Big Day Out

I can’t help it. London excites me. I don’t think, even if I had the money to buy somewhere decent, that I’d want to live there but to visit, it's wonderful.

I am fascinated by history and old buildings and people who passed this way before us and London has it in spades!

We walked to the nearest railway station, which we’d never heard of and was about 30 minutes away from the site. Jill, a local Dog Walker, had been booked to come in and feed Rowley and take him for a walk, so we could take as long as we wanted.

The day had dawned bright and crisp and we got onto the platform at Turkey Street, just as the train was pulling out! So had to wait half an hour for the next one but nothing was going to get me down on my day out.

Liverpool Street Station was huge and busy but we made a rough plan of the day and caught the Tube to Marble Arch

and then walked across to Hyde Park, to see their Winter Wonderland, which is a large fairground and much larger German Style Christmas Market. 

Silly prices of course but we shared a large Bratwurst and bought 3 of the most stupidly expensive Chocolate and Marzipan sweets that you ever saw in your life.

By now we were feeling quite Christmassy and walked back across Green Park and found ourselves at the top of Shepherd’s Market. This place fascinates me. There is a shop there that sells everything a man could possibly want in the world of ‘Gentlemanly’ shaving and you can go in and probably for the price of a decent meal out, have a cutthroat shave with all the hot towels etc.

Mike tells me that Shepherds Market was notorious as a place for ‘Ladies of the Night’ back in the 50s and 60s. It isn’t now, it has eateries and pubs and is a very civilized place. Rather how it was meant to be in the 18^th Century, when Edward Shepherd was commissioned to develop the area. There was even a duckpond, hard to imagine now.

http://shepherdmarket.co.uk/history.htm

Windows in Selfridge's

A pint in a pub by a fire was the next event of the day, then we headed to Leicester Square. Disappointingly the lovely Italian Restaurant just over the road from the square is now a Proper Hamburger place and even the delightful windows and shutters have gone. After half an hour of muttering and moaning,  we decided on dinner at The Garrick Pub, which looked far better than the other places in the area and I had a good steak there. So that was OK.

Back on the Tube to Liverpool Street, even though it was getting near to 7pm, it was still packed and we couldn't get on the first Tube. Can't imagine how folk cope with that every day. Most disappointed too in that we didn't see Kim Wilde drunkenly singing Christmas songs.