London in Seven Hours

Yes, I saw quite a bit of London in seven hours. We had gone to London for my daughter to attend a concert and meet someone special, and not knowing what time the celebrity’s Meet & Greet would take place, we decided to take a taxi from Heathrow Airport to the Hammersmith Apollo.

I had read somewhere a black cab would take us from the airport to the Apollo for  £ 30. We ended up with a white cab, which cost us  £ 50. It was worth it, as getting there quickly was crucial, especially sitting next to a nervous teenager.

When we arrived at the Hammersmith Apollo at 4 p.m., the lines were already long.

Apollo queue

With nothing better to do, I looked up and took some photos.

London buildingThen I looked down.

London shoes

We got her ticket from two box-office employees, who were working their way down the line. As a matter of fact, we got two Meet & Greet tickets! I was neither in the mood for the concert, nor interested in meeting a 21-year-old pop singer. We ended up giving the ticket to a very lucky girl.

I can’t recall ever seeing anybody cry so much for happiness. What a beautiful reward, I thought.

My brother and I were free then to explore London. All this excitement got us old folks mighty hungry, whereas my daughter went without a bite to eat until 10:45 p.m.

We quickly checked into our Hotel Adria on 44-46 Glenthorne Road, and headed towards King Street (a two-minute walk). Kings Street has a big selection of ethnic restaurants to choose from. We had a good meal and excellent service at the Indian restaurant Shilpa (more in a separate post).

Dinner at Shilpa Restaurant

Dinner at Shilpa Restaurant

After dinner, we almost contemplated skipping the pub experience. We felt relaxed and had a full stomach at 9 p.m., but had to wait till 10:30 p.m. to pick up my daughter after the concert.

We thought of something really smart – why not stop at the pub Hop Poles, have a tiny drink and sip on it leisurely. Yeah, right.

Within two minutes, I met three British guys. 70 minutes later, we had downed three pints, two Jägermeister, I had taught my new friends how to say “Hau weg die Scheisse!” (instead of Prost) and I danced to Dancing Queen with a stranger. So glad my daughter was somewhere else having a good time.

I did thank the manager Angela (between hiccups), a woman my age from Poland, for the wonderful selection of 70s music they play there.

We only had to walk a few minutes to the Apollo and picked up my very excited daughter, who then had short bread for dinner in bed.

Apollo

Just before midnight, my brother and I stood outside the hotel in our pajamas to take in the London air. Just so glad no police officers came by.

London was very bright the next morning. We had to rise at 6:15, be at Hammersmith Station at 7:00 to catch the Piccadilly line to the airport.

London on a Sunday morning

London on a Sunday morning

Yes, one can do London in seven hours, and see/eat/drink/laugh much. It was worth it!

*Hop Poles Pub: http://www.hoppoleshammersmith.co.uk/FindUs.aspx

Craving Ethnic Food – from Oberursel to London

About twice a month, I manage to get away for an extended lunch break. This usually takes me to Seoul Restaurant in Oberursel, where I tend to order the same food, Kimsambok, to take care of my craving for Kimchi.

 Kimsambok at Seoul in Oberursel

Lunch at Seoul Restaurant in Oberursel

Next weekend, I will be in London looking for a good Indian restaurant between the Hammersmith Apollo and our hotel on 44 Glenthorne Road, preferably in walking distance. London is the best place to enjoy Indian food.

On a funny note, I had asked one of my Indian friends for a restaurant recommendation in London and of course, she would not really know. She said, when she wants good Indian food, she eats at her mother’s house :-).

But I managed to get the name of an gastropub with an outdoor terrace upstairs. Hop Poles got reasonable priced drinks and British food. If all works well, we get an Indian dinner somewhere, and then hop to Hop Poles for the outdoor beer experience.

If there are no further recommendations for Indian dining, I will get a recommendation from the London hotel receptionist and take a taxi there. I would not like to leave London without a gourmet experience. I’m spoiled, aren’t I.

* Hop Poles in London http://www.beerintheevening.com/pubs/s/44/443/Hop_Poles/Hammersmith

* Good Indian food in Oberursel   http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g663792-d1038150-Reviews-Bella_Italia-Oberursel_Taunus_Hesse.html

48 Hours in London

It has been only 168 hours since I left London and I am already working on my next trip to Nottingham in late June.

Sunday morning and early afternoon, it was still sunny when we left our hotel to walk to the Gherkin.

Maria & Jon London

When we got to the Gherkin, we had to show our passports and go through security.

