The Top Floor Flat

April 23rd marked an incredibly momentous occasion – namely the arrival of my mother to the (surprisingly) sunny shores of the UK to visit me here at the Top Floor Flat. While she had been to England before, it had been nearly twenty years and I was going to waste no time in showing off my favourite parts of the city, my office, the flat, and some of the nearby attractions just outside London. With little regard for her poor, jet-lagged self, we set from the airport for a whirlwind week of tourism. I’ll give a day by day account of our travels but here is a sneak preview of all of the places we visited during her six and a half days in the UK. Not bad, eh?

• Oyster card: these travel cards allow cheaper and easier travel on all London transport. For my mom’s trip, I got her an Oyster card with a one week, zones 1 and 2 travel card and £5 extra. This would allow her unlimited travel through the centre of London on the underground, unlimited bus travel anywhere in London, and some extra to cover out of zone underground travel (such as to the airport or to Wimbledon, in zone 3).
• Raincoat and small umbrella: although the weather cooperated with us while she was here, this is essential kit for any London traveler. Not only does it protect against the frequent rain, but London can be quite windy even when it’s not cold or raining so the coat can alternatively be a windbreaker.
• Good shoes: London is an immensely walkable city. No reason not to take advantage of this but make sure you have comfy shoes! Good shoes are also useful when a task-master daughter insists on 8+ hours of walking per day on a crazy itinerary.
• Water bottle: If you’re going to be walking all day, especially if you’re planning to partake in any aspect of Britain’s pub culture in the evening, better make sure you’re well-hydrated.

On Friday after her arrival in Heathrow, my mother was all for going straight to sleep however having had someone to do the same for me when I first arrived in London, I insisted that she drop her bags and come outside for a walk around Knightsbridge and Kensington. Not only would this help her overcome her jetlag by forcing her to stay awake through the afternoon, but it was gloriously sunny and I had no idea how long that weather would last!

We started by catching the number 10 bus which took us east down High Street Kensington. Public buses are probably the best kept secret in London tourism – for £1 with an Oyster card, you can see huge amounts of the most famous parts of the city and while you might not have a tour guide telling you about the surroundings, you do have a chance to get the upper front seat on the double-decker buses.

We got off the number 10 just outside the Royal Albert Hall, having passed by the Kensington Palace at the westernmost end of Hyde Park. My mother was immediately impressed by the Albert Memorial, a gigantic golden monument to Queen Victoria’s husband, Albert, which may be a bit gaudy by today’s tastes but is certainly a sight to behold. Just across the street was the Royal Albert Hall, where in the past I’ve attended the BBC Proms musical events. Nearby, a classic red phone box proved the perfect location for a cliché but absolutely necessary series of phone box photos. Check one tourist box and my mom hadn’t even been off the plane three hours!

We made our way south, through Imperial College and the many music and science buildings in the area, down Exhibition Road, and detoured west to admire the architecture of the Natural History Museum. The building is as impressive as its contents and we weren’t the only ones using the space as a photo stop. Although we took a quick look inside, the darkness and quiet of the museum we not going to be any help in keeping my mother awake so we headed back out into the sun and east into Knightsbridge.

Our next stop was Harrods and despite the dim lighting, I decided to risk a stint indoors to show of Harrod’s food halls. It was worth the lack of sunlight – the layout of the food halls is more of a feast for the eyes than the mouth (which is fortunate at £5 a strawberry) and each stall, especially in the desserts hall, proved a photo stop in its own right.

Emerging once again into the late afternoon sun, we paused for a bit of window shopping along the Harrods, then Harvey Nichols displays before catching the number 10 bus back west for a home cooked dinner and a good night’s sleep before the next day’s events. It was time to see if working at Spoonfed, Bullseye and events and local knowledge of London had turned me into the ultimate tour guide.