An uncomfortable night in our London Hotel and then some clothes shopping for me, a portable chess computer for Debbie in Hamley’s and then a trip for Della to London Zoo
It was an uneasy and restless night for me. The bedclothes were too small and the bed itself pretty uncomfortable anyway. The room was too hot until the air-conditioning was put on and then it was too noisy, and we dare not leave the window to the common balcony open for security reasons. I was awake by 6.00am and poor Della was unwell with a cold but she was very brave about it. We all went down together for a nice, cooked breakfast, but our enjoyment was slightly marred by being sat next to a cigarette smoker. Then we set off by bus to do some shopping and started at the 'High and Mighty" shop in Princes Street.
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There, I bought myself some shirts, a couple of sleeveless pullovers and a new casual coat for the winter and was pleased with these purchases, even if the cost was exorbitant at £600. Then over to Hamley's the toy shop, where we had a very good look round for ideas and I ended up buying a £80 portable chess computer for Debbie (the "Kasparov Advanced Trainer") which encouraged her greatly in her new hobby. Very tired, we returned to the hotel room by taxi and, although Della had a high temperature and did not look at all well, we agreed to take her to London Zoo. Debbie stayed in her hotel room and played with her new toy, but the rest of us quite enjoyed the visit as the weather was surprisingly mild and we could see a good range of animals before dusk. We stayed in our room this evening with Della having an early night and Debbie and I playing with the chess computer which I managed to beat for the first time at the simplest level. I started watching a good film on the TV but Di went to bed early and was complaining about the noise and so I switched it off.