This was Russell’s dream holiday - his second after the Canal boat on the Canal Du Midi in 2008 – and so our itinerary had to include London to see Hamish. Russ really wanted to catch up with his son, and while I was not at all keen to spend a full week in the UK’s capital, I ended up loving each and every minute of it all. I was really amazed that the London I remembered from 1973 when I visited Grandma in Wimbledon was the same one; it had been cleaned up enormously I thought and offered so many wonderful experiences.
Our introduction to London occurred as soon as we got off the plane. We had to catch the UnderGround to Picadilly Circus where Hamish and Casey were to meet us and escort us to their place in Borough. The UnderGround is so huge, so hot, and so full of people that it was hard-going with all our luggage, especially when we had to climb up lots of stairs. When we got to the escalators we remembered Casey’s advice to keep to the right hand side at all times so people who want to get to work fast, can climb the steps and pass you easily. The British may drive on the left, but they walk on the right hand side of every path, and hug the right hand side of every escalator. Odd that!
Hamish and Casey rent a 2 bedroom flat with mates in a suburb of London called BOROUGH and it is very close to the THAMES RIVER, the TOWER BRIDGE and Shakespeare’s GLOBE THEATRE. We had never heard of Borough before, but it is home to wonderful market on the weekends and on that first day, we all walked there to see the sights and smell the aromas of cooking food. I adore markets and this was one of the best. Apparently Britons from all over London head to this market to do their fruit, veggie, bread, pastry and chocolate shopping each week.
They also make it a rendezvous to catch up with friends for an afternoon drink or lunch at one of the cafes nearby. It was all very cosmopolitan and busy and alive. Just what we needed to keep ourselves awake.
I didn’t take any photos of our apartment in Borough (which was only about 200 metres from where the kids lived) but it was modern and spacious, had a full kitchen, a washing machine and dryer, and separate bedroom. We were very, very comfortable there and I even managed to make a home cooked dinner for Hamish and Casey on our second night there (from veggies, bread, dips and a cake we bought at the market!). Very easy.
The next day (Sunday) Hamish took us on the Underground to Notting Hill, a very trendy and happening part of London where the film of the same name (with Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant) was made. “The kids” used to rent here and while they loved the up-market way of life in this area, it was too expensive for too little (their flat was very small apparently and only had a single bathroom between 4 of them) so they relocated to Borough where their apartment is more modern and more spacious and slightly less expensive. Hamish gave us a royal tour of the area and Portabello Road and of course I took heaps of photos – including this one of a shop that used lots of old Singer sewing machines to decorate its interior.
AS we walked along the market stalls lining the street ( all old vintage things like photo frames, trinkets, jewellery etc) we also saw the famous Hummingbird Bakery which has become very, very trendy for its exotic icing of little patti cakes. In fact Hamish bought us some for dinner that night. ON reflection I should have taken a photo of the cakes in that shop because they were so elaborately and colourfully iced. No wonder they were so pricey!!
Hamish also showed us one of the shops that Casey loves because of its colourful wares. And it was extremely appealing. The designer, Kath Kitsen, has become a bit of an institution in London and her toilet bags and shower caps and aprons sell like wild fire in this shop.
I just HAD to try on a shower cap and hold a flannel for the camera!!
There were so many ‘famous’ shops and pubs in the area we just had to stop and have a coffee at one of the lovely cafes that makes delicious breads. Russ and I were awe struck since there is a dearth of really good fresh bread available in Cairns. Unlike Melbourne! And of course the smell was fabulous!
We kept walking through NottingHill and into Kensington and from there we ambled through all the parks that London is famous for. We passed Kensington Palace, walked through Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, and St James Park. Being so used to green grass and lots of well watered lawns, we weren’t very impressed with the lack of lushness of London’s parks although the flowers were gorgeous in areas and the squirrels in St James Park ( I think) were delightful and very tame! We passed by the Memorial to Princess Di, which I thought was very pretty and very interesting.
It featured a kind of fountain made out of 545 pieces of Cornish Granite, each shaped and fitted together,. The end result was a sloping circular waterway, with some ripples of small waterfalls in areas that was shallow enough for kiddies to paddle in and for their parents to sit on comfortably to keep a watchful eye on their charges. Lots of people were picnicking on the (fairly dry) grass in the area so it made for a lovely family scene. I thought it was all very pretty and a lovely memorial to the ‘Peoples’ Princess’, as Diana was known. Not everyone was as enamored with Diana as the London public seemed to be, and as we all know she was a fairly manipulative and media-savvy young woman who used the photographers of the world’s newspapers to her advantage. Of course being as pretty as she was, that was an easy feat and the paparazzi wouldn’t leave her alone even when she wanted them to. However this memorial fountain does what I believe she wanted to do herself. It brings young and old, rich and poor, tourist and local together in the one place. It encourages a peaceful appreciation of time spent together with loved ones who are out and about wanting to enjoy the fresh air and the summer days London has to offer. I really liked it.
