London - Day 4

Back to London today, via the Eurorail. Easy enough to get to Gare du Nord and the immigration process was smooth enough. Although up to this point, travelling through the European countries there has been no immigration or customs to deal with at all, we've simply waltzed off the train or bus and into the country. 2 and half hours later and we are back in London at St Pancras at around midday.

We get the tube to Belsize Park where our Airbnb is and walk to a good cafe for a second breakfast and to catch up on some blogging while we wait to check-in. Its a cosy little spot on the edge of the "village" of Belsize park. A nice suburb, we are glad we picked this area for something different. Seems well connected, but one step away from the craziness of the city.

We drop our bags and have a quick shower before heading back in. First stop Leicester Square. Jeff plays some quick blackjack at the Hippodrome to get a chip.

Then a drink at the iconic Ship & Shovell pub, which is two pubs across from each other in a narrow laneway, connected by a basement underneath. Very cool spot, and lots of after work drinks going on, as usual, despite it being a Tuesday.

We plan on having dinner around the corner at the Sherlock Holmes Pub, but its fully booked. Looks like they made a thing of it though, the upstairs dinning area is setup with memorabilia and to make it look like the Baker street flat. All the pubs are busy, but we find an OK one for dinner.

A short walk and we are at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, excited to see Arthur Miller's play A View from the Bridge, starring Dominic West (of The Wire fame). The theatre is gorgeous and our seats are decent. We thoroughly enjoy the play, impressed by the quality of acting from all, but especially West. We vow to see more when back in Sydney.

Time for some desert! We have churros covered in ice cream and its as good as it sounds. The less said about the amount of cinnamon sugar "sprinkled" on top, the better.

We duck into two more casinos for some more chips. No luck with blackjack, as expected.

We go for a long walk by the river, past Big Ben and down under the London Eye. Its nice and quiet at this time of night. Rare for London and we are enjoying the different feel of the city like this.

Time for bed, ready for our last day of the trip tomorrow!