We went down to breakfast early and it did not dissapoint. While I completely forgot to take any pictures due to how hungry I was the choices were amazing and it was easily one of the best breakfasts I have had in a hotel.

While our daughter had been to London before, she was very young when we last went so a day in town was a must for this trip. We had prebooked a same day off peak return from Reading to London Paddington prior to our arrival. Parking was a breeze and we headed over to the platform for our direct train into London.

Saw this little beauty in the parking lot at the train station. Would not be the last Triumph we saw on this trip. I am in the market for a good condition red Spitfire if anyone knows of a good lead.



Start of what turned out to be a gorgeous day in London.



We only ended up waiting about 10 minutes for the very very full train to arrive.



The train was packed when it pulled into the station. We had to wander for a few cars but eventually found 3 seats in relatively the same area. After a quick 35 minute trip we arrived at London Paddington. Our rail tickets also included unlimited use on London Public transit in zones 1 - 6 which made getting around town very easy. We made our way over to the underground station for a trip on the circle line down to the Thames.





We stopped at Kings cross as my daughter wanted to see the Harry Potter stuff there. The line for a picture at Platform 9 3/4 was absolutely looney so she opted for a pair of earings in the Harry Potter store. Even at 10 am on a Sunday morning the place was packed!



We got back on the circle line and made our way down to the waterfront. This was the first pub sign we saw though sadly they were not yet open for business.







We did eventually find a pub that was open and stopped in for a quick snack and a drink.



Youngs never dissapoints in my opinion and the beer went down very smoothly. The Clarence was a great little pub and filled up very quickly after we sat down.



A quick shot at Trafalgar Square after our drink.



Fortnum and Mason is one of our favourite stores. We stop in every time we are in London and this trip was no exception. But boy oh boy have the prices gone up. It is not difficult to spend money in this store.



We focussed in on the food area and bought some Marmalade for a friend watching our place while we are gone, some cookies and some very hot horseradish. All in all a good visit.



Our daughter wanted to see Harrods as well and we decided to walk over. This was not my first time seeing the Bomber Command memorial but I think it is one of the nicer memorials. It was very well done.







A few other gorgeous shots of London





Loved the name of this place. Eventhough it was not in the best location (very busy intersection) we decided to stop in for another drink.



My daughter loved the living wall by the bar.



And I really enjoyed this beer. Favourite up to this point of the trip by a mile.









Happened upon a Shepherd Neame pub. This is by far my favourite brand of beer in the UK and we have been down to Kent where it is brewed a few times. Did the brewery tour on our last trip however with COVID just about to kick off the tour was shorter than normal. It is definetly on the list to visit again at some point in the future.



I went with a pint of the master brew this time. As usual it did not dissapoint.



At this point we were all hungry and we decided to grab some food before catching the train back to Reading. We couldnt really decide on what we all wanted but finally decided on sushi. Conveniently there was a sushi place not too far from the pub with good reviews. The food was outstanding.

I had a bao bun to start. Simple flavours but done very well. I would get this again.



My wife got the Gyoza. Also very well done.



My travelling companions both went with an order of the california rolls. While they eat sushi, they dont really eat anything with raw fish. They both finished the plate very quickly so I can only assume that they tasted great.



Unlike them, I only like sushi with raw fish so I had some spicy salmon and two salmon nigiri. Both were really good.



It was a short tube right back to Paddinton where we grabbed the train back to Reading. The train on the way back was just as full as it was on the way out. I think I dozed a bit on the trip back as it seemed to go by very quickly. After a quick drive we were back in the hotel and crashed after a long day of touring around.

Next up, an unscheduled trip to Wrexham.