From there Hamish walked us past the memorial to Australia’s fallen men in both World Wars, an impressive wall with engravings that actually mark all the battles and all the names of towns and cities where those who had died came from. I am not sure how many people stop to read much of it!
We also passed another special memorial to the victims of the Bali Bombings in 2002 – a huge stone ball etched with doves.
Behind it was another wall with the names of all the innocent young people who died in that terrorist attack. Hamish must have mapped out the route we were going to take carefully to let us see so much in the one morning. After lunch we kept walking since we were happy to be out and about after being in the one plane seat for so long and we saw Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, The Houses of
Parliament and then we headed down the Esplanade of the Thames where the Summer Festival was in full swing. The huge ferris wheel that is called “The London Eye” is a massive structure that at this time of the year is full to capacity with tourists. Queues were huge.
We heard all manner of languages being spoken and we were amazed that so many people would pay in excess of 30 pounds (about $45 Australian) per person for a half hour ride. Frances had told us not to miss this attraction but although we walked passed it on other days, the exorbitant cost put us off even if the views of Greater London were reputed to be breath-taking. We both preferred to spend our money on a glass of beer/wine or a coffee out after all our day’s exploring instead . We always love watching the world pass us by as we indulge in a sidewalk café!
Along the Esplanade there were also heaps of Buskers and street performers (like the Charlie Chaplin one who was so life-like in both his mannerisms and his costume/make up) who were there to entice some spare cash from the passing tourists. The place was alive with families walking around and of course children love these dress up characters many of whom stand absolutely still almost willing you to make them move. When you drop some money into the hat or box they carefully position in front of themselves, they graciously move a finger or two to acknowledge your generosity. It is so cute to watch kiddies respond so positively to them all. I particularly liked this Green Frog Man with his Baby Frog, both on bikes. I reckon he was actually watching me take the photo of Russell; I can almost see his eyes looking out from that mask!
BY the time we got back to Borough, Hamish reckoned we had walked about 10 kilometres. But we saw so much and really got a fabulous feel for London on a summer weekend. And more to the point, Russell and Hamish had plenty of time to walk ahead of me and talk as I happily dawdled behind, snapping all my photos.
For the rest of our time in London, we were on our own as both Casey and Hamish had to work. Hamish gave us a mobile phone in case we got lost and needed directions: he also gave us a ‘locals’ ticket for the Underground which was much cheaper than we could buy tickets for and so we just topped it up with money when we were about to leave and gave it back to him. We got very acclimatized to the Underground in our time in London and found it incredibly fast, efficient and punctual – unlike what I remember of trains in Victoria in my time. But it was very hot. Sometimes stuffily hot and people used to leave the train windows open to get some of the breeze that came from the speed at which the trains were moving. It wasn’t fresh air of course, being all that way underground, but just the feel of moving air helped. Being so far underground was a bit eerie for me since I was not used to it at all.
A highlight for both of us was our exploration of the only Canal in London. It is called Regent’s Canal and since Russ just adores boats and rivers and canals, we just had to walk the length of this lovely little waterway.
A small section is set aside especially for permanent residents who use the ‘long boats’ as they are called as homes.
They moor these boats to the side of the canal in a place called “Little Venice” and each owner treats the walkway near his/her boat as a home. Each boat is festooned with pots of colourful flowers and by the side of the boat, on dry land, are pots of herbs and vegetables to use for cooking, bikes chained up to be used for shopping, and even tables and chairs and clothes lines strung up between pegs on the bank. It is all so delightfully cute and picturesque.
This is only a small section of the canal and later it just turns into a waterway beside large estates or mansions. We ended our walk at the Lock where boats have to pass through to enter a lower part of the canal and this is a place that has become very trendy and touristy in recent years. Casey told us to visit the markets here, called Camden Markets, so named after the Camden Lock, and you could tell this was a young person’s mecca: the market was full of flouncy dresses and Tee Shirts with
slogans and colourful trinkets and trendy styled cafes.
