We set off in the campervan, to drive to Gary and Susana's house, in Windsor.
Pouring rain and very windy, with periods of bright sunshine in between. Weather as only Great Britain can produce.
We stop off for coffee, at a Costa Coffee.
Aptly named I would say, it certainly "costa" lot at £5.10 for a cup of coffee and a hot chocolate, got to say however, hot chocolate was excellent.
He is his usual happy self, as you can see here, and seems pleased to see us.
Gary and Susana were there too of course.
We are well fed as always by Gary and Susana, the meal rounded off with a piece of Date and Walnut cake made by Kathleen.
A very rare commodity, a cake made by Kathleen that is, but it was very nice.
Wednesday 10th November 2010
We walk to Windsor with Susana and Gabriel.
Gabriel in his buggy of course, and needless to say he falls asleep en-route.
We leave them to go and have a coffee with Susana's friend, Brenda, while we return to the house, and set off in the campervan.
South around the M25, past Gatwick and to Abbey Wood Caravan Club site, where we are booked in for three nights.Hopefully, you can just see the grey squirrel (middle of the photograph). There are dozens of them running around the site.
There was also a Jay, the first one I have ever seen in the UK, but I was not quick enough with the camera, and it flew off, leaving only the squirrel in view.
Clearly a second career as a wildlife photographer is not going to happen.
One of the attractions of staying here was the proximity to the railway station, which should allow us to get to the O2 easily, and also into central London to amuse ourselves during Thursday and Friday before the concert.
We obtain directions to the Railway Station from Reception, and walk along there to check out our travel options.
We find we can buy a Day Special for £6-50 (each) which will give us unlimited travel for one day on Trains, buses and Tube. This seems like a good deal to me, but Kathleen cannot resist the possibility of doing it for free, using her Senior Citizen bus pass.
We are advised the journey time to Central London, on the bus is 2 hours, 30 minutes on the train, That is enough to convince me, the train is the way to go!
We walk for three hours in total, quite enough to burn off the Date and Walnut Cake, but we do not actually make it to the Thames!
Instead we return to the van for Spaghetti Bolognaise and a cosy evening of music, crosswords, reading and internet.
Thursday 11th November 2010.
A very windy night, with pouring rain, but we sleep soundly despite it all, surfacing at 8:00am to switch on the fire to warm things up, before emerging for real at 8:30am.
The weather has not improved.
After breakfast, we make use of our free bus passes to travel to Greenwich on the number 180 bus. I know people are always moaning about London Transport, but I think it is excellent (when they are not on strike that is).
Greenwich is a pleasant place, more upmarket than Abbey Wood, from what we see anyway.We wander into Greenwich Park, but the weather is not too good, so we spend an hour or two touring the "old" Royal Observatory, very interesting and all free.
We do the Meridian Route, and see the meridian line and Flamsteed House, built in 1675, where the first Astronomer Royal, John Flamsteed, lived.
All very impressive especially the Octagon Room, Harrison’s Sea Clocks, and of course the Greenwich Meridian.
It is actually possible to see the O2 from here, it looks very close, but fortunately we resist the temptation to walk there, since it is not as close as it looks, and subsequently it rains rather heavily!
The views from the hill on which the "old" Royal Observatory stands are very impressive, you can see across the River Thames to Docklands, the lair of the evil Bankers who, our leaders tell us, have caused the recession.
At lunch time, we search in vain for a place serving baked potatoes, to satisfy Kathleen’s requirement for “healthy” fast food, but end up with a meatball sandwich (in brown bread) from Subway, very palatable.
We then head for the pedestrian tunnel under the Thames.
But when we emerge on the north side of the river, there is a deluge of rain, so we simply return through the tunnel and shelter in a Starbucks for a coffee and a hot chocolate.
