The Hoxton hotel was much too trendy for us and we were surrounded by very young people who made too much noise. But the hotel was quite satisfactory and in case you think that this represents a victory for me in the hotel choosing stakes I should tell you that Cate chose the Hoxton. However, Shoreditch may be trendy but it also gritty and lifeless.

On Monday we moved to the Kinglsley in Bloomsbury Way and this is a much more satisfying and lively area.

For reasons known only to them the Kingsley has put us into a room designed for disabled people. I had a touch of arthritis when we arrived but did not realize that I was hobbling quite so badly.

The good part is that it has lots of space. On the downside we have to kneel down to use the wash basin and lie on our stomachs to use the hotel safe.

On Sunday we visited the Ugg shop in Covent Garden. Cate has developed an Ugg fetish and just has to have Ugg boots for winter and Lapland. They do have some Ugg boots in Vienna but don't have Cate's size. Anyway there is an Ugg Concept store (whatever that is) in Covent Garden and Cate was so pleased they had her size that she bought two pairs of boots.

For the same price we could have bought a Fiat 500 but what use would that be in Lapland in winter.

Today we visited the Ducks in Regents Park and brought them up to date with what is happening with their cousins in Stadtpark.

I don't have a picture for you because while it is possible for me to transfer my photos from my camera to my iPad I have not yet worked out how to compress them for the web.