London – Part 7

It was a day of train stations. But before we could go touring, we had to change residence. We gave up our nice, neat, close (in need of a good scrub and some serious maintenance) apartment and hoofed it on over to stay with a friend for the last couple of days of our trip. After dumping all our bags (just one, we’d packed quite well really!) we headed back to the station. Click here for the sound track that goes with the first photo!

*melts into the sax* Trust me to completely forget that Baker Street was Sherlock Holmes stomping ground until I got to the station and his silhouette was plastered all over the walls! I also don’t watch much current television programming, can you tell?

We jumped some lines (I became a master of the tube map!) over to Ladybroke Grove and the Portobello Rd Antique Market.

Sing it with me now! “Portobello Rd! Portobello Rd! Street where the riches of ages are sold!”

So much stuff to sort through and play with! There was one teapot which was at least six cups, and was the exact same Royal Albert pattern as one of my cups! I would have loved to have bought it, but I wasn’t sure how I would get it home safely (other than carry it) and given that we still had some much further to walk today, and that Portobello Rd Markets are priced for the tourist dollar … I walked away.

Back to the Tube, and we found ourselves at Padidngton. See?

And do you know who’s at Paddington Station? Yes! That’s right! Paddington Bear! They even have set up the most adorable bronze statue of him at the foot of an escalator, just perfect for hugging (though a little hard for squeezing). Unsurprisingly, my favourite incarnation of the wee fellow is the one I grew up with.

There were many photos taken, and lots of reminiscing about our childhood, and the future generations, before we moved on to the next major station on my list; King Cross. But of course you’ll all know what’s so important about Kings Cross Station, right?

Yes. I went to Platform 9 3/4. Because I can. I didn’t get my photo taken with the trolley as I was leery of how much they’d charge me (I have since discovered it’s £8). The queue was also huge and I was aware of the bored Muggles I had in tow. But I may have succumbed and bought a ticket on the Hogwarts Express. Sometimes you just have to do these things. *nods*

It’s a rather random thing, but big train stations are remarkable feats of engineering to hang around in!

So we may have spent some time wandering around St Pancras; photographing, and emulating the art …

… while catching up and doing a fair amount of people watching! (Please note that one of the figures in the bottom of the statue is taking a selfie.) There’s always so much hustle and bustle going on! And when you are meeting up with old friends and catching up on 15 years of back-story, there’s often a place to rest your weary feet, and wet your whistle. Surprisingly little orange marmalade to be found though …

So we did. Sit and have a drink that is. Sans orange marmalade. While taking in the beautiful music provided by other members of the populace on the conveniently placed pianos through out the station precincts!

(How cool is that?!?)
((And boy could he play!!!))

At some point though we did all decide it was a bit much and we headed off to find food. For some bizarre reason I was craving burgers, and being with a vegetarian, I had my doubts that my cravings would be satiated. But they were! Boy were they!

These were some of the best burgers I’ve ever had! Seriously, take a quick peek at this menu! Even the vegetarian was impressed!

I’ll warn you now though, those wine glasses are bigger than you think they are, even when you know how many mls is in each one … *holds my head*