It was time to drive back into London to round off our British Isles circuit. We drove to our Belgravia accommodation to drop off luggage, crawling through the inner-city streets at a snail’s pace. London drivers know they are not getting anywhere quickly so are generally polite, share the road and just chill in non-moving queues. We dropped the car back in Brixton, returning to the royal parks to see the amazing transformation of the gardens as Spring has returned. We visited Australia House to do our civic obligation and voted in the Federal Election. Supposedly the queues have been crazy, and the control barriers to help with queuing seemed to confirm this. We, on the other hand, just walked into the glorious foyer (the filming location for Gringott’s Wizarding Bank in the Harry Potter series), filled out our forms and did our democratic duty. A search for a pub with a sunny beer garden turned into a Fleet Street stroll and then a route march back to The Banker, overlooking the Thames at Cannon Street.
A combined thank you (Jane) and birthday (Alistair) gift was attending the ‘Mamma Mia The Party’ extravaganza at the O2 arena. The premise is that you have travelled to a Greek holiday island and are in the film’s restaurant. You eat and drink as the performers interact with each other (and some audience members), you sing along and get up and dance to a huge catalogue of ABBA songs. It was a great night, all the better for being able to catch up (and thank) Jane.
Marylebone was another area we explored. It is not an area we know well and we fell in love with the cobbled lanes, expensive shops and lovely garden squares. A visit to the Wallace Collection, a picnic lunch supplied by Ottolenghi (super yummy salads), a stroll across Hyde Park with a stop at the hidden Grenadier pub rounded off the afternoon. A last visit to Piccadilly and Leicester Square in the evening, enjoying the weekend buzz, was a must, before a yummy dinner at Wagamamas and a roof-top wine overlooking Victoria Station ended the night. It was going to be an early train (4:30am!) to get to Gatwick for our flight to Croatia. So excited.
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