Our third blended family trip abroad and done in honour of a K-Pop, Stray Kids gig at Hyde Park. We flew into Stanstead and got a bus to London town. We booked a family flat over a shop in Hackney that slept 7. Slightly rough area and the entrance to the flat was a bit dodgy looking but it was fine for our single overnight stay. The worst thing about the flat was that it was pretty far away from the city centre so we had to rely on large Ubers which got a bit expensive. Maybe I could have worked out the public transport if we’d had more time but we threw caution to the wind. We got to use the Tube a fair bit though and while a lot more expensive than I remember from previous London visits, esp with 6 of us, I was glad to show the kids one of the marvels of modern engineering.
We didn’t have much time for sightseeing but on day one managed to squeeze in a walk to London Bridge to see the Millennium wheel, Tower Bridge, Big Ben, and whatever else was on the Thames, then a stroll past Buckingham palace and by coincidence the changing of the guard was happening. We passed through Leicester Square and stopped in Pizza Hut for some fuel. As it happened England were playing Italy in the final of Euro 2024 that evening so the atmosphere was electric (but slightly meancing!) in the square and all around London. Then it was off to the apartment to freshen up and get ready for the gig then back in to Hyde Park.
Not being a huge fan of Stray Kids or K-pop I wasn’t expecting too much but we had a group of kids who were mad for it so we buzzed off them mostly but as it happened Stray Kids were pretty good and put on a good show. We tried to find food and public transport when the gig was over but with so many people streaming out it was too hard so we got an Uber back tot he apartment and tried to order from a local takeaway but failed for technical reasons so we went to bed hungry! I couldn’t get a signal coming out of the park to see if England had won or not but when we hit the quiet, sombre streets outside the park it quickly became obvious they’d lost!
Next morning we had a lovely full English breakfast in La Mela just down the road from the apartment in Hackney then headed into town again to stroll through Soho, Chinatown and do some shopping before getting the bus back to Stanstead.
