So much to achieve, and we were running out of time to achieve it in! Good thing we had the itinerary to keep us on track! We plied ourselves with coffee and jumped on a bus, out to our first stop of the day; back into the thick of things on Regent St!
Here we had waiting for us, a gem in the city that my darling Father had told me about … Hamleys! I must remember to pay him back for all these wonderful favours at some point soon …
Hamleys is four floors (or was it five?) of mind bending toy store. And having just linked to their website above, I am now also aware that they host birthday parties! *Sends a significant look towards Himself* We spent WAY too much time (how much time is too much?) in here running around like idiots amongst the cars, trains, robots, bears, Mr Men, lego, tiaras, flamingos, lollies … Oh Dear Geebus.
Right about the candy floor, Himself decided what he actually needed was food. Real food. So we did what any normal person would do in this situation and headed off to Carnaby St!
It appeared to be undergoing some major re-construction that week. But we still managed to shoulder our way through to a sandwich bar and each consume some nutritious and delicious, nourishing food!
At one end of Carnaby St though is a total gem. I had been ordered to go into this store on pain of loss-of-friendship, and who was I to argue with that? So on that note, let me introduce you to Liberty of London.
Why yes! It is just as twee on the inside as you’re imagining! There is also a whole floor devoted to their fabrics. This is a building not just built in Tudor style, but in Tudor times! My mind was blown. This building was on the streets of London at the same time as Shakespeare. Check out the insides!
Now, I must say, as far as awesome department stores in London go, this one is high on the list. But I don’t recommend you see it last on the list as we did. The service and style was totally outstripped by Fortnum and Mason, and it just was never able to reach a bar that had been set so high. Poor them.
Given where we were at this point, and given that Himself had done a little bit of research into it for me (I’m so loved), as we found ourselves outside of Tottenham Court Rd Tube Station, we went in, and swiped our Oyster Cards just so I could get this shot.
Yes, this is the escalator from American Werewolf in London, and though we were in the right spot, he still never prowled around the corner to see us, so we left, unfulfilled, swiping our cards again on the way out.
Once you’re in that area though you do tend to suddenly find yourself surrounded by theatres. Yes, we were in the theatre district. How could I tell, you ask?
We had initially had plans of seeing a show while we were in town, and right up to the last minute were still contemplating it, but nothing really grabbed our fancy, and it’s a lot of GBPounds to drop just for an experience you’re not absolutely convinced about. So we’ll save that adventure for another visit.
After a quick jaunt around Leicester Square, and we maybe, perhaps, might have, stopped into one of Himself’s old haunts … Just for old time’s sakes you understand! We then headed off to Trafalgar Square to see Nelson’s great erection *cough* I mean, Column; and the Giant Blue Cock.
Gotta love the English sense of humour! Twisted little Public School boys that they all are!
We were close to calling it a day. The old haunt had taken it out of us, and we may have imbibed further than we had thought, but when I checked the map to find the fastest ay to the nearest Tube station, I notice we were just down the road from something we’d scrubbed off our agenda earlier. So it was off to Westminster! Look! Big Ben!
After we pestered the nice Bobbies on guard at the gates (thank goodness they’re patient with tipsy tourists!) we then dodged traffic to get round to at least see the outside of Westminster Abbey.
Given that we hadn’t expected to see either up close, it was a rather lovely end to the day!
But wait! There’s still more to come on our adventure! Come back next week for the exciting conclusion!
ghoti industries 