Goodbye LA, hello London!

9th and 10th May 2014

After a very late night at Disneyland last night we packed up this morning to leave LA and head for London. Disneyland was lots of fun but certainly made a lot more manageable because we had done our research in advance by talking to other people and reading 'The Unofficial Guide to Disneyland'.  This book has lots of helpful tips and the touring guides which help you to plan your day and which rides to do at what times.  We didn't stick to the plans religiously but they certainly helped to give us a bit of focus and did ensure that (along with using fast passes) we didn't have too many horrendously long waits in line and we knew where the best deals were for eating in the parks.

At the bus stop - Desert Palms behind us.

Although we had heard a few scary stories about security at LAX our check in was uneventful (well apart from the 1L bottle of water which we forgot to take out of the bag and tried to take through the x-ray machine!).  The security staff were very nice about it though and we happily relinquished the water bottle into their care.

Another major bonus this trip has been having Koru club memberships.  This has made the airport check-ins really quick and has meant that we can hang out in the Koru lounge prior to boarding.  While we waited for our flight we were able to have lunch and the kids even managed to get some school work done.

Still not a lot of sleep had on the plane so we all arrived in London feeling rather exhausted.  Fortunately because we have lived here before nothing was too scary and new. Picked up the boys Oystercard photo ID's - totally worth organising these in advance on-line as it makes their public transport travel significantly cheaper - and pay as you go Oystercards for the adults.  The girls are both free on public transport as they are under 11 - yay for London travel!

The memories came flooding back when we got on the Tube to come to our flat in South Kensington.  Stand on the right, walk on the left and mind the gap! Our flat is only 5 minutes walk from the South Kensington Underground station so it didn't take too long to get here and get settled in. Cruel parents that we are, we made the children stay awake (they wanted to go to sleep but it was only 3pm) so we dragged them off to Sainsbury's to do some food shopping. Ah Hobnobs, how I've missed you!

We managed to keep the kids all going long enough to feed them dinner and watch a bit of BBC before they all crashed out.  Sadly(?) we were not able to keep our eyes open long enough to watch the Eurovision song contest but I'm sure Conchita will forgive us!

The South Kensington flat.  Lounge and master bedroom.