Saturday 2 January

Ross, Jarrod and Tim set off at 7.30am this morning to enjoy their Christmas present of attending a Manchester United game at Old Trafford. It is a 3pm game, but it is so far away from here! When we first compared transport options, the train to Manchester was £111 one way, a flight was £99, and a hire car was £48 for a day. So we booked a small car to get them there…or so we thought…😬

Jarrod face-timed me from Euston Station at 8.23am to say they had arrived to pick up the car but there was no record of a booking! (We did wonder why we received no reference or booking number when we booked online). So they quickly moved to Plan B and bought train tickets (which were thankfully much less than we expected at £153 for the three of them return). The train was a much less stressful way for them to travel too, considering they didn’t know where they were going, and quicker than by car.

We didn’t leave the apartment until 11am, when we walked down to Buckingham Palace to watch the Changing of the Guard ceremony. There were sooooooo many people, and areas had already been blocked off near the gates, so the kids stood on a wall for a little while, but while we enjoyed the sounds of the pomp and ceremony, we couldn’t see a lot, so decided to get a head start on the crowds and wander up the mall.

   
   
We walked through St James Park and the Horse Cavalry Museum where we caught the end of the guard changeover there, and walked on to Westminster. My plan was to try and visit the Abbey again, but the crowds were no better than the other day, so instead we went toTesco Express for more £3 meals like R & J found before our river cruise on Wednesday. We took our bargain sandwich/fruit/drink combo and walked across Westminster Bridge and sat at a bus stop opposite the Marriott hotel and ate our lunch. 

   
 We then boarded a double decker bus to Piccadilly Circus (really just so we could say we sat upstairs on a red double decker bus!), and alighted there to do some souvenir shopping. 

  
A store called Cool Britannia had an underground level that had a store exit which connected to Piccadilly Circus tube station, so we took that exit and boarded a train to Knightsbridge to visit Harrods. Now this is a place I need to explore some other time with a girlfriend rather than with four children in tow! It was BEDLAM! I am especially thankful for two things today: one, that I did not lose any child throughout the whole day of exploring or in the throng of people at Harrods, and two, that I went to Harrods without Ross and Tim who would not have coped with the crowds!! Even Abi, the seasoned shopper that she is, was glad to leave there.

  
We caught the tube back to Green Park and went to Starbucks for coffee and milkshakes to reward ourselves (well, me…) for surviving the day, and then went grocery shopping and home with Pret A Manger sandwiches and salads for dinner. This chain of stores has a major focus on helping the homeless, so the kids were very keen to patronise there.

Postscript: the boys arrived home safely from their day at 8.30pm, full of excitement and details at what they had experienced. They were able to meet former players and the man of the match, who also signed Jarrod’s shirt, and Man U (on the back of ten losses or draws in a row) won the game 2-1!  They got to ride first class on the train on the way home, and also brought home souvenirs for the little boys. It was such a great day! (And now there is such excitement no one will go to sleep…😐)