Once again, I’m starting a second post shortly after finishing the last one. It’s not quite a fair comparison here, since that post was mostly done already and I just had to finish it up. Will I finish this one today as well? WHO KNOWS!!!

Honestly, the Sunday of this trip was pretty nice and easy. After a FULL Saturday that took us from Brighton to Rye to Battle and back to Brighton, I think we were both okay with a gentle day and I think that’s what we got. We didn’t have to be up early for our train back to London, but since I woke up early’ish and had already done most of my packing the night before, I took advantage of another nice day to go for a morning walk in Brighton. I pretty much followed the same path I took on Friday, though it was MUCH less crowded this time as I assume people have better things to do on a Sunday morning (I still saw a good amount of other walkers, runners, dog-walkers, and cyclists already enjoying the day though). I had more than enough time to walk for an hour, get back to the hotel, shower, pack up, and even do a bit of blogging before we had to make our way to the train station. Although we had walked to the hotel from there on Friday, we realized it would be easier if we took a bus back, since a fair amount of the walk would be uphill (not so fun with suitcases in hand, even small ones). Thankfully, there’s a bus stop literally around the corner from 27 Brighton, plus Steve and Matt had already advised us on which one to get, so we had no issues. That’s a good travel tip for y’all, too – don’t forget about something as easy as a bus to get yourself from your hotel to the train station. Just like London busses/trains, we didn’t have to buy tickets, but rather use our contactless cards to tap in when we got on the bus and back out when we got off. Easy-peasy!

Thankfully, we had zero issues getting back to London, so there was no repeat of Friday’s kerfuffle. It took us back to London Bridge, from which we caught the tube to Euston to reach our second London hotel of this trip. Did you guess that it’s another Premier Inn Hub? If so, give yourself a pat on the back! When we were planning the trip, I assumed we’d stay at the same London hotel for both legs of the trip, but Felicity suggested we stay in a different part of the city (because, why not?) and I was game for it, so I suggested that the Goodge Street Hub could be good, given its proximity to the West End and a few tube stations. She obliged, reservations were made, and we made our way there easily. As you can see below, both our rooms felt pretty familiar based on the Shoreditch location we’d just stayed in. I hadn’t been to this particular branch since 2019, but it was just as I remembered!

I don’t THINK this is the same room I stayed in the last time I was here, but it’s definitely the same layout, so it’s possible. 🙂

We had a nice, lazy afternoon after we got to the hotel. We were actually too early for check-in (around 1:30 PM), but I took advantage of their £15 early check-in, which I would usually say isn’t worth it (and we actually checked in about 45 minutes early in Shoreditch without being charged for it, so that was nice), but I knew it would be easier to stash our stuff in one of our rooms for a bit vs. have the hotel store it and then have to pick it back up when check-in officially started at 3 PM. So our stuff went in my room and we went to a pub down the street to chill with drinks. Lovely! Despite not having a busy, full day, it’s always nice to hang out and chat in a pub, especially on a lazy Sunday. So that’s what we did until just after 3, when we headed back to get Felicity checked in. She was a whole two doors down from me, though we were both amused when the hotel employee asked if she wanted to be closer. I mean, would one room closer have made a difference?? I guess it was nice of him to ask. 🙂

You may be wondering if we had ANYTHING planned for this day or if I’m just blogging to see myself type. Well, we did! First up was Sunday dinner at The Old Shades, another pub that’s super close to Trafalgar Square. There wasn’t any specific reason we booked this one, but we both thought it would be fun to partake in the very British tradition of a Sunday roast meal and Felicity’s research led her to The Old Shades.

What’s a Sunday roast, you may wonder? It’s exactly what it sounds like – having a roast meal (often beef, but could be chicken or something vegetarian, too) on a Sunday afternoon. It’s often more of a early-mid afternoon lunch meal, but we figured it would still count, even at 5 PM. Besides, who’s keeping track anyway?! Given the location of this particular pub, we did wonder if it would be a tourist trap, but even if it was, it still had a nice vibe and tasty food, so we weren’t complaining. See what you think in the photos below!

I went for the roast chicken, which was really juicy and had great flavor. If you’ve never had one, the bready thing is a Yorkshire pudding which is not sweet or a dessert, despite its name. Now, the item on the right is my ACTUAL dessert, a sticky toffee pudding, which was sweet and delish.

While Felicity didn’t love her roast beef, we both liked the desserts (she got an apple crumble, which had a consistency more like applesauce, but it was still tasty) and the overall vibe was good, so I’d still recommend The Old Shades for a serviceable meal, especially if you get the roast chicken.

As for the rest of our evening, anyone who’s spent time with me in person over the last year or so probably won’t be surprised that I found some BINGO to play! I’ve really been in my bingo era recently, playing once every week or two at one of a few places around home, both at a local bingo hall and at a couple of local bars. And as an added bonus, this bingo game just so happened to be at Retro Bar, hosted by a delightful drag queen named Sheila Simmonds. After missing out on this event (or one very like it, at least) when I was here last year, I was excited to book us in this year, especially when Felicity said “Um, hell yes!” when I asked her if she wanted to do it. 🙂 And given the location of Retro relative to The Old Shades, we had an easy, short walk to get there after dinner.

As a quick aside, if you’ve played bingo in the US, know that the way its played in the UK is different. There are still numbers (though 90 instead of 75) and you still use a dauber to mark them on paper cards, but the setup is different. And bizarrely, it doesn’t even involve the word BINGO being on the cards! This Wiki page highlights how it works and Sheila graciously explained it to us when she came to our table to greet us and collect our massive £5 entry fees, so we didn’t feel lost when gameplay started.

We had a lot of fun! While the first few games were played for cheap-o prizes, the last game was played for a good jackpot of £100! And Felicity won a game! Sadly, she got some dollar store jewelry as her prize, but isn’t just winning enough?? And what was really fun (and cute) is that the guy who won the jackpot was at Retro on a first date. Awwww! We all agreed he should buy the drinks for his date, at least.

This is called Busy Lady Bingo and Sheila was certainly busy throughout! Going to different tables to interact with players, making up little phrases for the numbers as she called them, and even singing live multiple times. She was certainly entertaining! She even went to the chip shop down the street to bring back chips (fries for us US folks) for everyone in the bar.

Felicity getting her bingo card checked and then collecting her prize. She was rightfully excited!

What a chill, fun evening we had! After the excitement of Saturday, I’m glad we got to be more low-key today. Fun to be back in London after a weekend away, especially with some pretty neat stuff on the docket for the next couple of days. Watch this space to read about it!