Alaskans in London

While we were asleep in Chessington, good friends of ours were flying into Heathrow Airport all the way from Anchorage. Una, Phil and Kiran were visiting London for a few days before setting off for Barcelona, where Kiran will be studying for the next six months.

Today’s adventure began with a drive along the wonderful M25 to meet and greet them at the airport. No way could we all fit in our car, even without travellers’ luggage. So Liesel drove with the bags and her Mom to Una’s accommodation in Eltham. Meanwhile, my mission, which I was happy to accept, was to escort the visitors on public transport.

The first experience wasn’t very welcoming: we had to stand most of the way on the Piccadilly line train from Heathrow to Piccadilly Circus. So many people, so many huge cases.

It was a drab day and despite appearances, this really is a colour photo of Eros. It was fun showing visitors the sights and sites of our capital city. We certainly did a lot of walking over the next few days.

Trafalgar Square’s fourth plinth has a new display.

It’s a cuboid constructed from the face casts of 726 trans, non-binary and gender non-conforming people from the UK and Mexico, where the artist, Teresa Margolles, comes from.

More details here, at least until a new display comes along!

Our first choice for lunch was the crypt of St Martin in the Fields. But it wasn’t yet open. We went into the church itself, but we left fairly quickly as there was a service taking place. We walked on towards Leicester Square where we enjoyed a light breakfast.

Whitehall was busy and there were no protesters at the gates of Downing Street. Maybe it was too cold. Maybe there’s nothing to protest about, any more.

It was definitely a day to be a tourist. We didn’t join the queue, though, to have our photo taken by a particular telephone box with Big Ben, Elizabeth Tower, in the background.

You can see it was still not yet noon. And it was still too early to check in at the flat, so we made our way to Oxford Circus.

Walking up Regent Street, I pointed out the balcony at BBC Broadcasting House where U2 had performed a few years ago: Phil and Una are big U2 fans. We intruded on a church service taking place in All Souls, just over the road. That’s two. Keep forgetting it’s Sunday. Oops.

There were a couple of shops that Kiran wanted to visit, the sort of shop that I would never normally darken the doors of.

Sorry to say, I found the display of sewing machines here in AllSaints more interesting than the fashions. Although I was nearly tempted to buy a nice, fluffy, warm jumper. Nearly.

We also visited Liberty, a place I don’t think I’ve been inside for half a century. The main reason was to visit the loo, although it was interesting to watch the other shoppers going about their business. And I did compliment the shop assistant who was dressed as a rag doll. Yeah, I know: creepy old man.

Phil and Una were impressed by the Christmas lights in Regent Street, and of course we’d come back to see them illuminated at some point.

While walking down Regent Street, I had to show them Heddon Street, the location of David Bowie’s photoshoot for the cover of his Ziggy Stardust album.

Funny thing is, I don’t think anyone believed me when I told them this was the London Eye. It’s really Lost Echoes by Charlotte Colbert, a new addition to this area, where there are a few Bowie-themed establishments.

More pounding the streets, over to Seven Dials. A long queue at the fish and chip shop deterred us, and Seven Dials Market was very busy too.

Check-in time was 3pm, so we found our way to Eltham by train. Liesel brought the luggage over, and the visitors settled into the flat. Promptly falling asleep. Tired, jet-lagged travellers, all.

Liesel, Leslie and I were staying at a Premier Inn nearby.

After a good night’s sleep, we all met up at the flat, greeted by a flock of noisy green parrakeets.

We planned to go to Greenwich this morning. Train to Lewisham then DLR. Easy. Except it was a fast train and it didn’t stop at Lewisham. Plan B then, go on the Jubilee line from Waterloo. We had a pleasant walk, seeing more of Greenwich than anticpated. And it was good to see the masts of the Cutty Sark over the rooftops, confirming we were heading in the right direction, even if Google Maps was joshing with us, changing its mind about which direction we should be walking in.

We wandered around Greenwich Market, to pass the time, and bought some snacks. After a coffee break, we boarded the boat for our cruise on the Thames. It was hard to know which side to sit, left or right, port or starboard, since both sides of the river have plenty of things to see.

