London Oct 2012

I have spent the past couple of days in London with my family. It is becoming a bit of a tradition to do London in the autumn half term - there is just so much to see and visit in London. We are always trying to finetune exactly what we are going to visit and when so that we don't waste too much time travelling.

When we arrived, I took my boys straight to Chinatown, which they were a little unimpressed with. I think it looks much better at night with the chinese lanterns lit. Then we wandered through Leicester Square, where the swiss clock was chiming. Does anyone remember the Swiss Centre that was in Leicester Square? It is now M&M world which is a big pity. From there we walked through to Covent Garden. They were so pleased to find Battersea Pie on the lower level of the apple market (what is it with boys and pies!); they have a good range of pies (and of course mash)!. I spotted the Moomin shop which we popped into and popped out of straight after I looked at the prices. I would have loved to have bought something for my husband as he loved the Moomins as a child. I told my boys that their Dad was raised on Moomins, and Fred said "are Grandma and Grandad moomins?".

We met with my husband in the evening and all went to Davenports Magic Shop in Charing Cross underground as we had tickets for Tea with a Magician. The theatre itself only seated 20-30 people and the magic show was excellent and involved many of the audience. I don't want to spoil it for anyone, but the magician's sleight of hand was fantastic. I would definitely revisit. 

My children nestled between the paws of a Trafalgar Square lion.

The following morning we walked from Southwark to the Imperial War Museum in Lambeth. They are undergoing renovations so the exhibits are reduced, but our primary aim was to look at my husband's Grandfathers documents that are in the archive. The box held photographs and some personal diaries which were absolutely fascinating. Again, this is something that we will go back and have a longer look at. Next year, the IWM is closed for approximately six months, so now is the time to visit.

Imperial War Museum, Lambeth

We also squeezed in a quick visit to the Wellcome Museum in Euston Square which is a medical museum with some very unusual artefacts.

Such a great couple of days. I have added lots of links for the curious!

Love Mrs Jones x

We stayed at the Premier Inn, Southwark - very convienient for Tate Modern and the whole South Bank and just two or three tube stops from Trafalgar square.