Day 16 Pussycat pussycat where have you been?

It cost us $17 each to catch a train from Macquarie Centre to the International Airport as we began our journey to Paris. It only cost $64 (an advanced special internet price – you can pay as much as a $1000) to catch the Eurostar from Gare du Nord in Paris to St Pancreas Station in London. So we did! We left at 7.13am and arrived in London at about 8.30am (taking off an hour for the time change). In spite of the fact that the weather has played havoc with the Eurostar over recent weeks the train ran pretty much to schedule. We left Paris in the dark with the snow falling gently around us but as the sun came up we were very surprised to see the UK blanketed in thick snow. This was because of a heavy snow depression affecting the south of England and Wales.

So what to do in London for a day? There are a million things that we could have done, but our day went like this. A quick trip to Leicester Square and a short wait in a queue, in quite heavy snow, allowed us to buy two half-price tickets to a matinee of the musical Oliver. Then a short tube ride to Queenspark and a walk through more heavy snow to Kensington Palace, the former home of Princess Diana. The palace was fascinating with various displays revealing not only something of the lives of its recent residents but also its former glory. This was followed by a stroll through Kensington Gardens, where green had been completely obliterated by white, where ponds were frozen and where the paths were icy and very slippery. In spite of the weather many people were out walking their dogs or enjoying a mid-morning jog through the park.

Out through a different gate, we looked for landmarks to help us find our way to a tube station. Unexpectedly we came upon the famous Albert Hall and had a quick peak inside. Eventually we found our way back to the Underground and caught the tube to Covent Garden for lunch before the show, which was at the remarkable, historical and very grand Theatre Royal Drury Lane. The musical has had a facelift and with a large and enthusiastic cast (great kids!!!) and amazing sets that moved us through Dickensian London, the production was breathtaking.

After the show we enjoyed a leisurely browse through the bookshops along Charring Cross Rd and around Trafalgar Square… a booklover’s paradise. With the Australian dollar doing well, books were very cheap in London.

Finally we headed back to St Pancreas to catch the train at 8pm, which got us home at about 12.30am, after a short delay and the one-hour time change. Fortunately the Paris metro runs late (in fact the trains were still full of people) and we were back in our apartment at about 1am.

A terrific day! Our only gripe was with the English food and dress sense. Gone were the wonderful array of women’s boots that we see in Paris, to be replaced by gumboots and ugg boots (not very sensible in the snow). As for the food, we have been spoilt in Paris, and let’s just say that the poor old Poms don’t have a clue!