Neither Liesel nor I could remember any of the famous ‘celebs’ who live in these apartments. And of course, they’re well out of our price range.

We were very lucky, though. I’ve only seen Tower Bridge raised twice before, but today was my third time. There was no sign of a tall ship, so I assume it was just a regular test. Perfect timing, though.

Phil and I were the only ones in our group to brave the upper deck, outside in the chilly wind. I did feel sorry for the girl behind the bar. I don’t think any of us passengers bought anything from her. Perhaps the sign saying ‘Cash Only’ didn’t help.

We sailed under more London bridges before docking at Westminster Pier. It was a very smooth voyage. We then walked back along the river, admiring the real London Eye, now wholly visible, not half hidden in very low cloud like it was yesterday.

We walked to the the fish & chip shop, Rock and Sole Plaice, and again, there was quite a long queue. This time, though, we decided to join and wait. Una and Liesel went off to browse another clothes shop, one of Liesel’s favourites, Gudrun Sjoden. I paid a quick visit to Seven Dials Market, thinking I’d get some lunch here since I wasn’t interested in fish & chips. Well, it was full. Queues at every food outlet, no spare tables. I did come across a hero of mine, though:

It looks like a Banksy but I don’t think it is. Eventually, the six of us found ourselves n the basement of Rock and Sole Plaice, and I was pleased to see they had pies on the menu too. Cheese, onion and potato for me. Plus, I introduced our visitors to mushy peas. Unimpressed is the word, I think.

As staunch royalists, of course we had to pay a visit to Buckingham Palace. We walked via Covent Garden Market, Trafalgar Square again, but not under Admiralty Arch which was covered in hoarding, along the Mall where we mingled with thousands of other visitors.

We’d noticed lots of barriers and fences everywhere, probably to be used for crowd control on New Years’ Eve. Leslie was getting tired so she and Liesel returned to our hotel by taxi, tube and train. Phil, Una, Kiran and I walked across Green Park to catch a bus back to Oxford Circus. At last, it was dark enough to fully appreciate the Christmas lights.

Kiran and Una wanted to go shopping so Phil and I went on a pub crawl. When I say ‘pub crawl’, I mean we visited four pubs before finding one that wasn’t too crowded, too noisy, and we even found a couple of seats at the Red Lion. So we had a pint of beer, Sam Smiths bitter in my case, which I don’t think I’ve imbibed for several years. We were entertained by a group of young lads playing darts, hindered by the fact that they couldn’t agree on the exact location of the oche, the throw line. Like the rest of the carpet, it was well-worn.

There was no 4G signal here, so I had to send an SMS to Liesel asking her to let Una know where we were. Una and Kiran found us, and while they enjoyed more beer, I set off back to the hotel. On the walk back from the railway station, I admired some local street art.

Well done Year 4 at St Olave’s Prep School

Meanwhile, Phil, Una and Kiran visited Hamley’s and met a very imposing figure.

Back home up north, Jenny and family visited Dunham Massey to see the lights and succeeded in not tripping over the hundreds of miles of cables.

In other news, let us congratulate nephew Robert and his fiancée Cristy on their announcement! Yes, great news from Vancouver. Time to buy a new hat.

Even though Borough Market is one of our favourites in London, we didn’t pay a visit on this occasion. Phil, Una and Kiran did though, along with thousands of other people.

Liesel, Leslie and I visited Waterloo Station to begin our walk along the South Bank. There’s a new installation in the station, designed to acknowledge and celebrate the outstanding contribution and dedication of the Windrush Generation to British history,

The monument symbolises the courage, commitment and resilience of the thousands of men, women and children who travelled to the UK from 1948 to 1971.

It has been created as a permanent place of reflection fostering greater understanding of the Windrush Generation’s talent, hard work and loyalty to Britain, inspiring future generations forever.

Again, we passed by many fences and barriers, plus hoarding that was hiding a lot of building and refurbishment work. These days, you need a ticket to go into London for the New Year’s Eve revelries, but Liesel and I strongly suspected we’d all be in bed well before midnight.

