London

It has been a few years since I visited London.  An occasion arose as Frances bought Annette tickets for the Burne-Jones exhibition at Tate Britain. I was rather apprehensive about visiting as my stamina for being on my feet is limited and I was worried about the amount of standing and walking which would be necessary.

I decided we would stay at one of the new Hub hotels. I have read a lot about this new concept in budget hotels with small rooms but lots of extras. As soon as we walked in the receptionist sized us up. She told us we needed a larger room and gave us a free upgrade. She said the standard room has a bed against a wall meant clambering over a partner. When we saw the “larger” room we immediately saw she was right as it was small and the large double bed left just a narrow aisle either side.

The room was very well appointed with large TV and stylish bathroom with a large shower. However one of the best features of the hotel was the large well appointed lounge with free tea or coffee on tap. Free fast WiFi was easily obtained with an automatic connection. We found the breakfast limited but cheap. By coincidence Alison was at a meeting nearby and joined us mid afternoon on the Friday we arrived. We arranged a rendezvous with Frances and family as well as Alison and family at midday on Saturday at the Tate Britain.

The hotel location was simply fantastic being about 150 yards from Westminster Abbey so could not have been more central. Parliament was about another hundred yards further on.

The exhibition was crowded and the kids were uninterested. I spent a lot of time sitting but unfortunately the crowd didn’t mean  much contemplation of the pictures. Edward Burne-Jones was a leading Pre Raphaelite painter in the latter part of the 1800’s. The Pre Raphaelites were returning to a more representational style of subjects often from classical times. I was familiar with many of the larger works both from  books and also visits  to such as the Lady Lever gallery at Port Sunlight.

Our hotel was just along from Westminster Abbey and we walked back from the Tate along the Embankment and past the Houses of Parliament. I was slightly disappointed that the demonstrators which I have seen so often on TV were not in evidence.

We were to be joined by Debajit to go on to Pizza Express. However we passed the time happily in the Hub lounge which also served as its bar. So with children we were a party of ten at Pizza Express. I’m not a great fan of pizza but it is relatively economical and caters for everyone. Only Ben had the child’s menu which he wasn’t happy about; not so much by the content but the indignity.

We arranged to meet Frances and family at the Museum of London the following day. We, particularly Annette, had just about worked out the buses with aid of Google maps and tuition by Frances. Our “old folks” bus passes worked fine. The museum was surprisingly interesting. The disappointment was than Ben, who is doing the Great Fire of London at school, just about managed to sit through a short audio visual on it and wasn’t interested in anything else. By an amazing co-incidence there was a lengthy TV programme on the fire on Saturday evening which we watched independently. Frances had her plan of visiting Pudding Lane and the Monument vetoed.

By the time Frances and co. left for Euston it was raining and we were glad to go back to the hotel and a quiet night in. We did have the frustration of seeing our bus pulling away  just as we arrived at the bus stop.

Our plan for the final morning of our stay was sabotaged by a long traffic jam. We went to the Wellcome exhibition rooms only to discover they close on a Monday. We went to the British Library but only had a very short time there – just time for a coffee, visit toilets and see they have interesting looking exhibitions. We viewed one briefly where I looked at some Beatles and P G Wodehouse originals.

Two new prisoners are led into their cell.” How long are you in for” asks one.” 18 years, how about you?” “25 years so you had better have the bed by the door”