Last Day in London

Our last day to walk around London starting by again walking through Hampstead Heath. It was a beautiful morning (unlike yesterday) and at the top of the hill Norm sat to enjoy the view.

 On the streets of London we came upon a market of just food served at lunch to mostly men, probably working nearby. The selection included food from Peru, Korea, Asia and more. The smells were wonderful.

 

 

I wish we were hungry.

When in London it is a great idea to see live theatre. The Mouse Trap has been running 65 years. I saw it in 1978. I asked about last minute tickets and I was told yes, there were some, from 60 to more than 100 pounds. We decided no.

 Maybe David Tennant in Don Juan in Soho? He starred in Broadchurch and the Victoria-made Grace Point. Yes, tickets for tonight's show.... more than 100 or for only 10 pounds you can stand on the fourth level. It was suggested we shouldn't be afraid of heights. Again we passed. Maybe next time. 

 Nice theatre though.

 So we went walking down to the Thames River, across the Hungerford Bridge and walked the Embankment. 

 Looking back towards Big Ben and the Parliament buildings. 

Time for lunch and we thought we would try the National Theatre Cafe. Line ups to get in due to security checks but just around the corner the theatre pub and no check. I guess students are less of a security risk?? The pub is called the Understudy. Check the menu.

 

It was delicous and not a bad price for London. 

 My first cauliflower and chick pea taco.  

A couple of people have asked about security here. You really don't notice anything in particular but at bridges and subway lines there are often police present. You can see a couple here on the Blackfriars Bridge we returned on. 

 A walk down Fleet Street used to bring you by the news centre of Britain, where most major newspapers had their offices.  Today they've  all moved down the river.. We came upon St. Bride's Church, sometimes called the journalists' church, for a fascinating history lesson. St. Bride's is one of the most ancient churches in London. Worship dates back to the 7th century and there's evidence in the crypt of Roman building centuries before that. The present church is at least the seventh one on the site.   The Great Fire of London in 1666 destroyed the church. Christopher Wren designed a new one.

 

 In World War II St. Bride's Church was again destroyed. When the site was excavated they found the church's original 6th century Saxon foundations and some Roman coins and stained glass. 

 An interesting fact about the church is that the wedding cake dates back to 1703 when a bakers apprentice wanted to mak an extravagant cake and drew upon the design of St. Bride's Church. You can see the layers of the steeple here.

 One last site to see, Alfies Antique Market. But first as we headed for the tube we came upon a street act at Coventry Garden that Norm and I still can't figure out. Norm dropped a pound in his shovel and the guy rotates on his left hand but at no time does he touch the ground. 

 And then back upright.n

 No wires....

 Great act!

The Antique Market, not so exciting.

 So home we went with all the other people at rush hour, hot and steamy in the subway. 

Time for our last pub meal at The Wells near Hampstead Heath. Bangers and Mash, Tomato and Goat cheese salad and Sticky Toffee Pudding for dessert! The best!

 

 

 We say goodbye to our classy apartment and tomorrow we fly home. It has been a wonderful holiday. Thanks for following along with us. Yellow Bunny says she will miss it all. She liked our back garden. 

 One last note.... tomorrow is Election Day here. We are surprised at the lack of signs promoting the candidates. Here is one to encourage you to at least think about the voting.

Handed out at the tube stop to Norman. 

 

London Day

Rain, wind, wild weather is how the day started. Getting into London required first a bus, (it was so wet, we took the first one), next the Overground train at Hampstead, changed to King's Cross, then the Piccadilly line to Russell Square and a walk to the British Museum. A lot of people decided to go indoors today so there was quite the lineup at the museum. Norm looking a bit wet. 

 We went to the top floor with fewer people and viewed British Watercolours from 1850-1950. There was also an excellent exhibit of North American west coast First Nations right next to the watercolours. By then it was time for tea.

 Only 10 pounds......

The British Museum has closed in the courtyard making it an impressive entrance. 

 

Walking through London streets is a busy, crazy, maze of people and cars going every which way. We tried to find a favourite restaurant from last time we were here at the Seven Dials, Food for Thought. Unfortunately closed due to high rents. But we did find the spot.  

 

Seven Dials has seven narrow streets all coming together here, and the tower in the centre -- dedicated in 1989 by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, not sure why -- actually tells time on sunny days as the shadow moves around the circle. Not today Why anyone would drive in London is beyond me.

 

We made it to Trafalgar Square. On the fourth plinth is "Really Good" by David Shrigley, a seven-metre-high bronze sculpture of a hand giving a big thumbs up sign, which the artist hopes will become a self-fulfilling prophecy of positivity. No, it's not a reference to Donald Trump.

 

And of course Nelson on top. 

 

And St. Martin's in the Fields, for Lucy.

 

Next the British Portrait Gallery. This is on the floor as you enter. Looks like NG to me...

