London with Mom Day 3!


New Oxford Street: old storefront.


Regent Street: we felt sorry for this sheep.


Glasshouse Street (near Piccadilly Circus): impressive guys.


On the Underground: we passed this guy and his guitar many times the past few days.


An empty platform right after we found out there were no more trains going because of a bombthreat at King's Cross station (where we had to go to catch the Eurostar back home...)


So instead we walked back to the hotel to get our bags.
This is either Montegue Street of Bury Place.


Got our bags and walked on to the King's Cross/St. Pancras Trainstation...


...where there was no mention of a security alert anymore
and we were cleared by customs...


... and allowed on the train back to mainland Europe.
(It left on time at 14.34/02.34 pm)

We arrived in Brussels 17.33,
changed trains to Rotterdam (20.33)
and were back at mom's place around 22.30.
I cycled home at 23.00.
The End.

Day 1
Day 2

London with Mom Day 2!


Continental Breakfast in Hotel Royal National (self-service;)


RusselSquare Station, the underground-entrance nearest to our hotel


We loved the colours of the tiles in Russel Square Station


Camden Lock: Stables Arches from the bottom...


... and the Stables Arches entrance (Camden Lock)


If you ever happen to see this film: check the background!


Lunch: Churros with sugar and cinnamon, mmmmm.


We ate the Churros above near the water, with a view on the lock and warehouses.
It was very nice.


Obligatory picture of storefronts in Camden.


Camden-shopping result: cow-keychain, skull-chain, deathmints and most importantly: SHOES!!!!!!


Love this poster and all the people who work on London Underground. Respect.


Price for prettiest tube-station goes to Tottenham Court Road.


Oh, hi Daniel, don't we look all grown up. I approve.


Made reservations for We Will Rock You from home.
(I saw it years ago, this will be mom's first time)


Oxford Street; we're mostly windowshopping.


Off Carnaby Street: dinner at Mother Mash: freshly made mashed potatoes and pie
(Aberdeen Angus Steak for me, Today's Special for mom (beans, pork, chorizo iirc) Recommended!


Oh, we rocked. Hard. :)


More shopping result: Hamley's toys and Boots' powder and showerstuff.
All purchases will be enjoyed very much;)


Second bubblebath (see yesterday's Lush basket) from a "Ma Bar"; cocoa and honey toffee with a lump of brown sugar. Mmmm, bubbles.

Day 1
Day 3

London with Mom Day 1!


08.00 am: My backpack and me at the busstop near my mom's house


Mom and me, waiting for the bus to the trainstation.


12.42 pm: We're in Brussels!


Mom and Tintin (We call him 'Kuifje';) - WallArt, Brussels Midi/Zuid Station


14.59/02.59 pm: Brussels station, all aboard the Eurostar to London!


London! RusselSquare tubestation (subwaystation;) - it's windy when the train passes:)


Our hotelroom, mom's bed is in another corner, next to the bathroom - with an actual bath \o/


Lush, Covent Garden: treating myself to a basket full of bubblebath fun:)


Dinner at Covent Garden: Jacket Potatoes filled with bacon/chicken/avocado FTW!


Scored half-price tickets for Avenue Q in the Gielgud Theatre
(I saw it last year in the Noel Coward Theatre)


Mmmm, Melting Marshmellow Moment...

Day 2

DIY job #2: The Windowsill
Ever since I replaced the huge marble windowsill with a smaller plain white one I've been meaning to fix the uncovered window frame. (I had to get rid of the marble to give the radiator underneath a chance of heating the livingroom properly). A former resident had to make a hole in it to fit the original marble, I filled it up with liquid wood before I painted the whole frame. Here are pictures before, during and after my DIY-efforts:









DIY job #3: The tiles in the kitchen
The grout between the tiles on my kitchen-wall looked dodgy. I thought I only had to whiten them a bit, but as it turns out that was a lot more work than I thought. When I cleaned them, following instructions on the tube with the whitening-solution, I found the grout rather damaged underneath the old layer of paint. So I had to fill the gaps first. I als discovered the pipes of the boiler could use a lick of paint. Besides cleaning, sanding and painting I had to do a lot of waiting in between. But I think the result is worth it:


BEFORE


Painted pipes, whitened grout.


Finished!

And just in case you missed it: DIY job #1: The Bookcase

All done now. Back to my favorite vacation-activity: slacking:)

Had a lot of DIY on my to-do list. While paint and wall fillers are drying, I can show you the one job I did get done today: straightening my bookcase. It was leaning like the Tower Of Pisa, thanks to me putting it on wheels because I thought I would occasionally want to move it around while redecorating. WRONG! As it turns out I like it against the wall, so I decided it was time to do what Ikea had told me to do in the first place and attach it to the wall for extra support.

BEFORE:


Notice how it's leaning away from the wall:


It was quite a hassle getting the screw in the wall in the right position...


But the result was well worth it: look at it, standing up straight:


Although after I had tightened the screws, it was not quite level with my floor anymore...


But I figured it would settle after I put my books back:


(It hasn't settled down yet: there is still a gap at the bottom, but it's hasn't toppled over either, so I trust it will be alright. Time will tell;)