The Gherkin

The Gherkin

The wedding was held on the 39th and 40th floor and it was fantastic.

Wedding at the Gherkin

Wedding at the Gherkin

There was a  Buddhist ceremony, Sri Lankan dancers, confetti, and lots of champagne going around. Unfortunately, we could only stay a couple of hours as we had a plane to catch back to Frankfurt.

 

48 Hours in London

On Friday afternoon, we arrived with Lufthansa at Heathrow Airport in London. Not that we always need a reason to go to London, but our main purpose was to attend the wedding of a former students and to show our daughter London’s famous sites, including the University of London (UCL).

From the airport, we travelled to London (zone 1) at £ 5,50 p.p.

Seen on the tube in London

Seen on the tube in London

Our hotel, Club Quarters Gracechurch (see more on TripAdvisor) was in an excellent location, in walking distance to both Bank Station and Monument Station.

On the weekend, this location is very quiet as this is the financial district and there is not much going on. There is hardly any traffic, most breakfast places are closed. Fortunately, we found one after walking around a bit on Saturday morning. The next morning, we decided to get breakfast from Sainsbury’s, a supermarket nearby (Sunday hours: 8 a.m. – 6 p.m.)

The hotel’s amenities were very good. In the lobby, you find tea and coffee making facilities as well as cookies, dried fruit, etc. all free of charge. The staff was very helpful in trying to find us a place to have breakfast Saturday morning.

The hotel’s offer for breakfast was £ 10 p.p. and that seemed a bit steep, especially with a picky teenager in tow who will only have two slices of toast.

Tower Bridge

Tower Bridge

We passed the Gherkin, where we would attend the wedding on Sunday afternoon.

Tower and Gherkin

Early Friday evening, across the street at Leadenhall Market, we joined the masses of office workers for food and drink.

Leadenhall Market

Leadenhall Market

beer

After-work drinks at Leadenhall Market

After-work drinks at Leadenhall Market

This pretty much wrapped up our first day in London.

Marguerite in London

–written by guest blogger Gay Soper

To those of you who still haven’t seen Marguerite… we had our notice the other day; and our final performance will be September 13th. Very sad. We have been getting great houses and lots of cheers at the end, each night, but in this current financial climate, not enough people are going to any of the West End Theatres. Many shows have already closed. We have done better than many, but sadly we couldn’t do enough to keep open as long as was originally planned! It will probably start to do really brilliant business now it’s going to finish, so hurry, hurry!!

Our show is set in World War Two, Nazi-occupied Paris, and revolves around a group of French society sophisticates who are all tacitly collaborating with the Germans; and the hypocrisy of their glittering lives and how at the end they change sides and pretend they were always part of The Resistance and never anti Semitic or pro Nazi at all. In the midst of this setting, Marguerite (Ruthie Henshall) is the mistress of a German General ( Alexander Hansen) , living in the lap of luxury. It’s the story of her journey into a dangerous obsession; and the German General’s real love for her and his revenge after she’s betrayed him with a poor French musician, played by the charismatic Julian Ovenden. And it has a sub-plot involving three young idealistic Resistance fighters.

The music is by Michel Legrand and has typically French, romantic, swooping melodies. As you might know, the writing team is Shoenberg and Bloublil who wrote Les Mis and Miss Saigon.

It’s a NEW musical, not a re-hash. The director is Jonathan Kent, one of the top classical theatre directors in this country, who also directs opera internationally. And besides, maybe even more importantly, I’m in it, and have my own solo song…. some of it in French (!) at the climax of the entire show in the Tabarin Scene when there is a dramatic… oooooh, I shan’t tell you what happens. It will spoil it for you. The frock is rather fab too. And I am somewhat more glamorous than I was in, say, Sunday In the Park With George!!

There are great ticket deals to be had for Marguerite . Go to Marguerite, they have deals for £25.00, great seats. Or try one of the other websites that do tickets such as this is theatre and so on. And of course, anyone with an Equity card, or any kind of Concession… i.e. Freedom Pass, Student Card etc., can also do well, if they go direct to the box office.

Hope to see you there!!!

Edit: I forgot to mention how Gay and I know each other. Our son Thomas, then a ten-year-old playing a minor role, and Gay were “colleagues” when they performed in the musical Cabaret which ran at the English Theatre in Frankfurt from Nov 2004 – Mar 2005. (Look for it in archives/Season 2004/2005/Cabaret)

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