Tick the boxes

It's Wedneday today. We arrived in London on Monday afternoon, a bit tired from the journey but determined to make the most of our few remaining days.

We are fortunate - our hotel is really well located on Sussex Gardens, near Paddington tube station and a short walk to Hyde Park / Kensington Gardens.

After we dropped our bags, we wandered out from our hotel towards Notting Hill, hoping to catch the end of the Notting Hill Festival. There were heaps of people still hanging around and very loud dance musicN but is was clear that this was the tail end of the festival - lots of inebriated people staggering around, kicking rubbish as they walked. So we moved on.

Just around the corner from the festival is Chepstow Place, which is a place of great historical significance in London - number 49 Chepstow place is the address where our friends Peter and Cherie lived in 1996, when we spent a fantastic week or 2 sleeping on the floor of their apartment and helping them clear their excess alcohol stocks...

We wandered the street, trying to remember which house was theirs (we only confirmed the address after our walk), and getting all sentimental.

Yesterday (Tuesday) was a huge day. We used our 'hop on, hop off' tourist bus vouchers to assault all the obvious Tourist sights. Heading out at 9am, we saw Marble Arch, Trafalgar Square, Big Ben, Westminter Abbey and the houses of Parliament, the London Eye, Saint Paul's Cathedral, Tower Bridge and the Tower of London all in the one day, which is quite an effort for the kids - even Lou and I were tired out. The weather was kind, we did have a little rain but not enough to slow us down or change our plans.

Unfortunately, poor Lauren has now come down with the headcold I caught in Ireland. She is in bed this morning with streaming eyes and nose. We are hoping that she will be OK to get out this afternoon to see a few more things as time is running out fast. We still want to see Buck Palace, the gardens and the natural history museum.

While I am in the hotel looking after the patient, Lou has taken James to Oxford Street for shopping. Should I be worried?