Today, as part of my celebrations, we’re heading for our favourite City – London! It’s my final day in my 60s, and I’m going out in style! 👌
It’s all part of my BIG Birthday plans that began back in July! The challenge? Meeting (at least) 70 people, over the 70 days prior to my 70th Birthday Weekend. Phew! This is the final week…and weekend and we’re rounding things off by getting together with my brother and his family.
We’re off!
It was an uneventful journey but unique in many ways! We got a seat, the wifi was working, and so was the AC. Yes, all THREE on the same journey… it must be my birthday! (almost!).
A quick Thameslink connection took us to Blackfriars where we walked the short distance to our hotel – the not-very-glamorously-titled…
Sea Containers House
Sea Containers House, despite its less-than-evocative name, is located in Blackfriars, one of our most favourite parts of the capital. Maybe it’s because we both worked in the area for some time back in the day, but it’s certainly to get around from here whether by Uber, Tube, by rail, Black Cab or Water taxi 👍
We entered by their waterside entrance – a small and insignificant set of automatic double doors awaited us and we were soon attempting to find Reception in the deliberately subdued lighting. For a more impactful frontage, try the other entrance located in Upper Ground.
On arrival, it had a boutiquey feel to the place, with plenty of staff on duty – all dressed in their sailor-like uniforms (yes, really!). We were too early to check in, so we dumped our bags with Reception, exited the Hotel, and soaked up some of the views along the South Bank. We then wandered to the Waterloo Tube, which took us to Wood Green Station, and our first visit of the day, Alexandra Palace.
By now the day was warming up. Looking around, we spotted that pretty much everyone else was in shorts and short sleeves and it made us realise we might have over-dressed for our short stay here. Well, it certainly became obvious once we boarded the tube train! It was now about 22/23 degrees as we passed through the Tube barriers and about twice that once we got on the Tube 🥵🥵. The situation wasn’t helped by a hold-up with the carriages themselves due to an unwell passenger, resulting in all transport being ‘held’. In the end we got off and switched lines, but it was still a ‘boil in the bag-like experience all the way to Wood Green and ‘Ally Pally‘.
It was then just a shortish journey by Bus – the W3 – from the opposite side of the road. It was now even warmer, and so we hurriedly headed for their Café and a cool drink.
Alexandra Palace
Most of you have probably heard of Alexandra Palace (aka ‘Ally Pally‘).
Ally Pally was built in 1873 and destined to be ‘The People’s Palace’ but fate got involved, and it burned down 16 days later! It was completely rebuilt by the original team of Kelk and Lucas where, in 1935, the Trustees leased part of the Palace to the BBC for use as the production and transmission centre for their new-fangled television service.
In 1936, it became the home of the world’s first regular public (then) “high-definition” television service. The broadcasting system was 405-line B&W TV – the first fully electronic television system to be used in regular broadcasting. Although other facilities soon superseded it after the Second World War, Alexandra Palace continued to be used by the BBC for many years, AND at the time of writing, its radio and television mast is still in use.
Much more history HERE, courtesy of Wikipedia.
For me, the attraction to this iconic location was that I must have seen it in the distance whilst on the train to London (sporting its massive aerial) about a gazillion times over the years. Given my love of ‘TV tech’, somehow, I’dnever actually seen it close up!
On entering the main area, it gave a whole new meaning to the term: ‘open plan’. It was simply massive! What was also on the cards, was that they’d recently created a rooftop walk (known as Summit) promising some fantastic views across London. Sadly, with the temperatures now so high outside, we thought that wandering across this iconic building’s rooftop with no sun protection, we might simply fry! Maybe another time when the weather is a little cooler 👍
Instead, I’d heard they’d got a ‘TV Museum’ here, and that was something I was looking forward to. But maybe it was because the space inside was so large that when we found it, the Museum looked and felt so small and insignificant. What was on show (old cameras, mixing consoles, microphones and the like) was really good to see, but there wasn’t a lot of it! ☹️
Sadly, after about 20 minutes, we’d seen it all. We took a look around the rest of the building (they’d even got an ice rink! and an area for full-blown concerts (Queen sang here in the 70s), but it all looked a little empty today. I guess on a sell-out evening, it’s really got some atmosphere.
We headed back to the bus stop and to avoid a repeat performance of our journey there, we decided to head for Finsbury Park and come back on the Thameslink to Blackfriars. That turned out to be a good decision – it was much cooler and felt quicker too!
Checking in
We arrived back at Sea Containers House around 3.30 and were soon checking in. It’s a posh, well-appointed room with everything we need for our 2 days here! 👍
They put us on the top floor – the 14th – with unrivalled views across London.
Birthday Dinner – Yaatra Indian Restaurant
With our table booked for 7pm, we were ready for this!
Yaatra Indian Restaurant is located on the site of the old Fire Station in Westminster and is the brainchild of Michelin award-winning Chef and Patron Krishnapal Negi.
What!? An Indian Restaurant based in a Fire Station!!! 😂😂😂😂😂. Oh, just me then!!!
Click HERE for the details
Click HERE for more
Tasty! 👍
Well, that was all very yummy indeed!
By the time we left at 8.20, it was at capacity and at one point they’d begun to queue outside too! Obviously, a local favourite!!! 😋😋
Tomorrow
It’s THE day tomorrow – 70 years young – slightly grumpier, perhaps a little wiser, definitely slower is so many way – but somehow always ‘busier’ 🤔.
See you Saturday!! Nighty-night! 💤💤
I got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in all its forms), together with a fondness for the art of writing seemed to be the perfect combination to contribute a few words to the online community. But I’m no Samuel Pepys! If you’re looking for deep and meaningful comments on a variety of subjects, then you’ve arrived at the wrong site! I only pen for pleasure! On average, my posts appear about twice per month, covering family & friends, cinema visits, eating out, holiday experiences and techy stuff. Oh, and as this is my hobby, there are no sponsored links nor adverts here – it’s all done with love!
I hope you find it enjoyable, interesting and occasionally, even helpful!
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