London New Year Fireworks from Victoria Embankment

Well, Happy New Year to all Blipsters out there. As you can read in yesterday's blip we saw the New Year in on the banks of the Thames. We were in a restricted viewing area - restricted by trees and by people with umbrellas and other objects (which you can read about yesterday).

The fireworks were behind the trees that line the Embankment, but although this affected our view it made for some interesting photography.

The journey back to the hotel was surprisingly good. Exiting the Embankment towards Blackfriars in the opposite direction to where we wanted to be, we went along Ludgate Hill, past St Paul's and down Cannon Street to the Mansion House tube station. Got on a District Line service which took us directly to South Kensington and believe it or not it was uncrowded.

The hotel was very good, a bit above our usual standard, but we got a good deal in August. Complimentary soft drinks in the mini bar, lovely fittings and sophisticated decor, a games room and a library and a gym. Very welcoming and helpful staff. Even a small box of mini cakes on our bed. (Not for us, the hotel had a mix up, these were intended for a regular guest but were put in the wrong room. However, they insisted we kept them - very nice too).

After breakfast we came straight back to Maidstone, the weather being wet again and we didn't fancy trailing around in the wet. We cooked a traditional New Year's Day meat pie with mash and swede for supper with Doreen.