Today was Ally and Cat’s Christmas present from us, in the form of a day out with several hopefully pleasant activities. We started with brunch at our favourite café, The Two Magpies, and then headed for Stratford to ABBA Voyage! This was our second visit and Ally and Cat’s first. Although I knew what to expect this time I was amazed again by the Avatars and their realism, and Ally leaned over at the end and said “How do they do that?” which was just what we had said the first time! I think that Ally and Cat really enjoyed it, although very clever and commercial the event has such a joyful feel. We then strolled the short distance along to Stratford shopping centre and had coffee and cake, before it was time for our next activity; the Horizon of Khufu. This was a Virtual Reality experience set in Ancient Egypt which I had booked on a whim. I wasn’t sure what it would be like and it turned out to be absolutely fantastic. With our VR headsets firmly in place we set forth to see the Egyptian Pyramids. We even had a VR guide to tell us all about it, and we were joined by Bastet the Cat God. We went inside the Great Pyramid, which Ally and Cat assured us was very true to their real life visit last year. And thanks to VR we were guided to a “platform” which floated us up through the higher part of the pyramid to see how it was constructed, and then we walked out on to the very top of the pyramid where we could see all around us. We sailed on a boat along the Nile, and learned about mummification techniques. It was amazing. It did occur to me that we would have presented an amusing sight to anyone watching us, as we picked our way carefully around an empty warehouse as if balancing on the top of a pyramid!
After this we headed to Marylebone, calling in for a brief visit to Selfridges, which I didn’t realise is Ally’s favourite department store. He likes the way that it’s organised. We saw a man who had a cat on a lead, and were gratified to see that it refused to walk on the lead and he had to pick it up to carry it!
Our last experience of the day was dinner at the Chiltern Firehouse, a popular restaurant which as its name suggests is housed in an old fire station. In fact our table was right beside the old fire engine doors. It was very busy. The staff were effusive but not the most organised, and the food was really good but a bit overpriced for what it was. If I was to return I think that I would go for breakfast or brunch and I would sit in the attractive outdoor courtyard. The most important thing about our day was of course the company and the four of us had a fine time.
After this we headed to Marylebone, calling in for a brief visit to Selfridges, which I didn’t realise is Ally’s favourite department store. He likes the way that it’s organised. We saw a man who had a cat on a lead, and were gratified to see that it refused to walk on the lead and he had to pick it up to carry it!
Our last experience of the day was dinner at the Chiltern Firehouse, a popular restaurant which as its name suggests is housed in an old fire station. In fact our table was right beside the old fire engine doors. It was very busy. The staff were effusive but not the most organised, and the food was really good but a bit overpriced for what it was. If I was to return I think that I would go for breakfast or brunch and I would sit in the attractive outdoor courtyard. The most important thing about our day was of course the company and the four of us had a fine time.
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