My London treat

We have discovered Premier Inn London City Aldgate, a clean, comfy hotel not far from two underground stations and the number 15 bus, perfect for our two day short break. Our first treat day was at the Waldorf Hotel, details and photos are in my previous post

The second day of my 'treat' visit began with a great breakfast......at Wetherspoons. Goodman's Field is a short walk from our hotel, just round the corner from the Tower of London. There is a certainty we love about Wetherspoons breakfast, wherever you are they serve good food, good coffee at a great price.

Our second day was a day of wandering and began with a visit to the Bank of England Museum. There is no charge to enter although you do have to go through airport style security.

Bank of England

It was a great building to look around with drawings and history of how the Bank began, grew and changed over years. Started in 1694 it was intetesting to see how money has changed including various techniques to prevent forgery.

A page from the first bank ledger
(behind secure glass)

'Old money' - I can only just remember this in use

Think big bank, think gold bullion! There were many displays of gold including a gold bar in a secure box that you could put your hand in and try to lift. No mean feat as each bar weighs 13kg and on the day of our visit one gold bar was worth nearly £500,000.

It's heavier than you think

It was such a great museum, having worked in finance I found it very interesting to see how our money system and coinage has changed.

After a stroll down Pall Mall our next stop was Berry Bros. and Rudd, a must visit when in London for any wine lover. We called into their new London store which is just round the corner from their Georgian shop in St James's Street.

Inside the store was a vast collection of wine and spirits including The King's Ginger, a ginger and brandy based liqueur that was specially commissioned for King Edward VII.

I loved this so of course a bottle has been added
to our home bar.

Berry Bros. and Rudd have three enomatic wine machines in their store serving wine samples. It's a superb way to try wines before buying with each 25ml serving costing from £1 to £25. We had a super time discovering a great Sancerre, Moscato d'Asti and Bordeaux.

Our enomatic card ready for our next visit

Our stroll to Leicester Square took us past many of London's high end stores including Fortnum and Mason. London is always a bustling place but we managed to find a table in All Bar One for dinner, accompanied by a complimentary, if elaborate, Birdcage Cocktail for my upcoming birthday.

Birdcage Cocktail 

And so to the highlight of the day and our main reason for our London stay ..... Les Mis Concert.

Queen's Theatre has now closed for a refurb and will reopen as the Sondheim Theatre. Les Miserables has therefore also closed, in fact the stage version from 1985 will be no more as when it reopens in the new theatre it will be as a revised production!

In the meantime Les Mis is in Concert at the adjoining Geilgud Theatre with stars Alfie Boe, Michael Ball, Matt Lucas, Katy Secombe and Carrie Hope Fletcher....

..... need I say any more ..... for me a must see!

Absolutely Amazing!

Front row in the Grand Circle I was lost in the world of Jean Val Jean. From the opening note in the jail to the final reprise of 'Do you hear the people sing' I was an emotional wreck, the music, the voices, the story, the characters, it completely overwhelms me.

Thank you Delfont Mackintosh Theatres for a superb concert. Thank you to all the performers who were outstanding. Thank you to the superb orchestra, especially the harpist.

Our city break to London was certainly a special trip and has certainly helped put the last two years behind me.

Huge thanks as always to my lovely Hubby ..... my treat was perfect, his thank you treat is still to come!