A weekend in London, getting there!

Black Lion Guesthouse and fabulous Victorian pub!

We try to visit our son in London at least once a year, it really should be more than that though. However, we have been very lucky and have been able to see him at home, in Paris and in Edinburgh already this year, so this weekend feels like icing on the cake.  With the exception of the fact that my sore knee is still sore and I have been so ill working up to the weekend, I would have happily canceled it since I thought I had bronchitis.  The only thing that stopped me was not being able to get reimbursed for our hotel!  (and I really miss him and did not want to risk not seeing him in London for how many more months!)

I use thetrainline.com to get decently priced tickets, but it takes some planning ahead. For example, I went through the trainline in August to get put on a waiting list for when the lesser priced tickets are released 12 weeks before the travel date! And true to form, we got great prices and were able to travel  by train for reasonable prices.  I also book our hotel through Booking.com and most times, can get a refundable hotel just in case plans change.  This refundable option expires before the actual arrival date and that was what I was up against this time, luckily as it turned out!

For visiting our son though, we always stay at the Black Lion Guesthouse because it is so close to where he lives, and close to any public transport we need to use for our activities.  To be honest, this is not our favourite hotel, there are a massive amount of steep stairs to get to the rooms and it is in need of modernisation. But then, is it?  I love how absolutely Victorian this hotel feels and any changes will ruin that.  And the price is right!  So we are very loyal customers to this guesthouse!

Train travel is usually very calming and relaxing and then you arrive. But not this particular trip!  Well, not the last 2 hours or so!

Just as I was thinking about organising myself and getting ready to arrive in London Euston station in about an hour, there was an announcement that all train services in and out of London were stopped due to a trespasser on the line around Wembley.  At first, there was the chance we would be delayed about half an hour and that then became over an hour.  Virgin trains do have great compensation for delays:  50% if over 1/2 an hour and 100% if an hour or more. So we will have to submit our claim to get our 100% refund.  (won't be much since we got discounted tickets though!) They also came through and gave us all a bottle of water!  We were lucky too, some trains had all their electrics turned off, including lights and air conditioning. We had all that, just no movement!

We finally arrived at our destination station and I almost ran right into my son as he stood waiting for us. I was so tired I had not even looked up at who the man was who was blocking my way!  Nice surprise!

All we had energy for was to stop at Spicy Basil to grab our regular Pad Thai. This is one of the required meals we have to eat whenever we visit!  So nice it was on our way from the train station to the hotel because I was done and couldn't have walked any further.  Their Pad Thai is delicious and was just what the doctor ordered tonight since we were tired and very hungry.

The Black Lion was fab too.  We asked our son to drop in on his way from work and explain our delay. They phoned me and assured me someone would be there until midnight to make sure we were let in.

Not the best start, but comfort food and a welcome from our son at the station and also at our home from home in Kilburn, plus, well, just being with our son....yes, it was a good start!