Sunday was the day, London was the place and Laughing was on the menu!!
I must in part thank Lynne for without her I would not have had the opportunity to go to London to see the one and only Peter Kay.
I met Emily at the ferry just after 12o'clock on Sunday afternoon and after a lift from Jay we boarded the train from Havant station London bound for Waterloo. The journey was very smooth and the time past just as quickly as the view outside. Thankfully the shock from the cost of the ticket subsided rather swiftly and did not ruin the trip, but I must say train companies these days certainly know how to mug you off!!!
We arrived at Waterloo just after 2pm and headed for the underground. I will admit I was a little apprehensive as I have only ever once been on the London Underground but having conquered the Subway in New York this was going to be easy. Plus to aid our quest Emily was armed with an app of the lines on her Iphone, we therefore had to be on to a winner. So we purchased our all day rail cards and headed confidently(ish) to the Northern Line. We hadn't travelled more than two stops when were notified by the tannoy that the Northern Line was closed. God Damn it planned scuppered at the first. So after consulting the map we headed off in search of the next best option to get us from Charring Cross to Kings Cross. Eventually after multiple changes we made it. However to add further confusion to the issue the entrance that Emily knew was closed and we ended up on the other side of the station feeling rather bemused and slightly lost, not helped by my Iphone who was trying to make us go the wrong way. Finally we managed to get round to the front of the station and things started to become familiar to Emily.
It didn't take too long to get to the hotel, which I will admit certainly wasn't the Ritz but was a step or two up from the hostel in New York, we go checked in and headed to the room for a fast change and refresh before heading back to train station to get to Covent Garden as we had arranged to meet Emily's friends Paul and Jack.
After meeting them we plotted a course to Nandos and once again my Iphone tried to get us lost, but with some quick thinking we managed to work out where we needed to be. Nandos Covent Garden is far nicer than Nandos Gunwharf Quays, and while I don't want to dis my regular eating establishment the truth must be heard. The food was good, the service was fast and the company was very funny. After consuming scrummy Nandos we headed back through Covent Garden to the Porterhouse for a drink.
I have to say this pub was great. It was all dark and mysterious. It is the type of place you could lose a day in. We chatted for an hour of so about all kinds of things and had a good laugh. Then sadly it was time to say goodbye and we left the boys to walk down to Leicester Square to again hop on the tube to the O2.
The journey didn't take long at all when we got there it was packed (not surprisingly). We decided to have another cider and nearly fainted to find that a small bottle of brothers cost over £4. You can get 3 pint bottles for £5 in adsa!! What a rip off!! We found out seats which were level 4 row R seats 890 and 891, needless to say very high up indeed but thankfully were right over the stage we had a pretty good view. The highlights of the show for me were Mums cooking roast dinners, the thick table (let the thick see the table), Sky Plus and the double shovel at the end.
Due to the high volume of people in the O2 queueing for the tube was a little longer than normal but it wasn't too bad and we were still able to swing by Maccy D's on the way back to the hotel for supper. We did almost get lost on the way back as we missed the turning but managed to get back on track. By this point though due to all the working my feet were killing me and I now have a number of blisters to show for me weekend in the big smoke.
Monday morning arrived with a bit of a bang, I dont understand why hotels say check out is at 12 and then cleaners start banging on your door at 9.30. If you know the room is occupied wait until after 12 before you start knocking, this interruption did not go down well and I think they might have realised when I snapped "WHAT" as I answered the door. She beat a hasty retreat and then at 11.30 someone else came back with the same agenda, by this time we were up and ready so decided to depart and head back to Waterloo to go for lunch.
We walked from Waterloo Station round to the Embankment and went to Giraffe for lunch. The food was lush and once again we remarked how much nice the establishment was to the one in Gunwharf. We had lunch and caught the train back to Portsmouth. By the time I walked home from the ferry I was shattered and god did my legs hurt.
I am now truly convinced that when Muller did the adverts for their yogurts and explained the pleasure / pain theory they may have been on to something because for all the pleasure I got from the laughing and the company I suffered with the pain from the walking.
So that is the second comedian of the year now, bring on John Bishop and Lee Evans if they are anywhere near as funny as Peter Kay 2011 is going to be an absolute scream!!
xoxo
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