Now that our New Year trip to London has come to an end I am really excited to tell you about the 6 days we spend in this wonderful and lovely city.
Ok, lovely and wonderful might not be the words everybody would choose to describe this huge and vibrant capital, but to me that's exactly what London is. Absolutely lovely.
This holiday was again kind of a last minute decision. Though I've had the idea of going to London for NYE for some weeks, I didn't really believe we would make it, as it seemed impossible to find the perfect and affordable apartment to stay in.
Then on Friday Nov. 13th I decided to buy our train tickets before there were no more available.
November 13th was also the day there have been the terrorists attacks in Paris. For the following ten to fourteen days, Brussels had been on the highest terrorism alert level and school and subway closed for days.
As our train route leads from a railway station only 5 minutes from home to Liège and then Brussels, where we check-in into Eurostar, we were very dismayed by these developments. We were not sure anymore that it would be a good idea to spend New Years Eve in London and eventually expose the children at any risk.
On the other hand, I never would want fear to rule my life, but what about our kids . . . .
I kept on searching for an apartment, and after another numerous mails I received a mail on Dec. 13th with following content:
Hi Michele
Congrats: You’ve just discovered a better way to stay!
Ready for London? My name is Elena and I’m pleased to help you plan your stay.
Our mission is to help travelers seamlessly plug into the world’s top destinations. ( . . . . )
Tell you what ! It all came true.
The apartment was great, spacious, immaculate clean, well equipped, plenty of storage, with dish washer and washing machine and lots more ... in a wonderful location.
( the picture above shows our kids in front of the 14 m Disney soft toys christmas tree at St Pancras Int. Station )
If you should be interested in a great place to stay in London, check www.oasiscollections.com, our apartment was in Fetter Lane.
If you're interested in any of these apartments please let me know. I could possibly provide a $100 voucher for your first booking.
Some people sometimes say totally astonished 'oh my gosh with three kids in Paris' or 'jeez! a trip with three kids to London' . . . but hey they're our kids and that's the way we want it to be !
It's an amazing journey and though it's not always easy and some times tiring and exhausting with three children at young age, I am proud to be a mother of three who are showing interest in so many things are so versatile and can see the world with such great enthusiasm.
So if you wanna know exactly what we've been up to all week, here's the schedule:
Monday: leaving home at 10:00 am - train trip to London - visiting Covent Garden in the evening & dinner
Tuesday: bus drive to the Natural History Museum in South Kensington, then heading to Hyde Park Corner & Winter Wonderland*- bus ride to the apartment
Wednesday: visiting the British Museum, heading to Oxford Street, Regent Street, Carnaby Street, Soho and Piccadilly Circus - bus ride (oh my gosh ! Hamley's was so crowded ! ! ! ! )
Thursday: - a walk from Fleet Street, then the Strand to Trafalgar Square and Whitehall to attend the change of guards at the horse guards parade - then we headed to Westminster and took a stroll along the Thames on a wonderful sunny afternoon, did some more shopping and walked back to the apartment
Around midnight we joined the crowds and went to see the NY fireworks from Blackfriars Bridge.
Friday: London New Year's Day Parade and a lot of walking as many roads were still (again) closed for traffic
Saturday: a walk to St Paul's Cathedral and exploring the area, then picking up our luggages and heading to St. Pancras Int. Station - back home safe and sound at 08:00 pm
*to anyone who might be misled (as I was) by thinking London WinterWonderland' is kind of a Christmas Market with carrousels some dining booths and a big wheel.... well it's not exactly ...it's huge ... and wonderful
If you'd like to get some detailed information about anything I mentioned, just let me know.
It was a great trip, it was fun, it was exciting....
and strangely London still is a place were I feel completely safe.
London, we'll be back !
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