London Day One

18 June
Our first experience of London was that of frustration with trying to withdraw money from our Travelex debit card. This exercise took 30 minutes. Then Gordon got a phone call from the hotel I'd booked into online, wondering why we hadn't turned up for our first night. Unfortunately I'd got my days mixed up and booked us in one day early. It turned out that the hotel was very busy, so they would be charging us for that night. Ouch!
From the airport we took the underground to King's Cross. The station here was incredibly busy, with people in black suits rushing in all directions - a reminder that not everybody is on holiday!
I'd thought that the Alhambra Hotel would be obvious once we arrived at King's Cross, but it wasn't. After a number of fruitless enquiries at nearby shops, then some bad directions from the hotel receptionist over the phone, we dragged our heavy suitcases across the bumpy pavement and walked almost around the block before discovering our next abode. Our tiny room is at the top of 50+ steep, narrow stairs - quite a challenge to negotiate with all our luggage. We have to share the shower and toilet facilities with everyone else on this floor, but are grateful for the sink in our room. The location - 3 minutes' walk from King's Cross underground station - is just brilliant,and the bus stop is just around the corner as well.
That night we wandered around looking for somewhere to eat, and happened upon a lively Irish pub. After a short while of being there, we both put earplugs in, as everyone was talking at the top of their voices. After 50 minutes, our substantial meals arrived, then we tumbled into bed after 10pm.
The second photo above shows Gordon struggling to the top of the stairs with the second of our heavy suitcases.