Sorry for the radio silence, I was away this past weekend down in london, meeting good friends, and family and such like. It was generally sunny and such like (it rained on Monday) and quite warm though nothing like the awful humidity last august.
On Thursday, after arrival I checked in then went down to Oxford St to buy some new shoes - to replace the ones i bought there last August - somehow I only find time to buy shoes when in London! I then picked up some other essentials and an extra phone charging battery thing. Then wandered home via the amazing St pancras Station; on the way passing the National Homeopathy Hospital and other medical stuff .
Friday saw me visiting the Imperial War Museum, and the London Bridge area for some lunch before jumping a train out to see my cousin & family. I haven;t seen her for almost 2 years now, so it was good to catch up with her and her husband over a curry and some beer watching the football; and also meet her newest daughter and renew acquaintance with the older daughter. they have just moved into a new house, which is pretty big (IMO) for inner London - nice sized rooms and a good sized garden, and very close to a station, allowing a quick trip back to the hotel.
On Saturday I was due to meet school friends Anna, Rach and Pete at tate modern in Southwark at noon. This was interesting due to some strange combinations of tube lines being closed; but we all made it, except Pete who had life delays. So we went for a nice walk around the Tate, seeing modern, impressionist, abstract and pother art forms - some was very good, some was interesting and some was a bit 'Huh'; we then headed over to St Paul's for a nice lunch and met up with Pete before wandering along for some drinks in a nice Samuel Smith's pub with its own ales and ciders - very tasty. Rach had to leave us but Pete invited Anna and I back to his flat for some tea - sausage and mash, a Pete classic - by combination of Tube and bus we reached his enclave in North London - with a view (just) of Essex. The day roudned off heading back into London, me to my hotel and Anna onward to Slough
Sunday was my big adventure; at lunchtime I headed to paddington to get the train to Slough to meet Anna and we headed for Windsor, after commenting (like 2 old people) about the dress sense (or not) or the Slough teenagers. In Windsor we picked up some tasty lunch - a roast beef dinner no less, in the Carpenters arm - a nice eaterie bar with a great view of the 'Crooked house'. the afternoon was really warm, so we started with a walk into the the 'Long Walk' of Windsor Great Park, and then back to a park for ice cream and a walk along the River, passing what we dubbed 'the Queen's kebab shop'; for it is opposite the back door to the castle! An early departure for London saw me walking from Paddington back to my hotel - approx 3 miles, through touristy boits of London which were becoming quieter as evening fell, including the University College Hospital which looks more like a bank headquarters, the Guardian building, British library and such like.
Monday was a touristy day, I dropped my case at the station and went to the British Museum, out to the Olympic site at Stratford, back via London Bridge to Picadilly, and then up Regent Street to the BBC and up to Regents Park and the Zoo, before heading through the rain to the Wellcome collection and then the train home.
