, the question is: do you want it that much??! I ended up buying nothing at all! :-)

From the Disney Store I took a bus to Regent Street and went to Hamley's - the most amazing toy store!! It's absolutely fantastic, and I walked up most floors and checked it out, although I didn't buy anything!

Walked down to Piccadilly Circus and continued up Shaftesbury Avenue, even though it was a bit early. I took some photographs outside the Queens Theatre, and realized the Box Office was in fact open.
Collected my tickets, very smooth, and by the time I had done that, they had opened the theatre and I could go in. Bought a programme + souvenir brochure before I found my seat in Stalls. And what a seat?!?!?!?!!?
A 10!!!!
First row, basically in the middle (a little to the side!)!! Fantastic!!
I will make a separate entry on the Les Misérables show, so I won't go into that here now ... stay tuned! :-)

Les Miz wasn't over until about 5.30 p.m. but the weather was clearing up, so I took a bus to Liverpool Street, bought some snacks and took another bus back - got seats on the top floor at the front, and had planned to do some photographing from there (great angles!!)!
I got some photos of St. Paul's Cathedral - but after that the traffic came to a complete and utter STOP!! We basically didn't move at all, and by the time the traffic let up and we were closing in on Trafalgar Square, it was too dark to photograph! :-(
The trip from Liverpool Street Station to Sussex Gardens (normally about an hour) took nearly two hours, and by the time I got to the hotel, I was pretty worn out!

London Pass

After lots of thinking and lots of checking I decided to order a 2 Day London Pass!
For detailed information, check out this website: The London Pass.

You basically pay for the pass, and get a cool guide-book as well, and you have free entry to a TON of cool attractions in London. I know this is sometimes not the best option, because you won't have time to fully use all the advantages of the pass, and so it won't be that expensive in the end anyway - but I think I have checked it out pretty thoroughly, and I think it's a great solution for me! :-)

Not sure I will have time to do everything I want to, but I will definitely try - and if I do, I save almost £30 on buying the pass, amazing!!

I will use the card on Thursday and Friday (took me a while to decide on what days to use it as well, but I think this is the best solution), and what I'll try to do during those two days (as well as a matinee show of Phantom of the Opera on Thursday!) is:

• The Tower of London - been there twice, I know, but it's such an amazing place!
• Tower Bridge Exhibition - seems amazing, you actually get to go up onto Tower Bridge!
• St. Paul's Cathedral
• Westminster Abbey
• London Zoo 
• Thames River Boat Cruise
• (And maybe The Monument, but not quite sure about that one, doesn't seem that important, so if I don't have time, this will be the first to go!)

Sounds pretty amazing, huh?! :)

*totally looking forward to my trip!!!!*