 

 Here is Robert Baden-Powell the founder of the Scouts organization. Yellow Bunny looking on.

Time for a late lunch/early dinner at the Ship Pub in Soho. Yes we shared a meal. Plates are huge and more than one can eat. But extra onion rings are good. 

 

 One last stop for pastry desserts - carrot cake and a rhubarb strawberry crumble at Pain Quotidien.

 We took a different underground stop home,  getting off at Hanpstead and walking through Hampstead Heath Park. A beautiful green space in the city. In between rain storms we could see the city several kilometres away.

 And then rains came again. 

Made it to London

Mostly a travel day today. Caught the train from Bristol to Paddington Station. Then we took the Tube to Embankment, changed to the Northern Line to Chalk Farm and then we walked to our Airbnb.

 

You know you are in the big city when you get live entertainment on the subway. It was a three-man band but as you can see, not everyone is impressed.

 

 We are staying in the Hampstead Heath area, very nice. Fortunately we stopped for a late lunch at the pub before starting the hike (30+ minutes with our full backpacks) to St. Albans Rd. Maybe were really hungry after only having toast for breakfast but this was one of the best meals so far. Norm had a bagel with eggs Benedict and we both had mushroom soup, homemade and probably we got our quota of mushrooms for a month. (Also a tall glass of Five Points ale for N. mmmm.) We ate so fast we forgot a photo. 

As you may remember, our last "home stay" in Bristol (arranged by Norman) had a certain atmosphere, but lacked privacy and cleanliness. Well, today we were greeted with our own private apartment. It has a full bathroom just for us (no sharing with six others, as in Bristol), a bedroom bigger than the country cottage we stayed at in Amsterdam plus a living room and kitchen. Did we mention the 12-foot ceilings?  Yes it costs more but what the heck, we can balance it out against Charlotte's home stay.

 

The master bedroom with real down pillows and duvet. 

 Dining room and living room where we could easily have four more stay over for dinner and sleep on the sofa.

 Nice eh!

The weather here is becoming very windy and stormy. So we did a quick walk around the block to find the bakery where we had tea/coffee and Chelsea buns, so good. Will remember a picture next time. Hit the Tesco for some food and came home to make "dinner", grilled cheese, chips and beer,  Old Crafty Hen Beer. Fairly balanced. Then using the iPad we just watched Sunday night's CBC National. Love technology. 

 Tomorrow we venuture into town, safely. 

A Bath Day

Only 12 minutes from Bristol by train, we decided to spend the day in Bath. Charlotte waved good bye ........That's our room on the left.

 The train was late both going and returning but we were in no hurry. This Passenger Shed which is right beside the train station was designed by.....yes Isambard Kingdom Brunel. No longer in use today, just for parking cars. You can take an Isambard Kingdom Brunel tour in Bristol and see all of his accomplishments.

 Arriving in Bath....

 Nice start to Bath.

Off we went to remember the city from when we here quite a few years ago with Doug and Maureeen Koch. A lot of new development and of course lots of tourists, like us. A few sites as we starting walking out of town:

 This is the Bath Cathedral, ringing bells as we passed by.

Check this date....

 Such wonderful history here. 

Next stop the Royal Crescent. Not decadent but classy.

 

 

 We then started walking out of town to see what we could see.

 Here we sat on a bench on a very beautiful Pitch and Putt Golf Course watching people walk their dogs. A good view looking back at Bath. So green.

The higher we climbed the more we looked down at Bath and took photos.

 A view and a community garden.

 

 The walls around the homes are massive. Keeps the bad guys out?? Eventually we circled back around to the town, going through a few parks on the way.

 

Lots of roses.

 Quite the root system.

You have to be a bit of a tourist in Bath.

 The Pulteney Bridge with stores along it.

 And looking back at the bridge and weir. We then took the waterside path along the Avon River.

 So many locks. This is where the Kennet & Avon canal joins the Avon River. It is 18 miles downstream to Bristol. And we arrived at the Halfpenny Bridge back to town.

 Once back in town we grabbed a bite to eat while the rains came down. Sunshine returned and off we went again. We toured the Victoria Art Gallery with Yellow Bunny.

 Not sure what this was but when Norm put in a coin, the artist painted. 

 Only Norman could find a gallery which was part of the Fringe Festival happening this week in Bath and there was a postcard art piece installation! 

 Yes there was a Fringe Festival going on and we were able to catch part of it. The elephant, an Asian one we were told, was a hit.

 She was very friendly.

 We even caught some of the street performers.

 Mr. Cat and Miss Mouse. You should see him roll about!

 

Time for home and back to Bristol. Along the way we were surprised to find fig trees growing along the road in the middle of Bristol, on disused ground beside the river. Could be good eating in a few weeks.

 Tomorrow London. We will be fine.