London

Dec 30th 2024 - Jan 1st 2025

Monday 30th December 2024

Home to Heathrow

Had a quiet start to the day and left home just after 10:00 to pick up Stuart. Very uneventful journey. We went through Woburn but there were hardly any deer around.

Got to Flitwick at 11:00 and got loaded up for the journey - we’re at the stage now where the car is absolutely packed - even for a quick 2 nighter. Used to be a tiny case!

We headed down the M1 - had a slightly senior moment at the junction with the M1 and M25. I was convinced we were actually at the junction of the M25 and M4 and therefore needed to go left for Heathrow. Luckily I was argued out of going left on the M25 towards Essex! Comes to us all I guess!

We decided to go to a Burger King for our lunch as we were quite early for check in. Found one on a retail park in Feltham. Very nice Veggie Royale but the service was a bit confused. We thought it was quiet when we went in but they seemed dazed to have customers.

Got to the Staybridge Suites on Bath Road at around 13:30 and they let us check in early. We were in room 128. Very nice room but the corridor outside looked like a bit of a war zone. Seems like they’d had a leak somewhere as the dehumidifier in the corridor was putting in quite a shift. Couldn’t hear it in the room though.

We unpacked - mainly putting Pepsi Max in the fridge - and then Stuart joined us for our annual Christmas presents tradition followed by some research on YouTube into our Florida hotels before a bit of down time.

Met up in the downstairs area for 18:00 and Matt joined us shortly after. Last year we’d brought some cocktails in a can for Matt and we’d gone next door to the Holiday Inn bar where we got busted for drinking his cocktails! This year we played it safe. Very enjoyable time talking about the cruise and having a general catch up on the sofas.

Left around 19:10 for the trip down to Langley for the Toby Carvery. Didn’t get the booth we had last year - instead we were over by the windows at the front. Very nice carvery though - even went back for seconds. Matt was on the early turn for New Year’s Eve so we dropped him back at Hounslow West Tube Station before returning to the Staybridge.

We had coffee on the sofas before retiring around 22:00

Tuesday 31st December 2024

Heathrow

Not the best night’s sleep in the world. Bed is comfortable but a bit on the small size. Apparently I slapped Nikki a few times while turning over in the night. 

Woke up around 07:00 and had a mooch around the room and a watch of some TV before going down for breakfast at 08:45. Absolute bear garden. No spare tables. Stuart joined us a few minutes later and made his displeasure known! Tomorrow they will reserve a table for us. Breakfast itself wasn’t up to much but struggled through a bagel with cream cheese and tomato.

Back up for a shower and change before hitting the open roads of West London at around 10:00. We had a number of jobs to do and we thought we tackle the supermarket bit of our to-do list in alphabetical order - so we started with Asda in Hayes. No luck in the George section apart from a few white polo shirts for the cruise but got a few food bits and pieces for our big New Year’s Eve party.

Next up was Tesco - also in Hayes. No luck in the F&F section but again a couple of food bits. Had a break in the coffee shop and worked out what was happening next. I was after a new fan so we tied Lidl and Home Bargains but obviously the demand for fans in December is not at its highest I suppose.

Last year we’d discovered the fab restaurant at the top of the Courtyard by Marriott on the Bath Road so we headed there for lunch. When we’d visited previously the room had an outside balcony - amazingly, this year the balcony has been made into a seating area with windows.

We got a table overlooking the landing planes at Heathrow on 27R - even more amazingly they had tomato soup - and to cap it off they had Pepsi Max. What a result. We lingered there with soup, bread, chips and drinks for a good couple of hours watching the planes land - even an A380 from Dubai just before we left.

After that it was mid-afternoon so back to the hotel. Nikki was dropped off in the room for a nap while I went back down to the car as I’d left my phone in there - but without the car keys. So back up and down again - and it’s a not insubstantial walk! 

Joined Stuart on the sofas for some coffee and before I could sit down a call from my consultant with some good news. Obviously spreading good news on the last day of the year is an appreciated thing! Stayed around an hour before going up to the room.

Woke Nikki and we sat and watched some Big Bang Theory before a shower and heading back down for 18:00 to meet up with Matthew. A very enjoyable hour on the sofas before the long journey across the road to the Three Magpies for dinner. When I’d booked on the Greene King app it had somehow booked it as a Festive Menu meaning I had to pay a £20 deposit. Great to arrive there and to be shown to the only table set out with Christmas decorations, Christmas crackers etc etc!! Very nice meal though and got chatting to a chap who was flying back to Las Vegas.

After dinner we drove to drop off Matt who was again on the early turn for New Year’s Day - and then back to the hotel where the wind had really picked up. Met back in our room and watched the TV as Paris started 2025 with a very impressive fireworks display. And then it was time for London. Amazing display as always.

By about 00:30 we were flagging and had eaten hardly any of our party food so we all gave up and went to bed!

Wednesday 1st January 2025

Home to Heathrow

Found it really hard to drop off but got some sleep. Best sleep came when Nikki went to make coffee and I was out for the count for about 10 mins but felt like forever! 

We’d agreed 09:15 for breakfast and when we arrived they had reserved us a table so we had a much more pleasant breakfast than yesterday. Still really crowded though and much pushing and shoving to get anywhere.

When we checked in I’d used a luggage cart to get everything to the room and had ‘forgotten’ to return it - so it was a simple job getting cases, stroller, presents, most of our party food etc down to the car.

We planned for an 11:00 departure as the weather was getting worse. Very straight-forward journey home. We stopped off at Tesco in Flitwick for milk, bread etc and then dropped Stuart off.

Came home via Woburn and saw a line of deer crossing the road! Hardly any traffic on the roads and we were home by 12:50.

I return to my mantra though - enjoyable as that was - I would like a New Year’s Eve in the warm somewhere.