Following the successful weekend break in London last year, we thought we would do it again. So with the Oystercard ready, hotel booked, rail tickets purchased and another type of ticket booked, we depart Stourbridge at dinnertime so that we can spend the evening around the Capital.
Upon arrival at Birmingham Snow Hill, I get my train ticket out ready to show the ticket guard at the barriers as when we normally try to escape the station, the ticket barriers do not recognise our tickets and do not let us out. Mr UKBuses decides to give it a go and he gets through, so it is my turn and with my experience with these ticket barriers I fear the worst, but the ticket barrier lets me go through too. As we leave Birmingham Snow Hill I get some "fresh air" and we have a bit of time to kill in Birmingham, so we decide to go to J D Wetherspoons, "The Briar Rose", where we sample a real ale and decide to have a second one as we still have a bit of time to kill. With the drinks finished, we take a walk down to The Pallasades and into Birmingham New Street Station, where we have a change and catch the Virgin Trains to London. We board our train and get our reserved seats making ourselves comfortable with our train departing at 16:10, we pass through Birmingham International and Coventry before arriving at London Euston at 17:34, along the way I have some new kind of "fresh air" break on the train, a legal electronic cigarette.
At this point I would normally have some "fresh air" but we don't have time (luckily I had a few drags on my electronic version on the train) and with the Oystercard at hand, it is straight onto the London Underground and onto the Northern Line at Euston, making our way to Bank where we change onto The Docklands Light Railway to take us to our final destination. We arrive at East India and as we make our way out of the station, I have a well overdue real "fresh air" break whilst we have a short walk to our accommodation for the weekend, Travelodge Docklands, a place where we stopped last November and I also stopped in April this year when I came down to watch the WWE Raw TV Taping event at the nearby 02 Arena. Cigarette extinguished we make our way to the reception to check in. I end up being on the 2nd Floor this time and they cater for the elderly with Mr UKBuses having a room on the ground floor. We go to our rooms to drop our stuff off and have a freshen up.
There is a bit of time left before we meet up so I decide to have a sample of the hotel bar and have a pint of Boddingtons, as I sup my ale I decide to have some "fresh air" and when I return, Mr UKBuses has the same idea and has made his way to the bar and is sitting at a table with his pint, it is a shame that my pint is on another table, but I decide to join him and we finish our pints before heading to East India for our night ahead. We get on the Docklands Light Railway and go one stop to Canning Town where we change our mode of transport and go back on the Underground and onto the Jubilee Line. We alight at Waterloo and change onto the Bakerloo Line which takes us to Charing Cross where we sample our first proper public house of the weekend, J D Wetherspoons "Lord Moon Of The Mall".
After finding a table we decide to have a pint and some food, with my appetite not being up to much, I just opt for a bowl of chips whilst Mr UKBuses has is Masala. After our grub is finished and pints supped, we consult the plan and the next place to visit is our London regular, "The Blind Beggar", but as I'm not feeling too good, we decide to make our way back to the hotel and have an early night.
Despite my tummy bug, it was a successful first day, we get some well deserved sleep ready for a busy day ahead tomorrow, night night!
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