I was last in London for 3 days in 2009. I'd been staying with my aunt in Greece and convinced her to play hooky from her husband for a few days. It was a very different experience to the one I'm having now, and it left me with the impression that London was an unwelcoming place of rude and drunken locals, and Very Bad Food. Yet after a single day in 2025 I'm seeing an exciting city bursting at the seams with all types of life and wonderment, a great sprawling place begging you to lose yourself in its history. And I intend to.
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Frankfurt flughafen departures was a much better experience than arrivals. It is extremely well organised and handles its 160,000 passengers and 1,300 flights per day easier than a signal malfunction on Sydney trains. Choosing to fly J on LH out of Frankfurt was a good choice. My B Gate business lounge, one of 14, was spacious and quiet, and though not offering a lot of choice in food, everything they did have was delicious - they even had bundt cake (this should be standard fare, who doesn't want cake!). The A320 offered the middle seat blocked for my comfort, and a proper divider between J and Y. My first experience of Lufthansa was a winner, would recommend.
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So...London is expensive, OMG! Everything costs the number I expect it to, but it's in pounds so double for AUD.
I didn't arrive until afternoon so today was just about getting my bearings and doing the walk-bys - Piccadilly, Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square, Covent Garden, Chinatown. The National Gallery was well worth the visit. I had a list of paintings I wanted to see and which rooms they were in, but it was more enjoyable to wander around the circular maze of rooms. Van Gough is a favourite and I have seen many of his works, but it was my first Sunflowers, and it was spectacular. Monet is another favourite of mine which of course did not disappoint (I very much recommend a visit to Monet's house in Giverny when you're next in Paris, it's magical seeing his paintings come alive in the well-preserved gardens of his home). Manet, Cezanne, Rubens, Renoir, Degas, if The National Gallery were the only reason one had to come to London it would still be worth it. Unfortunately, the quote "Monet, Manet, tippy-tippy-day-day" went through my head more than once - damn you Seinfeld!
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Phantom of the Opera was the first musical I ever saw in Sydney in my early 20's when I knew nothing of musicals or theatre and simply wanted to do something grown-up and cosmopolitan. I've loved and hated (CATS! bluuurgh) many musicals since but it was a big treat for my second Phantom to be in London 3 decades later.
Today was an A+ day, I have much joy
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Covent Garden has no grass, Piccadilly Circus isn't one, Southwark is Sou'rk- I'm convinced they're just making fun of the remainder of the English-speaking world with an in-joke the rest of us can't share.
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LH FRA-LHR J, EUR 215
Sheraton Grand Park Lane, 5 nights, 284,000 Marriott points plus $588. The last of my Marriott Bonvoy points, goodbye SPG I'll miss you
First meal in London, takeaway dumplings at Chinatown for just under $40...jeez!
Phantom of the Opera at His Majesty's Theatre, $278
Fitbit chargers successfully delivered to my London hotel, 1
KM's walked, 14.05 (everything hurts)
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Sheraton Grand Park Lane, very warm and comfortable room. I told Marriott very many years ago that I prefer rooms on lower levels and near the elevators, and they've done it every stay since with impressive consistency. Also, the view - sorry it's not a car park.
Important men of London
The National Gallery. Portraits capture my imagination in a personal way, like the subject and the viewer are having an intimate and silent moment through the years. And a thank you to the AFF member who recently mentioned Le Brun, it was as breath-taking as you promised.
Phantom of the Opera. Unnecessarily overdramatic and I don't really see any romance in it, but I do love it nonetheless. I also love that the theatres themselves are so ornate they allow you to believe you're
fancy