Another major highlight of our London trip was taking a fast River Taxi on the Thames all the way to Greenwich – of Greenwich Mean Time. We were always up and on our way early (that being the best way to overcome jet lag) so we inevitably arrived at our destination before the hoards of visitors. It was the same this day except this time not even the Tourist Information Centre was open so we had to walk around the tiny village of Greenwich until 10am! Greenwich was undergoing a 150 million pound renovation so there was scaffolding everywhere and even the Cutty Sark, an old merchant vessel ship from the 1860’s was undergoing a spruce up and so we couldn’t get a tour. She was the last Clipper ship ever to be built and to transport tea from the Far East to the UK. We had to have a coffee while we waited for this sleepy township to wake !!
It was the Tourist centre that gave us our historical perspective on the area with Henry V111 being the king who put Greenwich on the map with his summer holiday palace here. Russ tried on one of the suits of armour that the knights used to wear when they ‘jousted’ in front of the King.
The major part of our day was spent at the Royal Observatory – which is where the actual line that is The Prime Meridian is drawn. But to get there meant a bit of a trawl up a long and fairly steep hill (as you can see from Russ’ stance!!)
But the views of London were fantastic and it was all worth it.
The Royal Observatory is the home of Greenwich Mean Time and the famous Prime Meridian of the world. It houses a museum of time and astronomy in which we spent over 2 hours viewing all the telescopes and reading about all the changes in how time across countries was measured through the ages. It was fascinating and we both thoroughly enjoyed our day. Of course I couldn’t leave without taking a photo of my sandshoes on either side of Longitude 0 degrees!! Yes, they are my toes!!
No trip to London would be complete without the obligatory visit to The Tower of London, that famous group of buildings from history where an assortment of Kings and all manner of prisoners were imprisoned, often tortured and /or kept in solitary confinement for years and years. Being summer holidays, the crowds of visitors and school kids was enormous and although we passed the entrance a couple of times during our wanderings, we couldn’t find a break in the hoards. One day we decided to go later in the afternoon in the hope that the queues would have reduced.
Once inside we followed our map and explored the several turrets of the tower where the sad stories of prisoners (often imprisoned for their religious beliefs) were written. We were both amazed that the queues were still huge as people waited to get to see (for example) the Crown Jewels or the Chambers where the Instruments of Torture were housed.
We didn’t bother with either of these although I did take photos of the queues just to show how patient the tourists are – or how determined to get their money’s worth!!
We had got in free thanks to Casey and Hamish having a Local’s Special, a yearly ticket so we were happy to just browse around until closing time. We could have hired an audio headset to guide and inform us (the official guides had finished for the day by the time we got in since it was nearly 4pm) but we decided to pick and choose what to see on our own in the time before closing. I don’t remember much of the specifics of what we read but we did see the rooms (near the Queens’ Quarters) where Sir Walter Raleigh
was imprisoned and I remember the story of the 2 boy princes who were murdered so that an uncle could become King. My English history knowledge is sadly lacking I am afraid and Russell isn’t much help on details either!!
Being summer time, night doesn’t fall until after 9pm so it was hard to tell the time and we often had to rush back to the apartment to open the door for C and H to join us for drinks. We kept forgetting to look at our watches!! They would often bring over Casey’s computer so we could check on our emails or write a short letter (or two) to some of our friends back home. Casey had started a new job that week so she was finding her way and learning the ropes but she still found time during the day to do some research on reception places for their wedding next year.
Their engagement was only a week old when we arrived in London so there were lots of issues they needed to discuss. Lists had to be finalised, action plans devised, budgets drawn up, and reception places investigated. Nothing had been completely determined while we were there (not even the date) so there was always something to talk about. One of the biggest decisions will be where they will live after the wedding. After all, they live and work in London at the moment and Hamish is certainly enjoying it all including all the weekend and week-long travel to different cities and places on the Continent, but their families are all back in Australia and they need to decide when they should return to ‘settle down’. So there were plenty of discussion topics raised - from the pros and cons of the different venues to the decisions about a garden ceremony on the beach at Sorrento versus one on the lawns of a reception place nearby etc. etc It was a wonderful week to be with them because they were both so excited. Having never been married, I had no idea of the logistics and the enormity of the planning involved and I was quite fascinated by Casey’s organization – she had everything itemized in a folder under headings and with separated sections covering the various operational issues. I wouldn’t even begin to know where to start!!
To celebrate their engagement we invited them out to dinner.
We met first for a drink at one of their local ‘haunts’ called the HorniMan (!!), another very trendy bar/restaurant in the area and then we walked along the Thames to a Thai/Japanese place very close to the London Bridge.
