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Tim and I spent a week in London before Christmas. We needed a break after a tough year. We decided on London because we have family there and, although it’s our nearest big city, we hardly know it. It’s probably 15 years since we were in central London. The start of our journey was slow. Our Ryanair flight was delayed by over two hours before we took off, though we forgot about the delay once in London. On the train in, Tim was checking his accommodation bookings on the phone. There was one hotel reservation missing. It was driving him a bit crazy. He was searching his email to no avail and having a little conversation with himself. Tim uses an android phone. Mine is different so I wasn’t much help. I offered, “Try the bin.” He did. Nothing there. There was a young man opposite us with earphones in and a gaming machine in his hand. He raised his head and said, “Try spam.” I was immediately embarrassed, realising the fellow had been listening to us the whole time as we prattled on. Tim touched the phone exclaiming, “There it is. Great, thanks.”
He was delighted and struck up conversation with our saviour. He was from Dublin, living in Mayo and working in cyber security. He regaled us with great stories until our destination.
Rendezvous Donagh
Tim’s nephew, Donagh, is based in London at the moment, so he dedicated some time to showing us around some historical and interesting places. Donagh, like Tim, has a huge interest in history and archaeology. They are both widely read in the areas of history, natural history, Greek and Roman mythology and scientific developments. My interests are different, so the lads knew not to get too carried away. Donagh is a fabulous guide. He planned out our time well, making sure we had breaks, too. What he couldn’t organise was the weather. At times, it bucketed down on us.
We travelled mainly by the London Underground. I remembered using the paper map years ago and getting to know it quite well. This time, we downloaded the app and planned on the phone while we were away from Donagh. During the time we were with him, we relaxed and let him do it all. Our first stop was the beautiful St James Park with its lakes, fountains and gardens. Exiting the park, we walked towards Big Ben, the famous clock. It looked spectacular, having been freshly gilded before King Charles lll coronation. The iconic silhouette is instantly recognisable and has become hugely popular with Instagrammers across the world.
Perfect photograph
But for Donagh, we wouldn’t know why people were queuing at the phone boxes. Apparently it’s to get the perfect photograph of a person exiting a red phone box with Big Ben placed centrally in the background to add to their Instagram stories. The Palace of Westminster is a spectacular building and is best viewed from across the Thames. We strolled past Buckingham Palace. The flag was flying, indicating that the king was at home. The extravagance of the palace is enormous. The Queen Victoria Memorial outside the palace, facing Trafalgar Square, has also been re-gilded and looked suitably domineering. We took the underground to Kensington where the museums are located. The three main ones are the Natural History Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Science Museum. Both Donagh and Tim agreed that an hour or two at a time is the best way to experience a museum. We visited some of the galleries in the Victoria and Albert Museum. It is an art and design museum and is well worth a visit. There are replicas of art and architecture from around the world. They are fascinating. I particularly liked the Fashion Gallery.
Tea and chat
We went to the tea room for tea and a rest. The men got into a chat about how long they were going to live, going on science and developments. There was nothing for it only to go next door to visit Lucy in the Natural History Museum. Lucy, our ancient relative, is around 3.2 million years old and her partial skeleton confirms that our ancestors walked upright. That evening, we had a scrumptious meal in China Town in a restaurant called Gold Mine chosen by Donagh. There is nothing like local knowledge to enhance a trip.
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