When the rain eases a little, we move on to the Maritime Museum (also free). Here we are impressed by how many exhibits actually originate from the North East, including, a tug boat built in South Shields, a model of the Austin and Pickersgill shipyard at Sunderland and a battle ship (model of) built at Vickers Naval Yard in Newcastle upon Tyne.
Friday 12th November 2010
We buy our Day Pass, and head for Central London.
We are not city people, and do not plan to visit museums or tourist spots, unless the weather is poor. So far it is dry and mild.
I think it is quite amusing how almost every city with a canal or river has an area called "little Venice", when of course most of them are nothing like Venice!
Regents Park is quite delightful, the squirrels are so tame they come right up to you and get up on their hind legs to beg for nuts to eat. We do not have any nuts with us, so this one is not impressed and scurries away.
We continue across Regents Park, making the obligatory toilet stop. What is it with women, they have to stop at every toilet!
Regents Park is quite delightful, the squirrels are so tame they come right up to you and get up on their hind legs to beg for nuts to eat. We do not have any nuts with us, so this one is not impressed and scurries away.
We continue across Regents Park, making the obligatory toilet stop. What is it with women, they have to stop at every toilet!London definately has some magnificent parks, indeed I think for a city of this size the amount of greenery and open spaces is quite remarkable.
We eventually reach Regents Canal, and walk along the towpath to the west, ie in the direction of "Little Venice".
This is another haven of peace and tranquility in the middle of the city, at this point, the canal is below street level, so, as you walk along you cannot even see the buildings all around you.
The towpath is deserted, just a few walkers like ourselves, a couple of cyclists and a couple of joggers.
We pass London Zoo, and even get to see some of the birds for free, as we pass the aviaries which back onto the canal.
We see only one barge sailing along, it is a working barge, carrying coal, calor gas cylinders and containers of diesel fuel.
We eventually reach Regents Canal, and walk along the towpath to the west, ie in the direction of "Little Venice".
The towpath is deserted, just a few walkers like ourselves, a couple of cyclists and a couple of joggers.
We pass London Zoo, and even get to see some of the birds for free, as we pass the aviaries which back onto the canal.
We see only one barge sailing along, it is a working barge, carrying coal, calor gas cylinders and containers of diesel fuel.We have brought sandwiches for lunch, so we stop at a seat along the way and eat our lunch.
Then on to the point where the Regents Canal joins the Grand Union Canal. Here there is a large basin, where presumably in days gone by, barges manoeuvered as they passed from one canal to the other.
Now there are barges which have been converted into cafes, and even puppet theatres.
We stop for a coffee, but I cannot resist the home made soup and crusty bread, delicious.
The place is full, and we must wait for a seat.
We eventually leave the canal, time is getting on, and we must begin to head back toward the station.
We cross St James Gardens, heading toward Whitehall, past the duck pond, which a sign tells us was built in the times of Carles II, to lure wild ducks, to be caught for the king's table.
We spend a while in the grounds of Westminster Abbey, where there are very touching display of small crosses, each with a poppy, to commerate the dead in the various conflicts of past and present.
On past Hourse Guards Parade, and Kathleen risks being bitten or kicked in the name of art, as she poses alongside one of the guards on horseback.
Soon we are on the train, being adventurous we use a different station, Charing Cross this time, and we make our way back to Charlton. Here we take the bus to the O2.
We arrive at about 5:00pm, before the crowds as we are about to discover.
We find somewhere to eat, choosing a place called Garfunkles. The meal is fine, except for Kathleen's dessert, which is billed as a strawberry sundae, but is totally lacking in strawberries!
We emerge to find the whole place is full of people, they are like swarms of fish as you see them on wildlife programs on TV, all scurrying in the same direction. Here Kathleen, bravely goes against the flow and crosses the milling crowd.
Soon we are inside the O2 venue, and are treated to a truly wonderful performance by Andrea Bocelli and the supporting cast.
A really enjoyable evening with three "encores", before we leave to head back to Abbey Wood.
Saturday, it is pack up and go home, the end of a really enjoyable trip.
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