Kenderina's little trip report : London & Edinburgh
 

Too much has been written here at Fodor's about London but I still haven't read anything about fire alarms. They look like a very common thing in UK but it got me surprised.
I arrived to London on Saturday 29 April in the morning, uneventful iberia flight, joined my friend alina who came from Edinburgh at another terminal in Heathrow, we didn't get lost and found our car booked from just airports so everything was calm, quiet and I really couldn't believe it..things happen to me...always !
I got in Priceline the Millenium Mayfair for $100/night and turned out to be a super great deal, we loved the hotel. The rooms were very classic and maybe a bit old, but spotlessly clean and cared for.
So we were so happy..we decided to share our happiness with the M&S people in Oxford Street, and then the Ecco Store, and then ...oh, well...I'm sure you all know what happens in Oxford Street :)
I was too tired to go out to get dinner..so we decided to splurge a bit ..and had dinner at Brian Turner's restaurant at the hotel. It was great, absolutely great. Probably the best dinner I've had in my life in a restaurant (the bill also was the bigger I have seen !! 150 pounds for two)
I feel great, I was in London again !! We went to bed...and were woken up at 3:30 in the night by the fire alarm. Then I began not to feel so good..
I always ask for a lower floor in hotels but the hotel was full and there was no one so we were given a room at the 6th floor.
My friend got nervous at the prospect to have me going down the six floors of stairs so she hurried to find someone to help..but she didn't found anyone because twenty minutes later I was still there..so I told myself "con dos cojones !!" (maybe I should not translate that..) and began to go down the stairs. There was no trace of a fire, just smoke smell..but I was having my particular hell of sweating, legs , feet and arms in pain.. , but hey, I'm a stubborn Spaniard so I managed to get to the ground floor. People looked at me (and my face at this moment) and asked..Are you OK ? I just smiled and say yes with my head, I had no breath to speak ! Definitely, I was not in my most OK moment :)
At this moment, the firemen decided that we had to leave the building so the hotel arranged for us to go to a hotel nearby. Oh, yes, kenderina still loves London but walking in Grosvenor Square, in my pyjamas, at 4 AM, raining, sweated and tired(I couldn't sleep the night before because of my excitement !)...was not what I call a festival. :))
When I have just gone to the ladies at the other hotel and prepare to rest a bit at a not very comfy chair but that looked to me England's throne...they say : We can go back !! So there's what rested of kenderina walking back to the hotel..thanks to my friend, nice arm to hang on a bit :)
Firemen allowed us to go back to our rooms but lifts were still not working so they let me to go up with the service elevator..thanks god !! I have to say the hotel staff were wonderful, during the fire alarm, after and before :) Best staff I've ever met,kind, professional, always with a smile, made us feel at home from the moment we arrived, even the pianist in the bar was great !! .
By then , it was six in the morning and I need so badly a rest that I slept till almost 3 pm and lose my morning in London.. By the way, the fire was a TV that exploded in one of the rooms on the fourth floor, luckily there was no one in the room, the guests were on a Saturday night "fever"..I suppose I have that too :)
When I got up , we had a wonderful afternoon tea at the hotel bar, a complete one with scones, clotted cream, sandwiches..very well made , 15 pounds per person, I recommend it as a substitute of the "posh" hotels one , I felt confortable there, no dressing etiquette, very relaxing :)
Later, we went again to Oxford Street to turn back some buyings of the day before (we got too much enthusiastic, hahaha), and then went to have dinner at Rock Garden in Covent Garden. We were not too hungry after the tea but I have booked it days before and anyway..it was a good reason to go back to Covent Garden again, even it rained..the piazza still has some magic to me, it's like I'm going to hear a beautiful voice singing in every corner... and with my english, I always remember Eliza Doolitle :)

