In September 2024 we left Australia and went on a month long trip back home to England with a quick stop in Italy on the way home. This was the first time I had been to England in seven years and boy was I missing the place! Here is the full trip report.
We arrived in London after a very long 23 hour journey from Australia via a quick stop in Dubai. Slightly dazed and so tired that we stood at the wrong baggage carousel in Heathrow for 30 minutes thinking they’d lost our luggage. I did have a few moments of sheer joy when I saw M&S and Boots in the airport – it was like seeing old friends you hadn’t seen in seven years! When we finally made it out of Heathrow we jumped straight in a black cab and headed for Central London.
Our hotel was the Fraser Suites Queensgate in South Kensington. This is a well located apartment hotel five minutes walk from Gloucester Road tube station. It was lovely to have some space to spread out, with the kids in a separate bedroom, and we even had a little kitchen with a fridge – something we would later learn is not a guarantee in English hotels.
Be warned though – every building in London seems to have stairs to enter, and this was no exception. Lugging three suitcases and a pram up those stairs was a challenge, albeit one we would have to get used to in the coming weeks. After a quick meal deal (something that the kids would become accustomed to in the coming days) it was early nights for everyone.
The next morning we were up bright and early and excited to begin our trip. We stopped for a quick breakfast in Pauls where I learned the pastries are not as good as the French patisseries we have become used to in Brisbane. We hopped on the tube with our pastries and headed for the Tower of London. I had forgotten how brilliant the Tube is. It’s an excellent underground train system that allows you to get anywhere you need in Central London and beyond. It’s fast, frequent, and we only encountered one crazy person in three days so that’s a good result.
When we emerged out of Tower Hill tube station we could immediately see the Tower. How can you miss it. We were completely struck by the beauty of the building compared to the other modern, soulless grey buildings around it. It’s an extensive place with an immense amount of history, most of it brutal. We saw the Crown Jewels, the armaments, the armoury, the dungeons and traits gate. But the kids favourite was obviously the squirrel running up a tree. A word of caution – the Tower of London’s history is extremely brutal with beheadings and torture aplenty and this was too much for Rose. If you have sensitive children you may want to be selective with what you show them.
After the Tower we sat down by the river overlooking Tower Bridge, another absolutely beautiful piece of historical architechture that seems out of place in its modern grey surrorundings.
Our stop for lunch was a family favourite. Tayyabs in Aldgate East. You’ll have to take my word for it that curries in Australia are nowhere near as good as they are in the UK. So you can imagine how excited we were to have a good British curry after seven long years of waiting. I’m pleased to say (with the exception of some stale poppadums) the food was excellent and I was particularly pleased to be back in the land of the chicken breast. Not only do Aussies not do decent curries, but they are singularly obsessed with chicken thighs.
Anyway I digress. After lunch we made a quick stop in Ambala in Whitechapel for some Indian sweets. It was a fairly grim walk down Whitechapel Road to get back to the tube – not the nicest part of London by any stretch. We then went our separate ways so that Rich could do some exploring of his favourite places in London. St Pauls Cathedral, the British Museum and the Imperial War Museum.
I took the kids back to Gloucester Road and after a quick freshen up in the hotel we walked towards Kensington Gardens in search of some squirrels. We happened upon a very large and ornate gold statue which turned out to be the Prince Albert Memorial and across the road we could see the Royal Albert Hall. This is typical London – there are recognisable landmarks everywhere you look. We had a lovely stroll through Hyde Park along the Serpentine where we saw some swans and found a nice playground. The absolute highlight for the kids was the squirrels, and the sheer number of squirrels – according to Rose we saw 24 that day. Now I want you to remember that we don’t have squirrels in Australia, so this was a real novelty for the kids. They loved watching them, and were in fits of hysterics at how brazen they were, even running directly towards you. They know where the food comes from that’s for sure!
We had planned to hop on the tube at Knightsbridge to go back to our hotel but Theo uttered those words that every parent dreads when you are nowhere near a toilet: “mummy I need the toilet”. What were we to do but pop into Harrods? Ok it was a mad dash through Harrods as Theo became increasingly desperate and we couldn’t find the toilets anywhere – the staff kept sending us in different directions. I really did have horrific visions of Theo having an accident next to the thousand pound handbags. But thankfully we made it safe and sound. and even managed a quick peek in the food hall on the way out, which I was pleased to see already had some Christmas bits and bobs.
We reconvened with Rich back at the hotel, and had a quick meal deal (two in two days, what a great start!). It was then my turn for a solo treat. I was off to the Phantom of the Opera at His Majesty’s Theatre. Now I should caveat that Phantom is my favourite musical of all time and I see it at every opportunity I get, which sadly isn’t a lot in Brisbane. There was no way I was missing it in London. I did a LOT of research into my seat selection, not willing to spend £200 on my ticket, and I eventually settled on a front row seat. Well it was simply spectacular. Yes I did have to look up, and yes I had zero legroom but I forgot all about that because I was right behind the orchestra and the sound quality was astounding. Not to mention being able to see every expression on the actors’ faces. Absolutely incredible, I didn’t want it to end.
Also a note for anyone who isn’t sure about going to the theatre on your own. In my section of the front row I counted at least five other people there on their own. In fact the couple next to me were the odd ones out having come together. You get to eat when you like, go to the loo when you like and you don’t have to make small talk with anyone. Result!
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