Wow - London Riverboat trip to Greenwich

This week we met up with friends Kari and Erik from White Rock BC.


 We took a trip down the Thames to Greenwich together. For about $20 each (return trip) the three of us boarded a London Riverboat at Westminster pier. It left the dock at noon precisely as Big Ben finished chiming. The boat we chose was run by the city - there are a number of tour companies running boats up and down the river - and so we weren't expecting much more than a boat ride. Instead we were treated to a detailed tour of throughout the 45 minute trip.

 I happened to be filming at the time and caught the first part of our journey as we went by the London Eye.

 We learned so many interesting details about the history of the river, about chaining prisoners to docks, pirate hang outs, and the buildings;  both new and ancient. We also enjoyed his London accent very much.

 I would say this was one of the highlights of our London visits so far. It is something not to be missed, especially if you enjoy boat rides.

Greenwich was certainly a treat as well. After we had a lunch of roast beef sandwiches, Welsh Rarebit,  minced beef pies and even mushy peas at a traditional Engish Pub, we carried on up the hill to the Observatory.

At the pub

View of Lond from Greenwich

The Cutty Sark

The workings in the Observatory

Telescope (1923)

One of the first clocks that could be used on a ship

At the Greenwich Observatory Sally, our tour guide was so knowledgeable about history and brought the drama of the race for finding out how to navigate using longitude  to life for us. Greenwich was very much worth the journey.

We stepped across the prime meridian too! 

A wonderful day spent with good friends to share it with.

Saturday in Oxford

Now that we have a car we can do a bit of touring around so this Saturday we drove to Oxford for the day. We have friends that we had met through home exchange correspondence, Beatrice and Richard, and they were kind enough to invite us over for a visit to their home in the town. We took far longer than we expected to drive there due to a number of wrong turns on roundabouts, but finally made it to their house and were treated to a very nice English breakfast.

 Then it was  a few hours in the town including a climb up St. Mary's church tower for an amazing view of the place. There is a lot to see and our few hours of course did not do it justice, we didn't have enough time to go to the museums, but it was a beautiful day so it was full with just wandering around gaping at stuff. The bells in Christchurch were pealing out for some reason, and it added to the flavor of the place. It was quite crowded, full of people milling about and going in the shops but what would you expect on a sunny Saturday afternoon 

After our hosts collected us they took us out for a drink at The Trout, a very charming pub on the banks of the river, sometimes seen in the show "Inspector Morse"

.

Beatrice and Richard  and their dear little kitty Kiwi then had us for a very nice dinner and a great evening of hospitality. 

We ended up leaving well after dark and had a bit of a time with the car going home as the instrument panel was so darn bright I could barely see the road. We tried to find the button to dim it but no no avail. So I just drove much slower than normal and thankfully we made it home in one piece.

Thursday's day in London

Last Thursday morning we headed off to London by train a second time. Once again started the day on the banks of the Thames, this time to see the Houses of Parliament. Across the river from them is the huge London Eye which we marveled at but did not ride. While strolling along, Kendra was approached by a man who began politely chatting us up and as he brought out several strands of yarn and wrapped them around her wrist, it was soon obvious that he was going to be selling us something. In a matter of a minute he had skillfully knotted a little braided bracelet, with an intricate pattern of black, red and yellow yarn. He was from Tunisia and he said this was a traditional African thread bracelet. How true this was I am not sure but he certainly had the technique down. He claimed that most people paid him ten pounds ($15) or so, but I shrugged and offered him two pounds fifty which he seemed satisfied with. There are certainly worse ways to part with four dollars and I didn't mind passing a little money on to an enterprising fellow like him. 

Westminster Abbey

Houses of Parliament
 (the bell in the clock tower is
 called Big Ben)

After wandering around the area we walked over to Westminster Abbey. It is a beautiful building to see and although we would have liked to go inside I wasn't ready to pay the approximately $75 for the three of us to enter (maybe if we were planning to be in the city for a longer time it would be worth it as I would have liked to spend an afternoon there).

Museum of Natural History

 Our next stop was the Natural History Museum (free), which is housed in a gorgeous Victorian building, decorated with terracotta plants and animals. Had a snack in the museum cafe and spent a couple of hours here enjoying skeletons of dinosaurs, animal displays, crystals and meteorites. 