Next day, Monday, we were heading to Edinburgh. Another uneventful flight , this time with bmi. I have to say it was my first time there and I absolutely got in love with the city..even with the wind and the rain !! From the taxi that took us to my friend Alina's apartment in Ormiston Terrace (two floors without elevator, it's my destiny !) everything was sooo green, so peaceful... We got dinner in a carvery , a typical pub setting, I just don't know why I love that ..but I do ! :)
If anyone interested on disabled issues read me, I have to say Edinburgh buses as well as London ones are absolutely adapted, so you can go up to them comfortably. I cannot say the same about the touristic buses , which use old bus models and though I'm able enough to go up are not easy to negotiate (impossible for me to go to the top in both the route buses and the touristic ones). The different thing with the London ones is that you can hear the guide that is on the top from below. Very funny !
So we did the city tour, hop off in some places , take a few pictures then took other tour and go to Ocean Terminal to see the Britannia..but we were late so we enjoyed a rarity in Scotland, a whole afternoon sunbathing at a bar terrace looking to the sea :) Oh, well, we had a wonderful dinner there at the Zinc Restaurant. My first Angus Steak , mmmm, yummy !!
I forgot to say we had lunch at the Tower restaurant on the top of the Scotland Museum, they have a very good lunch offer for 11 pounds per person, two courses.
I cannot choose any place I saw, I liked all Edinburgh a lot..but if I have to choose, I will remember specially Greyfriars Bobby..a place who has a statue for a dog and such a moving history (real or not) has to be a good and caring place :)
Next day..we went to have another afternoon tea, this time at the Balmoral Hotel. I only can say it is an unforgettable experience for me , everything was so good, so tasty, the place so confortable and beautiful, don't miss it if you go to Edinburgh, you have to book because the place where it is held has not many tables but for 18 pounds (24 with champagne) it's a great deal if you never have had the experience of a "traditional english tea".
Then..I went shopping again, bought shortbread to feed a hungry kids school and little gifts for my friends and family. And a pair of cashmere socks for me !! :))

And that's all..I went back home yesterday,
very tired, still a bit coughed (I forgot to say I got a cough with the fire event), carrying a lot more things newspapers included (why I love British Newspapers?)
but , as always, thinking on possible trips for the future !!

kenderina: I've been wondering how your trip went. Great report! Quite an adventure w/ the fire alarm and all. Too bad about that but you will have a story about London that most others haven't had.

Isn't edinburgh wonderful?!

Thanks, Janis :) Yes, Edinburgh its wonderful, and I didn't expect it. I knew there were beautiful buildings, great scenery...but there's something about the whole place that I don't how to describe...it's very very special :)

Oh Kenderina, your report is special! I too am glad to hear how your trip went as I remember when you talked about it. But I am so sorry about the "exploding tv" and the trials and tribulations you went through.

You are such a wonderful traveller..I always enjoy your post. Take care, and I do hope you cough ceases..no doubt that is from the smoke. Good wishes to you!

Thanks, Loveitaly :) No, the cough is not from the smoke (there was not so much). I think it was because I went to the street bathed in sweath and outside I felt frozen !! Anyway, I bought a thing called "all in one" at Boots that went pretty well and kept me on the move for the whole trip ..I need Boots in Spain right now !! :)

Many thanks for sharing your experience, a heart-warming and inspiring report. I hope you won't mind my sending the report to one of my family members with similar difficulties to encourage her to travel more.

Hope you will feel better soon.

Judy, I don't mind at all, just the contrary , I'm blushing a bit :)
Thanks :)

I stayed at the Millenium on the 30th, glad I missed all the excitement! Weird to think we were there at the same time...

ohhhh, I would have loved to meet you, nona !!

My daughter and I experienced a late night fire alarm at the Thistle Victoria a few years ago. It turned out to be an electrical fire in an elevator shaft.

We walked down (and back up) five floors and stood in the median of Buckingham Palace Road for about an hour in our night clothes. One young woman had come down in her babydoll pj's and barefooted. A nice man finally gave her his socks! We chatted with another mother and daughter pair who, when they saw us the next day, told us we looked nice with our clothes on.

Glad you had a good trip overall. It all makes for new stories to tell, doesn't it?

P.S. I love Edinburgh, too.

Thank you very much kenderina for a beautiful report.
It brought memories about the night my hotel was evacuated in Coventry. We were very lucky because the hotel had only 2 floors, I was in ground floor. Apparently fire alarms are very popular in England :-)