We’d had a hotel breakfast, so at Tate Modern, we just needed a quick snack really. Liesel and I had very different ideas about what to eat:

After crossing the Millenium Bridge towards St Paul’s Cathedral, we easily found the required bus stop.

We’d arranged to meet our Alaskan visitors outside the British Museum, which I thought was less busy than usual: there wasn’t a long queue outside, with people waiting for their bags to be searched.

We all spent time admiring the Parthenon Marbles and reading the story. Who knows? Maybe one day, they will be returned to Greece.

It’s a big Museum and would need many more visits to see everything. Has anyone, ever, done so?

I couldn’t find the mummified worm, but we did see other mummified animals upstairs. There’s only so long one can walk slowly around such places, so a cup of tea and a slice of cake is always welcome afterwards.

Una was so tired, she fell asleep and missed out on joining the rest of us for our most enjoyable evening meal in Bromley’s Aqua Bar and Grill. Afterwards, Liesel, Leslie, Phil, Kiran and I squoze into our small car, but at least we didn’t have to shoe-horn Una into the boot. After dropping them off at the flat, the three of us returned to our hotel to see in the new year. We heard fireworks at midnight, but I for one didn’t bother getting up to look out of the window.

2025 began with us heading for Canary Wharf where we’d planned to have breakfast at Dishoom. Where? Each Dishoom is a love letter to Bombay – its food and its culture, its many varied people, its rich history and its endless eccentricities.

I do like seeing works of art out in the streets, and when I first saw this one, I wondered whether it might be a depiction of a mother and child. But no.

We passed this item as we walked from Canary Wharf Station to the restaurant, where we met up with our visitors. Our waiter was very helpful and friendly and we all enjoyed our meal. Vegan sausage and fried eggs in a naan roll for me. And about three pints of sweet, spicy chai.

Outside, the wind was picking up, and it was beginning to rain a bit. Liesel and her Mom retired to the hotel while the rest of us went over to Kings Cross to visit Harry Potter’s Platform 9¾. The queue for photos was ridiculously long. The queue for the shop wasn’t too bad, so we waited and, again, I didn’t purchase a wand because I just couldn’t decide which one to go for.

We did sample the Fizzing Whizzbees, which according to the packaging, are a delicious snack and everybody’s favourite. Lies.

We caught the tube to Baker Street where we had a quick glance at the statue of Sherlock Holmes in the rain. Then onto St Johns Wood, followed by a ten minute walk to Abbey Road. Phil, in particular, wanted to see the pedestrian crossing featured on the cover of The Beatles’ Abbey Road album.

I think the shop is new, and we spent quite a while looking at the books and records and mementoes on sale here.

And again, I was not equipped to graffiti my name on the wall outside the Abbey Road Studios.

Back at Waterloo Station, we had a coffee before heading over to Covent Garden for afternoon tea. Nobody likes going to Covent Garden tube station, because of the lifts or, alternatively, having to climb nearly 200 stairs. But, because of the rain today, we decided it was worth the effort to stay dry for an extra five minutes.

Of course, we spent some time wandering around the market before meeting up with Liesel and Leslie at the chosen venue, Ladurée, a place we’ve walked by many times in the past.

It was a very relaxed afternoon tea. In fact, for a while, we thought the staff might be a bit too relaxed. Still, we got served in the end and I was fully sated, didn’t need anything for an evening meal.

I think we all agreed it had been fun showing Phil, Una and Kiran around London for a few days, but it was now sadly time to say goodbye. They were off to Barcelona for a few days, and we hope to see them again later in the year. Thank you all for being such good sports and for massively increasing my step count for a few days! Liesel, her Mom and I were staying in London for a little longer.

As it’s the start of 2025, everyone’s talking about their New Years’ Resolutions. I don’t usually make them, I try and adjust my behaviour whenever the thought occurs, throughout the year. But today, I did take
£90 and set fire to it in the hotel car park. It was so much easier to waste money and save time this way, rather than going to a gym, registering, and never going back again afterwards.

Anyway, Happy New Year, ladies and gentlemen and everyone in between.