Radhika, Avinash and Raj's UK Trip : May - June 2010: Part 1, Days 1 and 2

Dear all

I started writing this mail in our coach on the way to Oxford, on June 1, 2010, and am now completing it as we head back from Warwick Castle at the end of our day trip. Its been a hectic and fun trip so far.

Day 1- May 30, 2010

As you are aware, we had booked a Star Cab to take us to the airport from Ashok Towers. After a bit of a hiccup (the cab driver whose number had been sent to me had not got the msg to pick us up, and it took 2-3 calls to get him to come), we got the cab and headed for the airport. Avi fell asleep in the cab, but woke up as we were in the queue to check in. Check in was smooth - made another attempt to get a business class seat upgrade for 2 of us but was rebuffed - and boarding was on time.

Avi had dozens of questions about everything from the wings to where the Air India plane next to us was going, to where the runway was and why the window was not a door. There was a noisy bunch of guys ahead of us, and I was nervous about the prospect of how they wld behave during the flight.

As the plane headed to the runway, Avi drifted off to sleep, followed shortly by me. Radhika ended up watching a movie and went to sleep much later. The flight reached London well on time, and thanks to Avi, we were given 'fast track' access to immigration and were out of the airport less than 15 minutes after the flight landed. Our car had not yet reached, but the delay was for less than 5 minutes. Despite our having requested a child seat, the driver had not bothered to bring one - but allowed Avi to sit in the middle seat with an adult seat belt. We reached our hotel by 830.

The room was tiny and on seeing the sofa bed. Radhika and I were worried about how we'd manage. The hotel staff brought a tiny child cot for Avi. Radhika quickly used the kitchen to whip up some Maggi, which all of us wolfed down. Despite all of us being tired, I pushed Radhika and Avi into getting ready quickly and we set out for a walk.

It was much colder than we had anticipated, but fortunately, we were fairly well equipped with a sweater and a jacket for Avi. We walked down thru the theatre district and stopped for lunch at a Pret a Manger (which is a chain of sandwich and soup stores). Then we walked towards Trafalgar square, where we took a picture of Avi next to one of the lions near Nelson's column.



All over London, there are small statues of elephants strewn around, as party of a drive to save the Asiatic elephant. At Trafalgar Square, these elephants were dressed in the colors of the IPL teams, and sponsored by Lalit Modi!!! At least in London, his reign over the IPL continues.

After looking at Trafalgar square and seeing Big Ben in the distance, we crossed the Thames by a foot bridge and headed towards the London Eye.

The South Bank of the Thames was full of activity on that beautiful Sunday afternoon. There was a lovely carousel (aka Merry go round), and Avi and Radhika went for a ride on one of the horses. Avi was thrilled to see Donald Duck walking around, and gave Donald a big hug (forcing me to tip him GBP 1). There were several other people, including some dressed as Mickey Mouse, a policeman, a zombie etc.


Finally, we reached the London Eye, and after a 45 minute wait, went for a 30 minute flight, with spectacular views of London. The difference in size between the enormous Houses of Parliament at Westminster, and the relatively small Buckingham Palace clearly brought out who calls the shots in this country.






We then went for a short 4D film which gives us the feeling of flying over major London landmarks.

Post all of this (plus some snacks on the way), we went to Waterloo station, picked up "Oyster Cards", that let us travel in London public transport and then returned to Holborn. Before heading for the hotel, we stopped over at a Sainsburys to stock up on food - while we were there (around 530 in the evening), Avi went to sleep.

On reaching the hotel, Radhika and I tried to expand the sofa bed and were pleasantly surprised to find that it folded out fully to reveal a proper double bed mattress on the under side. We stayed up till about 730, grabbed a dinner of bread and Aashirvad Kurma, managed to get Avi to have his pedia while half asleep and crashed out, bone tired, by 8.

Day 2 - May 31, 2010

May 31 started very early for us - as Avi woke up at 4 am. (which was not too bad given he slept at 1730). We had planned to go to the Zoo, Regent's Park (which is a large park at one end of which the Zoo is located), and the Aquarium. Despite waking up so early, we ended up leaving the hotel only around 845 - we stopped for breakfast at a Pret and then took the tube to Regents park.



We then walked across the park (which is about 1.5 km long to the zoo).



While we had been told its a 15 minute walk, we took about 1hour, what with stops at a "nice, old" brown garden where Avi played on slides and swings, and various excursions across the grass.

Then it was onto the zoo, which was very crowded as it was a public holiday in London (what is called the Bank Holiday weekend). The zoo itself was good but not great, much more of a traditional "animals in cages" kind of place than a Singapore style open zoo. It probably reflects what the Byculla zoo could be with a bit of care and maintenance, and a better menagerie. But Avi enjoyed a lot, which was the point. We finished at the zoo around 430, by which time we were both left with stiff backs from carrying our heavy back pack and our little bundle of joy, Avi, around. For obvious reasons, our visit to the Aquarium had to be postponed. This time around, we managed to keep Avi awake till 7 pm, and he went to sleep after a Pasta dinner. Subsequently, I restocked our stuff from Sainsburys and also picked up Pizzas for dinner from a Pizza Express next door. Sometime in between, we also decided to take the risk of doing the Oxford, Stratford on Avon, Warwick Castle tour.

The tour itself has been great fun but a detailed description shall have to wait for my next mail.

Luv

Raj, Radhika and Avinash.

P.S. For Amamma : Avi has already started missing you and asking for Chapatti and "Cholai"

Not that he does not talk about everyone else