Day 43: London

We have been credit scammed.  Can you believe it!  Some low life from Bali has swiped $2000 from our card and basically bled it dry.  We noticed something wasn’t right last night when our card bounced at dinner.  Rick checked this morning and sure enough “it” has been making cash withdrawals since we arrived here in London.  Rick spent a good hour sorting it out with Macquarie Bank in Australia and the upside is we should get our money back (hopefully).  Consequently it soured the mood and we were late to get moving yet again.  So today we had the great pleasure of hanging out at the Natural History Museum which we realised was the incredible building at the end of Paddington where Nicole Kidman kidnaps Paddington and takes him to be stuffed for display. It was a visual splendour and probably my favourite building in London. It had awesome displays on all things nature including a super dinosaur exhibition, gigantic whale that covered the entire ceiling of another great hall and every stuffed creature known to man. It was pumping with kids and families and sadly stared with a very long entrance queue that snaked out the door and around the corner.  Not happy Jan, and even less so when it started to rain. Crowds, rain and kids just do not mix and it proved to be a low point in the day as was the constant badgering by the kids about getting to Hamleys. Thankfully Rick had pre-booked tickets to the dinosaur exhibition so that queue was the only one we suffered. Our experience was momentarily blackened later in the day by a very unfriendly staff member who smugly told us the kids were not permitted into a pre-booked virtual exhibition as they were younger than 13 years.  Clearly we had missed that when we booked online this morning. When I suggested that Rick go on his own, her colleague joined in and promptly told us he was too late.  The conversation proceeded into great detail about how he had missed the important briefing required to use the equipment in the exhibition. Rick said he was pretty tech savvy but they were not backing down.  When I asked for the time, she said it was 1.35pm.  The session started at 1.30pm.  What the? In the time they had spent being difficult, he could have joined in.  I was not happy to say the least so on I marched through the crowds on a mission to the front desk and promptly told a nice man how disappointed we were.  5 minutes later we were back upstairs, with Rick getting a personalised briefing on the equipment. The two smug staff didn’t look so smug anymore.  Back on the bus for a bit more sightseeing on the way to the much anticipated Hamleys.  Finally. The kids have been waiting weeks for this moment and Rick and I were bracing ourselves for the onslaught.  Sally had generously given the kids £20 each to buy something. The were cashed up and hyped up and it was pumping. Six floors of toys, games, technology and all things kids.  Help.  There were demonstrations, balloons and frenzied kids galore. The M&M shop seemed sedate in comparison to this joint. First stop, the Lego department complete with life sized Kate, Will, Harry and Charles. Sadly it didn’t stock any of the latest range of Ninjago, Chima or Friends. I could feel the tears welling and braced for the fallout, but to my surprise it didn’t come. Maxie maturely opted to keep his pounds to buy something bigger when he gets home to Australia.  Zachie bought one little Lego that cost 10 pounds so he could keep some for home also, and my dear Scarlett spent her cash on another stuffed dog and some funky nail polish.  They were well considered purchases and I felt pretty chuffed with their efforts.  Two hours later, “I” was done and ready for some sanity which is ironic because we then lost Scarlett shortly thereafter for close to 30 minutes and I have never felt so panicked in my life. “Lost and Found” had claimed her thankfully and we both sobbed uncontrollably when we were reunited. Holy traumatic.  We opted to head home via Tesco for some groceries, where the kids ran wild through the isles. Breathe Dianna. Sal came over for dinner and of course we couldn’t help ourselves with the wine.  Four bottles (including the cooking wine) and a fabulous plate of risotto later (thanks to Rick) we were all rocking away with much to say about life. It was another late night that felt like old times and I wished Miss Sally just lived down the road in Lindfield.  Somehow, I don’t think she would feel the same.