The day had been a rainy and grey one but just for a few minutes the sun came out as we ordered dinner and I saw the London Bridge illuminated fantastically. It only lasted a few minutes before the sun set but what a sight! It almost looks as if the bridge had been purposefully floodlit for the occasion.
Being so close to all manner of places along the Thames, we had lots to see as we took our daily walks. The Globe Theatre where Shakespeare’s plays are performed in the round was close by,
As was the Tate Modern, the most visited Art Gallery/Museum in London, (and I even got Russell in there for 3 hours of culture!.) It was fantastic and we went up and down the escalators into various sections on Impressionists, Post Impressionists and then into the most esoteric “Pop Art” sections.
I even joined a tour run by a resident historian/Art Critic who took a group of us on a tour of several of Salvadore Dali’s paintings and I found it all fascinating. I should have done more of that kind of thing because suddenly I began to understand what was in the paintings and how they could be interpreted.
It was another grey day outside (not at all like the London summer we expected) but the view from the coffee shop showcased Christopher Wren’s architectural
Masterpiece, St Paul’s Cathedral, as well as the Foot Bridge built for the millennium (2000).
Our week in London had so many unexpected highlights and the more we walked and explored along the Thames, the more I grew to like what I saw. One day we just walked into the city to see the shops. We walked past St Paul’s Cathedral for me to have a
look at (Russ wouldn’t go in – he waited for me outside!), along Fleet Street where all
the newspapers used to be (and I loved the fantastic old buildings which have so much character and can tell so many stories), and from there onto AUSTRALIA HOUSE
where in 1955 the Bacon family had their photo taken with the actor Jack Hawkins to mark the Premiere of his new film at the time. I have forgotten the name of the film but we were chosen to head the media release because we were migrating as 10-pound immigrants to the Land-of-Opportunity-and-Clean-Air, Australia, and this was the topic of the film. I just had to get Russ to take a photo of me there! We also tried to vote for the elections there but the forms were not ready.
Once we got into the city, Russ dragged me into all the ritzy shops like Selfridges and John Lewis, along Oxford and Regents Streets and onto Trafalgar Square in the rain. It was a good day for shopping since we could get out of the wet, and we even spent an hour or so in the famous five-storey toy shop called Hamleys where I contemplated buying Jacki a gorgeous little lamb for the princely sum of 45 pounds! I carried it around with me the whole time I was there, not wanting to put it down in case someone else picked it up. It was so soft and cuddly. In some ways I wish I had bought it for her now but at the time it seemed a tad childish. There were only 2 lambs in the whole shop – Lambing Season isn’t until around Easter I was told - !!
Russ is very interested in War History and so the Churchill Museum and the War Rooms were on his list of things to do. Just like a tour of the Globe Theatre was on mine. We compromised and went instead to the Imperial War Museum. Life is full of these little compromises I find but this one was a huge winner. Of course we walked all the way there (the long way into town and through it) and spent probably 3 and a half hours browsing the displays and exhibits and photos. We saw and could climb into the Lancaster planes from the war that Jack, Russ’ dad flew in, and while I was looking around there I met an elderly but upright Canadian man who was also looking at these Lancaster planes. He said he had piloted them in 14 missions during the War. He also told me that of 15 young men from his little village in Canada who joined up for the war effort, only his younger brother and himself survived. I thanked him on behalf of all of us for his participation.
We also saw a newly established exhibition about the recent excavation of the Fromelles area where the burial site of all the Australian soldiers has been unearthed by archeologists. However, the majority of our time there was spent in the Holocaust Museum, which was an emotionally exhausting but totally involving experience. It is not recommended for children under the age of 14 and I am not surprised about that because it is very detailed and explicit at times. We fairly limped out of there in the mid afternoon but agreed the Museum was a wonderful memorial to all that happened between 1939 and 1945.
I have skirted over lots that we did in London but since we came primarily to catch up with Hamish and Casey that was our focus. However there was an old friend I knew from my childhood days who we also caught up with for a drink and that proved to be a really lovely catch-up session. It was Divina who told us to go to Greenwich Village and that for us was a definite highlight of our time in London.
Our last night was made special because Casey made a home cooked meal especially for us and even got off work a bit early to so do. Russ knew he wouldn’t see his son until the wedding so it was a last chance to chat about all those irrelevant things one chats about before good-byes have to be made. It was a lovely evening and the next morning we navigated the Underground by ourselves all the way to St Pancreas to catch the EuroStar train to Paris for the beginning of our Euro Sail Bicycle Tour .
But that is another instalment!
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