London Docklands

Aug 24th - Aug 26th 2024

Saturday 24th August 2024

Home to London

Early start and we were both up and about by 06:30. We’d figured that the Bank Holiday traffic would be a nightmare so decided to make an early start.

Left home just after 09:00 and drove over to pick up Stuart via Woburn. Weather was a bit rubbish but then - to be expected for a Bank Holiday I guess. Once we’d picked him up we headed off down the M1 fully expecting long delays both there and on the M25. Completely simple journey. No delays! The M25 had the 50mph average speed cameras for most of the journey but maybe that kept things running.

Arrived at West India Quay around 11:30 and parked in the car park opposite the hotel. I’d booked from 11:30 so we were covered. We dashed in the rain across to the hotel and were met by the very friendly concierge we’d met last time. His wife uses a wheelchair so he was very helpful. He took us to reception and we got checked in. Obviously our rooms weren’t ready but they gave us a key for the Club Lounge so we settled in there for a while with Pepsi Max and a coffee.

Very gloomy weather over London so we decided to stay local for lunch. I’d fancied going to sit outside Browns next to the hotel like we’d done on the Foo Fighters trip but the weather wasn’t playing ball. Thought we’d see how packed Browns was inside at about 12:30 - and it was pretty deserted. No trouble finding us a table. A very nice meal indeed.

Headed back to the Club Lounge after lunch via reception to see if our rooms were ready. Ours was - but Stuart still had a wait. Met Matt at reception and spent the rest of the afternoon in the lounge catching up. I took Nikki up to 811 at around 15:30 for a much needed nap and then rejoined the chaps in the lounge. 

The nibbles opened at 17:30 so I went and got Nikki just before. We then sat on our sofas and watched the lounge fill up to well beyond capacity. It’s amazing how quickly it turns into a bear garden! Obviously we got involved and had a very nice pre-theatre dinner!

By about 18:15 it was time to go towards the theatre to see Mrs Doubtfire. We walked across to the Elizabeth Line just around the corner in Canary Wharf. One of the 2 lifts was out of service - and the other was being controlled - so we had to press the information button and they sent it up. Very easy on the Lizzie Line. Nice area for the wheelchair and just four stops to Tottenham Court Road.

By this time the rain had stopped so it was about a 10 minute walk from the station to the Shaftesbury Theatre. We were there quite early but they spotted the wheelchair and a very friendly chap called Geraldo came to help us. The Shaftesbury Theatre has a reasonably recently installed lift down to the stalls meaning that whole area, plus the bar, are accessible. Well done them! We’d booked L4 & L5 with Stuart and Matt in the M row behind us for leg room. Geraldo got us settled and took the wheelchair away for safe-keeping.

The show started after about 30 mins. I knew it would be like the film - but didn’t know what to expect. The chap playing the lead - Gabriel Vick - was outstanding. Not so much the triple-threat - more like  the octuple-threat. He had to sing, dance, do impressions, puppeteer, ventriloquist and so on. Lots of ‘in’ jokes for the audience. Absolutely superb.

At the end of the first half, Nikki’s back had started to play up as the seats weren’t that comfortable for her. I went and got the wheelchair thinking she’d be more comfortable in that. Sadly Geraldo came and said there wasn’t space there for the chair so I was quite happy saying we’d head off and see Stuart and Matt at breakfast. Geraldo wouldn’t hear of it and found a place in the circle where we could put the chair and have a seat next to it for me. So we saw the second half from another vantage point!

Met Stuart & Matt in the foyer after the show and we all felt like a McFlurry so we found a McDonalds right opposite Tottenham Court Road Station. Very crowded - though Matt said not as bad as pre-pandemic. After that it was back on the Lizzie Line to Canary Wharf and hitting the hay by 23:30.

Saturday 25th August 2024

London

Woke up just after 08:00 which is very late for me. Such a good night’s sleep. No noise at all. Got dressed and went down to breakfast for 08:45. They put us on a table right by the omelette chef so that was good!

Matt came first followed by Stuart and we spent a very enjoyable hour grazing through all the Marriott breakfast offerings - not insubstantial.

I went back to the room for a shower and we reconvened in the Club Lounge at 10:30 for a morning meeting. I’d brought a load of gift vouchers for restaurants like Zizzi, Pizza Express etc so we were working out where each of those was. Stuart’s suggestion was the Bella Pasta in Leicester Square - all our old stomping grounds.