Then we went to Hyde park, to sit and enjoy the sunset, and to wander down the treed walks being well used by joggers and bicyclists of all shapes and sizes. Despite seeing hundreds of bikes we have yet to see one person in the typical Vancouver spandex bicycling uniform. London is a spandex free zone. Cyclers wear suits, dresses, jeans or dress pants, and helmets are rare.

Sunset done, and just enough time and energy left in us to take the Tube one more time to see the Tower Bridge at night. It was worth the trip as it and the Tower of London are beautifully lit up.  

We caught a fast train back to MK and were home well after 10 pm, tired but happy with our day.

How I got a Mercedes to drive in England. Luck pure luck.

The Key

Kind Phil takes some time off work
 to drive us to Eurocar Rental

On Friday Phil, our home exchange host's son, kindly popped by to drive us to get our car rental. The idea of driving a car on the left side of the road is quite daunting, but the reality is not as bad as it sounds. You just have to think positively and prepare yourself for the adventure ahead of time. I decided to do a little creative visualization, and for a few nights, before drifting off to sleep (it was actually a pretty good way to get to sleep, I discovered) I just imagined exactly how I was going to walk to the RIGHT side of my car, (always bright blue, and very beautiful)  open the door, get in, turn on the ignition, drive on the LEFT side of the road,  how I would turn left, turn right. I always fell asleep just before I figured out how I would deal with the roundabouts though. The time came and Phil dropped by to pick us up and the hunt was on for the place where I had arranged our car hire. En route we had a number of dizzying spins on half a dozen roundabouts. While we whipped around them I  frantically tried to analyze exactly what he was doing  (this felt quite a bit like cramming for an exam, actually). Finally Phil drove us into bowels of Milton Keanes near where a  new city stadium was being built. We saw a small sign that read "Eurocar Rentals". My booking printout actually read "Alamo" and had the byline "To Find Us Just Look For The Green Alamo Sign" but who am I to question such things. The brusque fellow at the counter seemed to be expecting us and he quickly advised us that unfortunately the Vauxhall was not available. Would we, perhaps be OK with either a seven-seat MVP Volkswagen immediately, or, if we could wait for 30 minutes, a Mercedes? No problem, I said, as soon as the shock wore off, we would wait. However, I shortly discovered that I had left my passport at the house and it was necessary to book the car. Phil had already left to head back for work, the house was a long taxi ride away and the man behind the counter was looking at me with polite disdain. While he was shaking his head and saying "no, I am afraid we need a passport" I could see the image of Leif and Kendra and I happily tooling about the British countryside in a beautiful, spacious Mercedes fading away. I tried accessing Dropbox on my phone to get to a jpeg of the passport but it seemed to be beyond the current capability of the phone. OK, to be truthful - in my frenzied haste I pulled out its battery thinking I had to reboot and  that pretty well screwed up my phone for the next half an hour or so. I left Leif to fiddle with the phone and  I frantically searched my wallet for another photo ID  (besides my drivers licence) that they might accept. Finally I found my old American Express Costco card that I rarely use, with a fuzzy four year old mug of me on the back. I handed it to him with a flourish, saying "It's American Express !" He peered at it, flipped it over to see my grinning face, sighed, and said something like "I suppose it will have to do". In no time I was behind the wheel of a lovely Mercedes. Thank-you Costco.

 Left side of the road? no problem. Roundabouts? well it has been a couple of days and they are now making sense, but lets just say for the first few times I wish I hadn't fallen asleep those nights quite so quickly.

Not blue but very beautiful, here is our Mercedes we have decided to call Frans

Chillin' out in England at our home away from home

In the conservatory (sunroom)

A nice thing about doing a six week home exchange is that you don't feel like you have to be out touring every day. Both our days in London were very long, with lots of walking so it is really nice to be able to take a day to read, make music, catch up on our journals, and enjoy the neighbourhood.  Early this morning I walked down to the "Local Centre" to stock up on basics. When you are in a different country, just going to the corner store is pretty fun - especially when it includes a trip to the bakery for some impressive English treats. This afternoon we sampled a couple of Cherry Bakewell Tarts which is a tart filled with almond sponge cake and jam with white icing and a cherry on top (I have a recipe linked).  Kendra has headed out  for a walk with her sketchbook as the sun is still shining on us which is very nice and the temperature is about 17C. There is lots of wind here and it is quite interesting to see all the clouds shoot past. Leif pointed out that unlike Vancouver, the area has no big mountains to stop the weather, hence the typical variable London pattern with clouds, sun and the occasional shower all in one day. 

