You might recall that I used to make an annual trip to London that was organised by one of my former work colleagues. Sadly last year’s trip was the final one but another excuse to travel to London at the same time of year arose. We were meeting up for an evening meal with family members to celebrate a young lady’s qualification for her degree as an accountant. We drove to Wolverhampton and caught a train to London. We had hoped to have tea and a bacon sandwich but they had sold out of bacon sandwiches because the train had come from Edinburgh.

During the journey we looked up things to and decided to visit Apsley House which was the home of the 1st Duke of Wellington and currently houses his collections. Due to the lack of food on the train we planned to stop for lunch on the way to Apsley House. The first place we tried had about an hours delay for food. This didn’t fit with our plans so we carried on walking and arrived at Apsley House without finding anywhere else that sold food. This led to a long walk before we found any food outlets. As we were walking it had started to rain quite heavily so I was unable to take photographs because of juggling my handbag and umbrella. By now it was getting past lunchtime and nearer to the evening meal so I elected to have a Krispy Kreme doughnut.

After eating we made our way back to Apsley House where we enjoyed the picture galleries and collections. By the time we had finished it was time to make our way to the restaurant; Madison. This venue had been chosen for its roof top views over St Paul’s Cathedral and the city. We arrived at the appointed time and found that all the other guests apart from the main party had arrived. We waited and waited and some of us began to wonder if we would be able to dine there because it is a restaurant that books time slots rather than allowing you to have a table for the night. Eventually the missing people arrived and a good evening was had by all.

All too soon it was time for us to leave in order to catch our train back. The train was waiting on the platform when we arrived, allowing us to get straight on. It was a good job we had pre booked and reserved seats because the train was packed. Once the train had set off Mr C went to the buffet carriage to get drinks. When he returned he paused briefly by his seat before walking off into the next carriage, much to my amusement and also of the people who were sitting opposite. One gentleman jokingly asked if I had done something to upset him to which I replied, ‘I don’t think so’. A little later the same gentleman said, ‘He’s back’ as Mr C re-emerged into our carriage and made his way back to his seat. The rest of the journey ran smoothly without any further incident.