Week 88 in London

Week 88: 5 - 11 December 2016

After 88 weeks in London and countless adventures, sadly this was our last. LLLL

On Wednesday evening we went to Somerset House for ice skating. Prior to getting our skates on we went into Fortnum's Lodge, by renowned department store Fortnum and Mason, for indulgent hot chocolates. Unlike the year before at Hyde Park the ice was far less crowded and there was also a small practice rink, so we actually managed to refresh our skills enough to be able to "skate" without needing to clutch the walls for dear life.

Thursday marked a number of milestones - 21 months since having departed Australia, plus Brendan's birthday, his last day of UK employment, and work Christmas party. With most colleagues also being aware of Brendan's triple whammy, he made it through the day without paying for anything, and also received a classy monogrammed passport wallet as a farewell gift. Meanwhile, Roslyn went out for a farewell dinner with Mel.

A belated arrival, Suella finally received her birthday present.

Roslyn headed off to work for the final time on Friday, while Brendan faced the overwhelming task of trying to pack and just generally finalise our lives. A task that seemed all the more monumental by lingering intoxication and a subsequent hangover.

After logging off for the last time on Friday afternoon, Roslyn had her farewell party. Plenty of colleagues turned out, including some who she hadn't engaged with that much, testament to her presence around the office.

We rose on Saturday, Roslyn today being the one in a rough state, and continued with packing our last remaining belongings whilst also trying to evenly distribute the weight between our bags. 

At 1pm we met our driver, Sam, and Mini Cooper, Lulu, from smallcarBIGCITY at St James's Park for an afternoon tour zipping through the streets of central London. Although we'd seen it all before, we requested to be taken on a touristy route so we could see all the major sights for one last time.

Past Westminster Abbey, up The Mall, Buckingham Palace, through the streets of Mayfair, Piccadilly Circus, past Trafalgar Square and into the very narrow and easily missable Craig's Court. The history behind Craig's Court was most interesting; we learnt that when the small cul de sac was originally created it was at the northern tip of the then royal residence, Whitehall Palace. Whitehall Palace was all but destroyed by fire in 1698, however William Stanhope, 1st Earl of Harrington, thought that the palace would be rebuilt and seized an opportunity to purchase what he thought was a piece of prime land in Craig’s Court, assuming that the royals would soon be his neighbours. He constructed the grand Harrington House, however unluckily for him, the royals never returned instead moving westward to St James’s Palace (and many years later onto Buckingham Palace).

When Arthur Onslow, the Speaker of the House of Commons, attempted to visit William Stanhope he arrived in a large horse drawn carriage. The carriage was too wide to fit down the narrow laneway and became stuck. In the end, an embarrassed and infuriated Onslow had to be cut out of the roof of the carriage. Back in parliament, he soon passed a law that all households must have kerbstones outside to mark the width of the road, thereby evolving into the formalised pavements we see everywhere today.

Today, Harrington House and most of the other buildings in Craig’s Court unglamorously house a telephone exchange and, reportedly, an entry/exit point to a network of secret tunnels.

Later we were taken to another hidden surprise, the Leake Street tunnel near Waterloo Station. Sam told us that the tunnel has been closed to vehicular traffic since Eurostar services were relocated from Waterloo in 2007 and since then has become a legal graffiti area. Sam gave us a set of pens, and we added our own message to the colour-laden walls.

Following a final lap over Westminster Bridge and past the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben and Westminster Abbey, our driving tour of the city concluded. :(

Going out in style, the ritzy five star hotel in Mayfair, The Langham, hosted us for afternoon tea at 5:30pm. Festive egg nog, gourmet finger sandwiches, scones and an assortment of intricately decorated Christmas pastries kept us well fed whilst enjoying the glitzy surroundings.

Once afternoon tea had ended it was time to stroll back outside, in the rain, and return to our flat for a final farewell and to collect our belongings. Loading nearly two years worth of our life into the back of an Uber, we headed to the station and boarded the train bound for Gatwick Airport.

Being unsure as to how close to the weight limits our luggage was, we headed inside where the check in desk was closed however a lonely baggage handler was sat. We then proceeded to weigh each bag, determining which items of clothing were the heaviest and that we would wear the next day, and discarding anything that wasn’t vital to make it to Australia.

Once we’d sorted that out, it was over to the Premier Inn for our final night in London.

Highlights for the week:

- Ice skating at Somerset House

- Brendan's birthday

- Brendan's Christmas party/final day at work

- Roslyn at dinner with Mel

- Suella received her birthday present

- Roslyn farewell party

- Mini Cooper tour of London with smallcarBIGCITY 

- Craig’s Court

- Leake Street tunnel

- Afternoon tea at The Langham

- Moved out of our flat LLLL