SUNDAY 18TH MARCH 2012
London birthday/anniversary trip.
…..The taxi driver was rude!…he made no attempt to interact with us, kept his hood up and talked on his mobile phone all the way to the station. Michael wanted to say something but I stopped him. I didn’t want to spoil things before they started, I didn’t think it would make any difference and I am always worried about security when we go away.
Five hours later we were checking into a 4 star hotel in London. I was so pleased with the room, which is spacious and luxurious with a fridge and a microwave. I love having a bit of luxury for a few days.
Our first visit was to Ronnie Scotts jazz club on Firth st.. I think this is something
Micheal has wanted to do for a long time and we were not disappointed. . Ian McKensie and a swing band, entertained us for over an hour. The atmosphere was lovely. Friendly Sunday afternoon. The food looked good and well presented, we had a starter of pate and brioche between us , beautifully presented. but a bit pricey at £8, we also had a tea and coffee and the total bill was £14 50p
I had forgotten how crowded London is and how old it seems. There are traditional pubs and trendy coffee houses all over the place. It seems essentially “English” which is strange because very few people ARE “English”. We heard all kinds of languages, including a man asking for LIE SES ter place ! LOL! (Leicester square)
I noticed a blue plaque o the wall telling me that here, in 1926 John Logie Baird invented television.
So we browsed around Chinatown and Soho, then eventually stopped in a restaurant for some food.
In a Chinese patisserie we saw the biggest strawberries I have ever seen.
We were so hungry y this time we were half way through the meal before I remembered to take a photo!
So we returned to the hoel to find the bed turned down and a chocolate on our pillow. Ahh!
Denise
Love from London
denisefrombolton 
The hotel looks as if it was the perfect spot for a birthday/anniversary trip!I've noticed that taxi drivers in the USA and France tend to talk on their cell phones the entire time as well. It occasionally catches me off guard when I'm jet lagged or not paying attention because all of a sudden I think that they're speaking to me and start to answer them before feeling kind of silly!My husband and I were talking about making a weekend trip to London in the near future and your post just added some fuel to the fire!
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Mary Kay…it is illegal to use a cellphone in a vehicle in the UK. So he would have been subject to a huge fine, not to mention losing his job if we dobbed him in.Trouble is I hate to use taxis to go to the train station, they know you are going away and it is a security risk so we didn't want to antagonise him.Hope you get a London trip soon. It is so easy to travel to London from Paris. Easier than travelling from Bolton LOL!
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Love reading your blog, Denise! That hotel looks fabulous! Also , what resto did you dine at in the above photo? Looks all so fun!
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Sorry Cybee, I can't remember the name of the resto and I know I threw away the card last week when clearing out my bag. However Chinatown in London is full of good Chinese restaurants, this one was just on the corner near the Chinese arch pictured. I don't think you can go wrong.The hotel is the Shaftsbury Kensington Premier Best Western, London. Highly recommended.http://www.bestwestern.co.uk/Hotels/Shaftesbury-Kensington-Hotel-London-83867/Hotel-Info/Default.aspx
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