Travel: London - Florence Nightingale Museum, IWM, National Gallery

Millennium Wheel

A late January weekend break to London that promised to be wet and stormy, and turned out beautifully. My husband was working in London on the Friday but we had tickets to see Inside Number 9 at the Wyndham Theatre on the Saturday so we made a little break of it.

Whilst he was working, I took myself off to the Florence Nightingale Museum, which is in the basement of St Thomas Hospital. It is a small, but interesting museum and made more so by the fact that I went in at the same time as a primary school trip. They had their very own Florence Nightingale give them a very engaging talk, which I was earwigging in on. 

Florence Nightingale’s medical chest

In my opinion, the entrance fee of £12 (Jan 2025) is a little steep for a visit that you would be hard pushed to make last longer than an hour. However, you can return again for free within a year.

Covid Memorial Wall

From there, I walked to the Covid Memorial Wall on the South bank, very near St Thomas. It is a long stretch of painted hearts to represent and remember those who lost their lives to Covid. Very moving.

Imperial War Museum, London

And just, because I was enjoying the fresh air, I walked on to the Imperial War Museum. I have visited a couple of times in the past so I didn't feel the need to see it all. However, it felt like it had been refreshed since my last visit and was again very informative. I always find the personal stories more relatable than the weapons and mechanics of war, and there are plenty of these stories from all people of all nationalities. The Imperial War Museum is free entry.

Sea Containers

Sea Containers

Me at the Rooftop bar of the Sea Containers. Yes it was too cold not to be wearing a coat!

Following a quick stop at Foyles (where I bought more books I do not need), I returned to the hotel for a brief rest (and read) before we headed out for the evening. We had a table booked at the wonderful Sea Containers, such a quirky place. My husband had the largest pork chop I have ever seen. We ate and drank too much, before heading up to the rooftop bar - there is also a hotel - for another drink (that we really did not need). The views were amazing.

Walking back along the South Bank, we were trying to spot the bench where the guy was shot at the very beginning of Black Doves. 

National Gallery

Gaugin, National Gallery

The following day, we did a spot of shopping around Covent Garden, before heading off to the National Gallery. Luckily, I had booked tickets the day before. Although it is free entry, the queues are horrendous (which we found out the last time we tried to visit) so booking ahead allows you to skip the queues. Inside, it was particularly busy and there were a couple of cagey looking characters in there that were definitely not in there looking at art! I do love visiting art galleries, but my tastes are generally a bit more modern than the collections at the National Gallery.

Big Ben

Houses of Parliament

Inside No 9 was absolutely brilliant - in fact, much better than I thought it would be. The Wyndham Theatre is pretty small and intimate and was perfect. I think this is only showing until around April 2025.

For our second night in London, my husband treated us to this lovely hotel: Royal Horseguards.  It was a lot posher than I am used to, and I loved it!

Love 

Mrs Jones x