With the festivities now behind us, we had been planning a trip to London to start the New Year off in style.

Originally planning a two day trip, cramming several things in:-

1. I was interested in an exhibition about Queen Victoria’s childhood which finished on 5th January
2. Having visited Winter Wonderland at Hyde Park in December 2018, we were keen to visit again this year and attend the Oktoberfest style celebrations, which also finished on 5th January
3. We were also keen to visit the Sky Garden Bar to see the spectacular views over London
4. If we had time we might take in a cheeky show.

The plan was to head up by train on Thursday morning, take in the Kensington exhibition before chilling at the hotel ready for an evening of beer and bratwurst, giving our Dirndls & Lederhosen an outing. We thought the following day we could see a matinee show, then head to the Sky Garden Bar, for G&T’s whilst admiring the views of London by night, before catching a late train home.

Perfect plan. However everything seemed to conspire against us.

1. The bestie discovered she had to cover holiday at work on the Thursday morning. Which meant a re jig of plans. The remaining four of us could still travel up in the morning, perhaps tour the Tower of London, then meet the besties at our hotel in the afternoon to prepare for Winter Wonderland. We could still visit Kensington Friday morning, still maybe sneak in a show and the Sky Garden before travelling home.
2. As there was just six of us we thought it would be better to book a table in the smaller of two venues in the Bavarian Village in Winter Wonderland. I kept checking the website and no tables appeared to be being booked. Checking almost daily until two weeks before our visit and with no other tables reserved we decided to abandon the idea for this year 😢
3. We then discovered that some of the London theatres offer a sale on tickets, some being available for as little as £10. Were things turning in our favour? We found which shows were in the deal, decided which to opt for and were ready as the booking system opened. Unfortunately though, they were snapped up so quickly, we couldn’t find sufficient seats for us all to sit together.
4. Just the Sky Garden left. Out came the iPad, the little wheel spinning and spinning for what seemed forever. Finally clicking on 3rd January …………………. to find only morning bookings available. Aargh

The trip seemed doomed, we were going to have to have a re think. I was still keen to see the Queen Victoria exhibition, but nothing else seemed to be falling into place. After a bit of discussion we decided to make it just a day trip.

With the taxi to the station and train tickets booked we set off on our smaller adventure. We were chatting about the day on the train, when the bestie tipped tea all down the front of her. She was obviously anticipating that the problems we’d encountered would continue as she’d packed another top in her bag! Well done her for the fore thought.

We had decided that once she’d cleaned up, we would head for Leicester Square and one of the ticket booths to see if we could get tickets for a show that evening at a reasonable price. After checking lots of prices, the cashier being very patient, and much debate we opted for a musical who dunnit called Curtains. She managed to get us six seats together in the stalls at a reduced price of £32 each. Not too bad, until she added a further £5 each booking fee!! Grrrr

She redeemed herself though as with each ticket we could pick up a hot drink and piece of cake at the theatre cafe around the corner. It was almost lunch time, so we decided to head there first. On arrival it transpired that not all the cakes were included, but we had 6 hot drinks and 6 pieces of cake or scones for the princely sum of £4. At last things were going in our favour.

Suitably refreshed, we made our way to the tube station and in the direction of Kensington Palace. What a fantastic exhibition taking us through Victoria’s childhood, from the room in which she was born, through her teenage years and to the day she became Queen. Her clothes, toys and needlework beautifully preserved. We ventured through her classroom with both visual and verbal displays. As she grew the story unfolded, of her mother and advisors plan to take the throne, should she succeed before her 18th birthday. We discovered she shared a bedroom with her mother every night and was not allowed to walk down the stairs without her hand being held. However she passed her 18th birthday, scuppering their plans and within weeks became Queen banning the advisor from the Palace.

In another part of the Palace we entered the later stages of Victoria’s life, with stories of her marriage, her nine children and becoming Empress of India. Then the sad loss of her beloved husband Prince Albert and the fact she spent the rest of her life wearing black. There was a huge collection of her dresses. Being a diminutive 5ft 1” (although I have no room to talk at a mere 5ft) her dresses made her look even shorter as her waistline expanded.

It was a wonderful exhibition and I’m so glad we got to see it. After two hours, we were ready for some refreshments and took a stroll along the
Serpentine to the Bavarian Village at Winter Wonderland for a beer and to soak up the atmosphere. The rides were in full swing and we watched in amazement as people were dropped from great heights or whizzed around in the air. We took a more sedate stroll through the stalls, the smell of bratwurst, pretzels and hot chocolate filling the senses.

With tummy’s now rumbling we went in search of the tube, to take us to Chinatown for a lovely Chinese dinner in a restaurant we’d visited a year before. Completely stuffed at a very reasonable price, a couple of hours later, we were rolling out into the street, time for one last drink before heading to the theatre. Finding cozy seats in front of the fire, we enjoyed our beverages, whilst looking forward to the show.

Our ticket booth lady had done us proud. We had great seats in the raised stalls, in the centre of the row. We had a perfect view. A witty tale of murder at the theatre, where all the cast are suspects and not allowed to leave the building for several nights.  In between the laughs, and more murders, the wonderful voices of the cast, filled the auditorium. With several twists to the story, we were kept guessing, who dunnit, right till the end.

And with the final curtain falling, we had a quick gallop to the station to catch the train home.

Despite all the hiccups and disappointments whilst trying to arrange our visit to the City, it turned out to be a packed and utterly enjoyable day, making great memories with good friends.

What a fabulous start to 2020. Looking forward to more adventures