Mon 8 Dec 2008
We’ve just spent a wonderful weekend away in London which I arranged to celebrate Nigel’s upcoming birthday. I booked a package deal through Holiday Extras, which meant I paid one price for the travel, accommodation, a West End show and pre-theatre meal, and also a trip on the London Eye.
We caught the train from Bradford to Leeds at 11am on Friday and then at Leeds we boarded the National Express East Coast train that was to go to London Kings Cross. I had purchased 1st class tickets so we had a very pleasant and relaxing journey and enjoyed the complimentary refreshments. We arrived in London just after 2pm and then hopped on the underground and went 2 stops on the Piccadilly line to Holborn. Our hotel, the Grange Holborn was a 5 minute walk from the tube station.
The Grange Holborn was supposedly a 5* rated hotel, but, although it was nice and we had no complaints, we didn’t think it was 5*. Our room and bathroom wasn’t huge, but the bed was large and comfy. There were 2 large windows, but they looked out over the back of the hotel so there was not much of a view (although on balance I think I’d prefer to forgo a view in favour of a peaceful night without London traffic noise).
At 5pm, after showering and dressing up, we left the hotel to head to the Criterion (one of Marco Pierre White’s restaurants) where we were to have our pre-theatre meal. The reservation was not until 6pm, but we didn’t know how long it would take to get there so had to allow plenty of time, especially since it was rush hour. It was only 3 stops to Piccadilly and we reached the restaurant in about 20 minutes. We hung around Piccadilly Circus for a few minutes and then decided that even though we were early we might as well go in. The restaurant decor was stunning, particularly the gold mosaic ceiling. The service was very professional and the food was fantastic. We were able to choose from 3 starters and 3 mains that made up the pre-theatre menu. We both selected crispy duck salad for starter, then Nigel had steak and chips (although it was called something much posher on the menu) and I had salmon with tenderstem broccoli and hollandaise sauce. It was the nicest and most perfectly cooked piece of salmon I’ve ever eaten. Nigel enjoyed his steak too. I’d definitely say that it was one of the nicest restaurants we’ve ever eaten at.
In the end it turned out that by arriving early we timed things perfectly as it meant that we could relax and enjoy our meal and not have to rush to be ready to leave to leave to go to the theatre. ‘Her Majesty’s Theatre’ where ‘Phantom of the Opera’ is on was a short walk away. I couldn’t believe it when it turned out that our seats were on the front row! It was an fantastic show and we had the best seats be able to see everything. We had a such a great time.
After the show we headed back to the hotel, got changed and then had a wander around Covent Garden and watched a very talented busker.
On Saturday we got up reasonably early and after breakfast headed over to Oxford Street to have a quick look around. About 11am we made our way to the London Eye as our flight was booked for noon. It was very busy so I was glad to have purchased ‘Champagne Flight’ tickets which also included a ‘fast-track’ check-in. It meant we didn’t have to queue for ages and only had to wait around for a short while to be escorted onto the London Eye. We were so lucky to have a virtually cloudless winter day so the visibility was excellent. It was certainly something very different and a very enjoyable half-hour ride.
We had a walk along the river for a bit afterwards and then dashed over to the Science Museum, but it was getting late and my feet were killing me by the time we got there so we didn’t see much of it – we’ll have to revisit that another time I think.
We ate near at an Italian restaurant near the hotel on Saturday evening, but it was destined to be disappointing after our wonderful experience the previous night so I won’t talk about it.
Our train journey back on Sunday was uneventful and fortunately we made it back to Bradford at the very reasonable time of 3pm. I would definitely like to do a trip like that to London again some time.