Fabulous Monsters: Back from Blighty

As I mentioned in a previous blog , I have been going to London quite a bit. This last visit I came with my mother.

It has been a hard year for her after losing her husband at the end of January. She had planned trips with him and was so looking forward to getting away. I offered to take her to London for a trip. Something for her to look forward to even during the rough times dealing with funerals, lawyers, money, house restoration etc. She hadn't been in London for 40 years and she was very excited .

We left on June 3rd and came back on June 14. It was a really good time. Still so many things we didn't get around to seeing. I may have to take her back some time.

She had really loved the picture from the hotel I stayed in last time and lucky for me they had a sale on for the time we would be visiting so we were able to stay at the Royal Horseguards Hotel .

If you have the chance , I strongly recommend staying there.It is a lovely building, has a great bathroom, comfy beds , the best views in London and the best access to transportation and tourist attractions . (you can walk to the river cruises,parliament ,buckingham palace, the london eye, trafalgar square, the portrait gallery , various theatres and is accress the street from the embankment tube stop)

The view from the window at night

The place was a bit fancy. We had dinner at the restaurant and it did cost quite a bit but my mom adored it. She felt so special and the staff was so friendly . Dinner took 3.5 hours - they wouldn't let us leave! Kept bringing things to our table...

I had been worried about my mother's ability to get around since she has a few things going against her. A hip replacement, bad knees due to arthritis that need surgery, needs a cane, heart problems etc. but she managed to go everywhere . We just went slower and took lots of breaks. She even did the bus tour on her own while I visited a friend.

We also went to see Much Ado About Nothing (more on the play later) . I had tickets for 2 nights. Mom was happy to go one night but said she wouldn't go to both. I had front row tickets . The first night we went mom was laughing so much and enjoyed the play so thoroughly that she told me after the play that she had decided to come to the second night as well . (Good thing I didn't give the ticket away) . She also decided she has a crush on Adam James. HAHAHAHA. It was a pity I couldn't get his autograph for her.She even went to the stage door.

We went on to do a river cruise all the way to Greenwich, shopped in Covent Garden , Had an afternoon at Harrods , toured the Tower of London (that was the hardest for my mother) ,had an an adventure searching for nail polish remover , visited the British Museum and had afternoon tea at Claridges .

We also went to Stratford upon Avon. There were some issues with the hotel but in the end we had a good time. We saw the Merchant of Venice . It had moments of genius but the ending just destroyed it. It was far too weird and depressing. Kind of a sad ending to it that didn't make much sense with what came before. It was fun watching Sir Patrick Stewart though.

Went to the Dirty Duck for dinner and it was very nice . The Yorkshire pudding got a bit burnt but still tasted ok. Not the easiest place to get service but I recommend the food. The cheese plate was delish.

We also went to Warwick Castle. I have never seen so many Peacocks in my life. Beautiful place. Weird hot dogs. Must be a British thing. Also, I learned from a 5 year old : "You can't go wrong with an ice cream". I will have to go back for a longer visit at the castle! The trebuchet was a monster!