Wednesday 11 June 2014

Around London


 10 June

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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