1st of July – LONDON

Time went so fast and before I knew it the day to travel arrived. Why is it that when you have to leave you find the garden exceptionally beautiful, the colors were so vibrant in the morning sunlight, the roses smelt amazing,the water droplets glistened on the leaves of the lady’s mantelle( Alchemilla Mollis). I couldn’t say good bye to Kisroka the fox, he was nowhere to be found. Took us an hour to get to the airport, checking in was smooth thanks to the business class tickets courtesy of Abdullatif. Though the seats are the same as in the economy must admit that I do enjoy not having to stand in line and all the other privileges that come with it.

Flying was pleasant, service was bit slow but it was lovely to fly with British airways… Just like the old days…
Getting the luggage, going through passport control, getting into a taxi was the easy part. Reaching the hotel however was pure torture. The reason is that today was the hottest day ever recorded in history, 35C. In a cab with no aircondition( after all you never need it here-the taxi driver told me) getting through the afternoon traffic wasn’t for the faint hearted. We did count the minutes with my son, Mishal .

Mondrian, the name of the hotel we are staying at. Apparently they have a policy of not advertising themselves. Just opened 9 months ago on the South Bank of the Thames. Ultramodern with a touch of bohemian feel. I do love the copper plated design element( part ceiling, part sculpture), the 3D pictures in the elevators( my son’s favorite is the astronaut holding a dog), and it has a fresh green scent. We booked a suite, father of my son found it too small so he took another room for himself. Not cheap, over 700£/night and breakfast is not included. Has a lovely balcony overlooking the river.

We did go out immediately,walked on the bank. Something new, something different. There was a time when we were here almost every 2-3 months, but we always stayed in Kensington,probably never even crossed the river. But with so many constructions going on here it must be a very popular and expensive area of London.

Loved the street food vendors, lots of cars,buses turned into street food restaurants, favorite was a red double decker selling frozen yogurt.
The atmosphere is amazing, the crowds,the people were so happy and relaxed…it felt like weekend even though it was a Wednesday evening.

Walked past the London Eye, we decided not to get on it, ex husband is afraid of heights,son as well and I am not particularly keen on being 100 meters above the ground in a glass capsule. Tried it in Budapest, was more than enough.
For dinner we picked Friday’s for our son.
The reason is as I mentioned it before that we used to come to London a lot in the 90’s and got married here as well in 95.
Mishal is at that age when he wants to find out where he came from,how did his parents meet and how did he come about. The last time we’ vet been there was in 98, and trust me, nothing changed.
That’s one thing I love about London.
Stability…if you go to a restaurant that has been there for a while, you will find it in 5-10-15 years, exactly the same. Nothing ever changes… Except me.
Back in the hotel we decided to have a glass of wine, wanted to enjoy a bit of fresh air sitting outside but we were reminded again how strictly they follow the rules. It was past 10, and after 10.30 pm they cannot serve people outside.
We did have our drink, in the Den, which is in between the bar and the restaurant. An informal place with comfy huge sofas and beautiful view of the lights of the city.
Did forget to mention the M&M shop.
I am no fan of this sweet ,don’t normally let my son eat it but I found it amazing.
The variety of colors almost made me rush to them, found turquoise M&Ms!!!
We ended up buying 3lb . I dutifully protested against it, but in the hotel room when nobody looked I picked out the brown chocolate coated nuts, after all brown ones don’t have any artificial colors in them, right?