Today was the day to go to London and see the Christmas lights. It co-incided with the first day of sales in Oxford street so might as well kill two birds with one stone. Get the few late Presents at a knockdown price for the wife- and show my GD the fantastic Christmas lights in Regent Street.

First of all the lights are the same as last years and I did not think they were any good then. They are normally a fantastic array but not this year. And we finally found the shop in Oxford street that we wanted to buy something special from. The opposite end from where we started and it was one long fight to get through the crowds to get there. Then got to the shop and it was crowded---So I took the GD off for a coffee while Nannie and Mum sorted the clothing they wanted. Queue for the coffee was long and it did not seem like 45 minutes later when they came into the cafe to find us as they had finally got what they wanted. Funny how time flies when you are having Fun- but I hadn't got far enough down the Queue to get to the coffee!!!!!!!.

So off to the tills to pay for the goods and one look at the length of them and my daughter just said forget it. Put the clothes onto a shelf and walked out.

By this time it was getting cold so it was a long trek back to Covent Garden to find a cafe that we knew was good---and sensibly priced. So sensibly priced that it had gone out of business. Cost me a fortune for that coffee that I was now desperate for and a Pizza that I have never liked but was the only thing on the menu that I could afford.

Still a good time was had by all- especially as I did manage to look in the Northface shop at Covent Garden to see if they had a Waterproof jacket that I was thinking of. They had the jacket but there was no way I was going to pay that price for a jacket- no matter how good it was. I have bought bikes- good bikes- for less than that amount.

So Decided to get on the way home and we would pick up some Fish & chips for supper on the way home. Long time since I have been to London and there are no longer Fish& chip shops on the high streets as you drive along them. They are Chicken and Ribs- or Burger bars or other fast food stores of a dubious heritage that I was not going near. Had to wait till we got to our home town and when we did- we had a Kebab. The fish & chip shop was closed due to the Christmas holiday.

I'm going for a bike ride tomorrow- Just to get the memory of today out of my system.

Cheers.