The kitchen counter: marmalade, tea,
strawberries from Herefordshire
 and local bakery treats

back yard patio

 Leif without a guitar in his hands, for once

Scarlet Runner beans in the garden

Kendra is reading " Pillars of he Earth"

Steve's garden

That's more like it!

A Day in London, and what it did to my wallet (answer; not much)

A day in London

We spent yesterday in London, as it is less than an hour train ride from our home base in Milton Keynes, but if you are lucky enough to catch the super fast train it takes just half an hour. Thanks to a three-for-the-price-of-two promotion, the ticket prices were very reasonable. Our three return tickets with full transit passes for the London underground system and buses included, cost me just  £39 ( $60 -  that is only $20 apiece). Consider this; one 1-6 zone transit pass for London normally costs  £8.50 ($13). You could imagine my delight! Armed with our tickets, we were able to easily visit many sites by hopping on and off London's great transit system.  We weren't always travelling though, many times we just sat on a bench and enjoyed the ambiance of the city. 

The Tower of London

First stop was down to the river, to see the Tower of London  and the iconic Tower Bridge which was looking beautiful with a colourful fresh paint job (for the Olympics, I suppose). We walked across the bridge and sauntered up the Queens walk along the Thames, past the Globe Theatre, and enjoyed watching the river traffic. Later we ate ice cream and walked the millennium bridge and visited St. Paul's. Then by tube we headed to Regents Park and Marlybone Station and down Baker Street to see  221B Baker street (the address of the Sherlock Holmes Museum with Hudson's Restaurant next door). What a great introduction to the city, but we did do an awful lot of walking.

The Millennium Bridge
 leads to St. Pauls

 Were prices outrageous?  I decided to spring for some ice creams and lemonade and here was the damage; a delicious English "drumstick" style ice cream was £1.20 ($1.90)  a medium sized blueberry "slushie" and a lemonade  (purchased in a very touristy area) were £2.00 each ($3.15). Later that day at an excellent fish and chip shop we spent about $15 apiece for extremely huge portions of deep fried cod, piles of fresh chips (no ketchup of course, just vinegar) and large sodas. I don't think that this is really much different than Vancouver prices. It seems to me, with the pound low and our Canadian dollar high, the famous London wallet-eating beast has been somewhat tamed, for now. 

Fish and Chips at "The Seashell"

Here are some other prices we have experienced, for your interest.

 (keep in mind all prices include their 20% tax):

1 local Milton Keynes bus ride £1.80 ($2.85)

1 pint gorgeous fresh strawberries from the Ilse of Wright; £1 ($1.60)

1 loaf magnificent fresh bread from the local bakery that would make Cob's cringe  £.95 ($1.50)

250 grams medium British cheddar (from a convenience store)  £1.96 ($3.10)

1 jar marmalade £1.29 ($2.00)

3.4 litre jug of milk  £1.74 ($2.75)

A short walk around Milton Keynes's Bradville

 

Steve's house is a typical Milton Keynes style, built in the 1980s. Milton Keynes was created as a large suburban area, a "New City", with easy access to both London and Birmingham, so many of the homes are of this vintage. We particularly liked the house number, very easy to remember for anyone who is a Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy fan.  A lovely thing about the area is that it is chock full of trails for bicycles and pedestrians (redway map here).Yesterday Kendra and I walked down to the local shopping area down a wooded path that wound past cute brick homes and under busy streets. This morning Leif and I had a walk up to a canal. We were walking along the path that was beside a busy road and above us was an overpass, presumably for another road. Well imagine our surprise when we saw over our heads, a slowly moving boat.  The overpass was not for another road, it was for the canal. (a picture here) We walked along the canal tow path and eventually came out the village of New Bradwell, with shops and a old church. When developers built Milton Keynes thirty five years ago, they incorporated a number of older villages into it, so there are some very old and charming areas. Contrary to popular opinion, the town is not named in tribute to two very famous economists Milton Freidman and John Maynard Keynes. Milton Keynes was the name of an old village in the centre of the newly created city of the 1980s. Originally called Middleton, the Normans in the 15th century renamed it  "Middleton de Keynes". Over the centuries the English changed Middleton into "Milton" and dropped the "de".

On our way to the shops

A view from a bridge over the local canal

Along the tow path

Church with graveyard in New Bradwell Village