Mystery Trip!!

Today we got up at silly o'clock  and the moon was still out!

We went to the bus stop down the road and apparently we were Going Somewhere!!

We got a National Express coach!!!  Andrea said that because the trains were on strike today, she didn't know how long it would take to get to where we were going.

That blue thing is the Royal Pavillion!

We all had a snooze because we were all tired but we woke up at Gatwick Airport!

We're not getting off here though!

Then it started getting lighter outside but it was foggy too!

It's pretty though...

We started getting peckish after a while so we had a Panno Shoko Lah!  We love them!

WE'RE IN LONDON!!!

We're going over the Thames!  Look!

I tied one of my CDs to the chair in front - we were told by the driver that because of so much traffic because the trains were on strike, we were 40 minutes late!

We used the facilities at the coach station and left them another CD!

And then we went this way!   Wonder where we're going.....??

We're getting a 73 bus??  Andrea wanted to get up to Islington but wasn't sure we'd have time to get there....

We went up the top and got front seats!!!  YAY!

We put a CD here too!

We went past my favourite sculpture......

Oh, there's Hyde Park Corner!!!

A couple of Really Loud Dutchman were sitting at the front who were making Andrea's tinnitus hurt so we moved seats.  Which meant we could tie another CD to another railing!!

That's Marble Arch, that is!  Jelly Beanie's never seen that!!

And that's going down Park Lane, where we've just come up!

The two Really Loud Dutchmen got off at Oxford Street, so we went and at at the front again!!

Then, all of a sudden, the bus wasn't going to Islington, it was going somewhere else!!!

We went downstairs and checked with the bus driver who said we were still going past the British Library, so Andrea said we're reverting to Plan C!!!  We're going past a food market here!!

Oooh, we're nearly there!!

HERE WE ARE!!!

We're going to an expedition about maps!!!

Here we are in the Library Courtyard!

And we had a seat on the brass book bench!!  I love this bench!

We got in the expedition for half price on our Art Pass and we saw loads of maps that were mainly from World Wars 1 & 2 and from the Communist period Soviet Union.  It was interesting.

They didn't have any pirate maps though.  I think we should make some.

Afterwards we used the facilities and left them a CD as a present!!

We found  an old printing press downstairs too!

After that, we went down the road, past this map....

And into St Pancras train station to do a Spot of Shopping.  I'll tell you about that later!

Then it was time to head back up to Kings Cross.....

And get another bus!!!

That one was really busy so we didn't get any photos, but we got off here and walked down the road.

We went to Cornellison's art shop and did some More Shopping!!!

We like this shopping lark!  It's fun!

AND I found a piratey flag!!!

Then it was lunchtime and we went in here!!!

They gave us olives and a yoghurty dip wiv some yummy bread!!

Andrea ordered hummus by mistake instead of the taboulleh salad she normally gets - but at least with this we got to eat up all the bread with it!

Then we had chicken shish wiv couscous....YUMMMM!

AND we got Turkish Delight wiv the bill!!!  Proper Yummers!!

Afterwards, we walked up to Bedford Square and tied another CD to the railing.....

Before heading back to the bus stop!

Eventually, our bus came along and we tied a CD in there too!!!

We're going back down Oxford Street now.....

There were twinkly lights starting to come on, but you can't really see them....

We saw a sparkly statue as well!

And finally we ended up back in Victoria Station!!!

We had to walk down the side.....

Past some more Christmassy lights that you can't really see....

To Victoria Coach Station!!!

We were SUPPOSED to be getting a bus at four o'clock but because of all the traffic on the roads because of the train strike, it didn't arrive until 4:30!!!  It got a bit confusing because there was another (extra) 4pm bus which only went to Brighton or Worthing which we weren't allowed on.  But then our bus turned up (finally!!) and after the driver had his 15 minute break, we all piled on, and set off at 4:45 pm!!!  Phew!

It was dark by the time we left!

We had another Panno Shoko Lah to make up for the fact we were late getting away!!!

AND we got Jaffa Cakes!!!  HURRAY!!!

We love these!!!

That's a traffic jam at Streatham!!!

And we saw sparkly Christmas lights too!

More traffic....!

And FINALLY we arrived home an hour and a half late!!!!!

But we only had to cross the road, so it's not like we had to go far!!

And there's the moon again......

And the only bad thing that happened was that Andrea left her fuzzy Russian hat on the coach.

But she says she's glad she didn't leave us on the coach.

So are we.  

There's still some Jaffa cakes left....