After a leisurely
breakfast we bade a reluctant farewell to Peter and Margaret ( and
plans to return ) and started out for London. We had not been able
to contact our friends Geoff and Marie Greenwood in Maidstone as we
had an incorrect phone number so we called in on the off change they
might be home and were lucky to find them both there. To say they
were surprised is an understatement but it was wonderful to catch
up. Lots of laughs as usual and we shared family news and world
views! As Marie said it is always as if no time has passed when we
have these catch ups – a very precious experience. Both Marie and
Geoff don't look a day older than when we saw them in 2012 and are in
good health and it was so good to catch up.
We took a long route
into London as it was easier to stay on 1 major route rather than
navigate thought the suburbs without an adequate map or GPS. Our
parking spot at the B&B was not available so we fed a meter with
all the coins we had (not enough but the local traffic warden gave
Stephen 30 p to tp up what he had – how delightful is that! ) and
headed onto the Underground to visit Westminster. Not having done
our homework we arrived 2 minutes too late to catch the visiting
hours. As the weather was warm we strolled leisurely past Parliament
buildings, watched the river traffic on the Thames, listened to Big
Ben toll the hour and walked up to Downing street before deciding to
head back to our accommodation in Hammersmith before the rush hour.
An 'old pupil' ( she is
actually a beautiful 30 something!) of Gillian, Giselle, called
around and took us to dinner at the Blue Anchor, a pub on the bank of
the Thames near Hammersmith Bridge.That was so cool to see the
Londoners at their outdoor experience – rowing, cycling, running.
Sadly we missed catching up with her husband Michael who is out of
London for work.It was wonderful evening with Giselle, catching up
and sharing stories. We took a mini cab home (more on that later)
back to our delightful B & B ( run by relatives of Michael's)
11 June
We awoke to a glorious
blue sky with expected highs of 24 degrees – didn't happen but it
was our first day of wearing lighter clothes which we really enjoyed.
This B and B has everything you could want- we are in the Attic –
with ensuite and a sitting area and small kitchenette so we are self
catering and … there is a bath! Lovely comfy beds and fluffy
duveys – as at Peter and Margaret's the Brits use feathers to good
effect in their bedding.
It started to lose
light around 9.30pm last night and at 5.30 this morning it was full
daylight. Short nights for we Aucklanders.
OK after we prepared
and ate our breakfast it was out and into London. First stop via the
underground was the Monument - to acknowledge the great fire of
London and Christopher Wren – the tower is 202 feet high which is
the distance from Pudding Lane ( where fire started) to the
monument.Wren designed the monument and many of London's amazing
churches and cathedrals of course. Thence we wandered to and through
the Borough markets – yumm – wonderful products and we were
tempted but with a flight to Rome tomorrow it wasn't practicable –
especially as Giselle has asked us for dinner at hers tonight. So we
bought a very interesting light rye bread to take to dinner.
Thereafter we went over the London Bridge and walked along the South
bank to the Golden Hind ( Sir Francis Drake) where a delightful guide
was preparing school children for the tour! Very funny and some of
her responses very non PC – Quite funny to hear her reply, to a
mouthy lad, when she asked the children what the word was (starting
with M) when sailors refused to do what their captain told them to
do. His response was 'a mutant ' her reply was “ No and you're the
mutant”! I have to admit that given the very rude responses from
this one and many of the kids, and the lack of teacher input over
these interjections, that I had sympathy for her .
We moved along from
there via the 'Clink' which was the old museum, declining the tour
when we saw the skeleton hanging in the cage outside the doorway. We
passed the Globe – and fed our eyes on it – remembering when we
went there to see Henry V. Everywhere today there were tours of
school children – in and out of uniform – of ages. They were
obviously doing tours to support the curriculum and were well
supervised. I was fascinated trying to work out what schools they had
come from.
We ate a delicious
lunch in a Greek restaurant – walked on across the Millennium Bridge
– all metal. Crossing both bridges was a great chance to view the
river craft and view the banks – the Tower of London was clearly
visible. Once over the bridge we wandered beside and past St Paul's
Cathedral – down Ludgate Hill, Fleet Street and the Strand enjoying
the architecture. Compared to what we saw when we arrived in 1997 the
whole city – building, monuments, roads etc are clean and tidy. As
Lucas would say the Lions at Trafalgar square are 'Shiny and Clean' .
While we were our way wending toCovent Garden we became aware that
there were long lines of taxis stationary lining the streets, then we
heard 3–4 helicopters hovering over the arae – then a friendly
Brit explained that the taxi drivers were striking / protesting abut
Mini Cab drivers who operate without the restrictions that are
imposed on their metered liscened service. Well – we certainly
saw that and heard people phoning and describing it to others – I
swear the people in London will soon give birth to children with cell
phones attached to their ears or attached to their hands with tubes
threaded to their ears! I know we have these practices in NZ but
because there are so many more of them in London it is very obvious!
We spent time enjoying
a very clean Trafalgar Square – few pigeons and no bird doodoos on
the statues – watched te helicopters and the cabbies who were
enthusiastically tooting their horns. We concluded that the 2012
Olympics may have been the reason for these lovely clean buildings.
We were told the same thing happened in Athens – we visited soon
after they had hosted the Olympics. Certainly the parts of Athens we
saw was lovely and clean.
Folk are aware of the
World Cup (football in Brazil) is about to begin but no fever is apparent.
OK back in our lovely accommodation (Called "A Better Place to Stay") and will soon drive to
Chiswick to have dinner with Giselle.
What a day – apart
from Somerset House - we had seen all these sites before when we
often wandered round London on Sundays (a very quiet time in London
in those days) in 1997. However it was a delight to see these special
sites again , to see what an alive and busy city London is and it
really looks prosperous – blending huge respect for their past
with the 21st Century.
We are ready to move on
now – Flying to Roma tomorrow.
Many thanks to our
special friends and to this wonderful land of our fathers.
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