Travel tales: catching a glimpse of Offspring abroad, Harrods, the best Mexican in town and the biggest guns I’ve ever seen

Time is precious on holiday. Every minute spent waiting for the washing machine is another minute I could be spending exploring London. I cram so much into my days here – awake at dawn, checking my emails and social media, washing, a bit of cleaning, errands to the post office and then setting out for a day of exploration.

I sat at the station this morning waiting for the train when Patrick and Nina in the birthing suite caught my eye. The girl sitting next to me was watching Offspring on her iPhone! As I talk to anyone – more about that later – I was not afraid to say, “Excuse me, are you watching Offspring?” And she laughed, saying yes in an Australian accent. Turns out she was missing it as much as me, and downloaded it from iTunes.

(source)

On a side note – thanks to my friends who provided me with a somewhat humorous rundown of the finale on Facebook!

When I got to Victoria Station there were two police at the exit turnstiles. With the biggest guns I have ever seen. Semi automatic weapons, not arm muscles. They were huge! I was a bit worried – was there an incident? They were smiling at commuters as they passed – so I expect it was an exercise in comfort and familiarisation for when security beefs up for the olympics. No photo sorry – I didn’t want to risk it.

I made my way on the Tube to Knightsbridge where I went to Harrods.

It was opulent and I couldn’t afford much. A security guard called me princess, so I did feel like the richest girl in the world!

I had morning tea – Victoria sponge and Peach Melba cakes and a Sicilian lemonade.

It was good but very over priced. There is a statue in tribute to Princess Diana and Dodi Al Fayed at the entrance of Harrods. Personally I think it was a bit hmm….

The friend I am staying with drove me past Mohammed Al Fayed’s mansion tonight – it is massive – sprawling across miles of countryside.

I didn’t stay long in Harrods. I walked up Brompton Road which was leisurely and surprisingly uncrowded, and laughed at this sign in a pub window.

Hah! It has rained each day of my trip!!

Next stop was Covent Garden where I didn’t shop but met a friend from highschool. We have not seen each other for 13 years. It was great to catch up with Robert – he is very smart and interesting.

We dined at Wahaca which is an amazing Mexican street food restaurant in the West End. Think Mamasita but no queues and better service. Our waiter was lovely and at the end when I bought the cookbook, he showed me the best bit of the book – two tiny pictures of him on the title pages. He told me when I miss him I can cut the pictures out and put them on my plate.

Robert and I had a lot to catch up on so we sat and ate and talked for hours. It was lovely. We ate ceviche, corn, pork tacos, cactus tacos, toastidas, bean and cheese quesadillas and some really good guacamole.

Yum! The dishes were fresh, well portioned and good value. Highly recommended.

Here is Robert and I in Camden – I needed to buy a satchel from the market as my handbag is way too heavy to carry.

I am moving from the countryside to a hotel in the city tomorrow due to some unforseen circumstances. My hosts have been so lovely and I have enjoyed it here. I am very thankful to them. I mentioned earlier that I talk to anyone on the train… Well when I knew there would be a chance of needing to seek alternative accommodation, I mentioned it to a lady I had started talking to on the train. She offered me a bed at her place! We had only just met. Anyway, today I received an email from her asking how I had got on finding accommodation and she also invited me to speak at her work! She is a performance coach and she wants me to speak about appearance confidence! How cool is that?!

It is not very late yet but I am tired today and need to sleep as there is a big day of lugging luggage on the train tomorrow. Have a good Saturday, whatever you are up to 🙂