Went down to Tottenham Court Road on the Lizzie Line again and Matt knew the way so we walked for about 10 minutes - stopping in every vape shop on the way to attempt (and fail) to replenish my supply - before getting to Leicester Square. Very busy. We found the Bella Pasta at the top end of the square and agreed to eat outside. As we were the only ones at that point we had our pick of the tables so got one right on the square itself. Very helpful server and very decent lunch watching the world go by. Lots of people heading to carnival and lots of tourists gawping at Leicester Square.

After lunch we went around the corner to the Coldstone Creamery - first visited by us in Dubai in 2010 and now finally open in the UK. Sadly they didn’t have all the ice-cream flavours but we certainly made-do! I had chocolate and Kit-Kat!

After a brief comfort break in the Vue Cinema Stuart suggested that we could return to Canary Wharf on one of the river boats. Matt led the way and we walked down to Embankment via Charring Cross - parts of London I’ve never actually seen before!

Found the dock and had to wait for about 30 mins for the next boat. We were first on thanks to some clever manoeuvres on our part. Got seats right at the front. We had to go up-river for a couple of stops at Westminster and the London Eye before turning and heading east. An incredible number of Jewish people got on at one stop complete with ringlets, hats etc and of all ages. And at the next stop it seemed to be a Sikh convention! We were the UN of river boats.

We got off at the Canary Wharf stop and found a lift that took us up to street level on Westferry Circus before walking down West India Avenue and noticing a steep side street called Willoughby Passage that opened out onto West India Quay.

Now it was really time for some Club Lounge action. Matt was only staying for one night so had technically checked out by this point but as the lounge was deserted we reclaimed our sofas and remained there in Pepsi Max heaven for a good few hours. Much quieter than yesterday so that when the food arrived at 17:30 there wasn’t so much of a scramble. I nipped up to the room for something and noticed the lounge attendant was checking people’s room numbers before letting them in - luckily Matt was already in so we escaped censure!

We grazed our way through Happy (two) Hour(s) until Matt had to make his excuses to get home in time for some sleep ahead of an early shift on BH Monday morning. Decided we’d go into Canada Square for a wander and bade him farewell at the Lizzie Line for his trek back to West London.

Not that we in any way needed it - but we ended up in Burger King stuffing our stupid faces. Oh well - we are on holiday! After that it was a stroll back to the hotel and bed!

Monday 26th August 2024

London to Home

Again - a fabulous night’s sleep. I thought with all the food we’d eaten I’d be up early - but no! Met Stuart for breakfast at 08:45 on what I’ve now decided is the best table in the house. Nice view on one side, equidistant from the 2 halves of the buffet and near the door which has a nice breeze. Another hour spent grazing.

Back up for a shower before meeting in the Club Lounge at 10:15. We sat there for a good hour refreshing ourselves with the free libations and then we set off for Westfield Stratford via the DLR. Nikki wanted an Ecco shop for some shoes and I’d done my research and worked out it was next to M&S. Sadly when we got there it became apparent that my research was for Westfield Shepherd’s Bush and NOT Stratford. Oh well. We saw loads of people heading for the Notting Hill Carnival so that was nice - but no shoes.

Stuart had a half-hearted look around Primark but didn’t buy anything so we voted to head for the M&S Foodhall and get some lunch to take back to the Club Lounge. This was successfully ticked off - despite some random chap screaming his head off when we got to the tills. Not at us, I hasten to add - just generally.

Back on the DLR and back to the Club Lounge. Very nice lunch indeed and by 13:15 it was time to bid Stuart farewell and go back to the room to pack and head home.

We’d arranged a 14:00 check-out so no rush. I took the case down to the concierge and walked over to get the car. I’d booked the parking up to 11:30 so was 2 hours over my slot but the chap at the window kindly just waived the extra charge. Parked outside the hotel and went up for Nikki and set off home.

Less than half a mile from the hotel Nikki spotted a fire in a high-rise apartment which looked horrendous. I briefly thought about ringing the Fire Service but I had no idea where we were or what the road was called so I thought I’d be pretty useless. We were reassured seeing emergency vehicles heading that way - and it was on LBC by the next bulletin. Thankfully nobody injured.

As it was Bank Holiday Monday I was expecting the traffic to be gnarly but the journey couldn’t have been easier. Came off the M25 at the A41 and came home via Aylesbury.

We will certainly use that Marriott again - the transport links are amazing - and there’s now talk of a Spring/Summer 2025 trip to do London as tourists and see all the sights.