22 July 2022

London

Tower Bridge

Okay, let me backtrack to last weekend. If you remember, Shirley and I went down to London to see our beloved son Ian and his delightful girlfriend Sarah. They have just bought a house together in Fulham. Please don't ask me how much it cost. An eye watering amount.

On the first night, Ian rustled up a fine vegan meal with meaty jackfruit and roasted chick peas as well as lollo rosso lettuce and couscous with red peppers. Then we had water melon and mango pieces for dessert. All very nice and so for those few hours I was vegan. I still wonder why some people get hot under the collar about veganism - making ill-informed judgements and sweeping generalisations.

On Saturday we hoped to visit The Chelsea Physic Garden near The Royal Hospital. It is a very old garden in which a wide range of medicinal plants are displayed for the public's pleasure. Annoyingly it is closed on Saturdays so we could not venture in. One of us should have checked.

The Walkie Talkie Building

We walked on to Sloane Square and the nearby Saatchi Art Gallery. Its gardens were hosting a food festival with dozens of little stalls. It felt very hot with the temperature pushing 32 degrees. and many visitors were sheltering in the shade of the big plane trees.

The famous London Underground has several different lines and the one that runs up to The Tower of London is called The District Line. Unfortunately, much of it was closed last weekend for engineering works and so we found ourselves walking from the Embankment station to Tower Hill. We took our time. There was no rush and we stopped for refreshing drinks at "The Ship Inn" - tucked away up an alleyway near The Monument to The Great Fire of London.

St Paul's Cathedral

We arrived at The Tower of London around 4pm, ready to see the amazing "Superbloom" display of wild flowers in the moat. What a brilliant idea! There were masses and masses of wild flowers and whoever  hatched this idea deserves a medal. Apparently, it will  keep running for a good few years.

After drinking and dining in a restaurant by St Katharine's Docks, we did something I had never done before - walked across Tower Bridge - opened in 1894 towards the end of Queen Victoria's reign. What a bold statement of national pride that bridge is. No expense was spared. We had good views up and down The Thames.

There was more waiting around to do before we attended The Ceremony of the Keys in The Tower. Our tickets were courtesy of one of Sarah's brothers who is an officer in The Irish Guards. It was a rare privilege to be in The Tower after dark witnessing history. Photography was verboten.

On Sunday, we reserved a table for lunch in "The Captain Cook" near Ian and Sarah's house. It was just perfect and afterwards Shirley and I headed up to St Pancras Station for our train back to Sheffield. That was cancelled so we had to jump on the next train - leaving just after four. We were lucky to find two seats as the train was understandably crowded. Our tickets weren't even checked.

Ian and Sarah in Fulham

28 comments:

  1. Sounds like quite the adventure. And Sarah and Ian look so very happy.

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    1. When northern barbarians descend on London, it's always an adventure. Yes they seem very happy together.

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  2. That was a very busy week end . You took the problems in stride .

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    1. As you know I am a cool kind of guy - just like you Red - I take all problems in my stride.

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  3. Lovely photos. It's shocking what homes sell for. I looked up some houses in Fulham and yes, eye watering is the correct term. My daughter and her boyfriend bought a similar home in downtown Vancouver for a ridiculous amount too. I couldn't deal with that kind of debt myself. It would make me to anxious.

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    1. For the same money Ian and Sarah could have bought a detached five bedroom mansion on the outskirts of Sheffield.

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  4. Ooh, memories of good old London Town.
    Ian and Sarah look very happy there.

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    1. How long did you work there JayCee?

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    2. I moved away in 1979 and have only been back for brief visits since then. A lifetime ago.

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    3. That's the year my dad died... 43 years ago.

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  5. Thank you for this wonderful post about what sounds like a really good time in London! You forgot to mention that you also were at the station to wave to me and my sister as our snazzy Azuma train to Leeds pulled out of the station on the dot.
    I love couscous and often eat it cold as tabouleh in the summer. Walking across Tower Bridge sounds exciting, as does the rare opportunity to witness the key ceremony.

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    1. I didn't wish to boast about seeing the two German princesses in their carriage.

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  6. Anonymous9:33 am

    Fulham! I am impressed. Closed District Line, closed gardens...not great for tourism.
    To reinforce vegetarian stereotypes, I asked staff at a vegetarian restaurant about 15 years ago as to whether only vegetarian staff were employed. The answer was no as they weren't good employees. At another vegetarian restaurant the service was so bad we just walked out.

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    1. That's a kind of -ism. Maybe vegetarians and vegans were a bit wacky in the past but now they are mainstream.

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  7. Your photographs are excellent! I love the one of St Paul's.
    I've never walked across tower bridge. I expect the views are great.
    I'm not a city person, I much prefer the countryside.

    I love Ian's path it's almost identical to my open porch floor. We live in a 1930's house. They all have the same tiles but some people have covered them with various things. I love mine just as they are. They're in good condition too.

    How poignant to find your gonk in Simon's stuff. You did a good job!

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    1. Do you and your hubby wear 1930's clothes to match your house? I imagine you emulating the styles of Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich.

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  8. Are you sure that's Ian in the photo? He looks rather like Volodymyr Zelensky. I like the Tower Bridge. Shame about the medicinal garden being closed. Will you go again on a day when it is open?

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    1. Next time we are down in London we might try again. It is a short taxi ride from where Ian and Sarah live.

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  9. First off, I am not a vegan, but the meal sounds dee-lish, and I would try it.
    Secondly, your day is my ideal perfect day, wandering and stopping, and wandering and stopping.

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    1. There is always something of interest to see in London.

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  10. It's years since I've been to London and know that it's changed a great deal. So many new and futuristic buildings beside the old familiar ones.
    I would like to see some of your photos of the spectacular wild flowers in the Tower of London moat. Not sure that I've seen them mentioned, or pictured, in the news.
    Glad that you had a good weekend - but how annoying that so many places were closed - and at the height of the holiday season too.

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    1. My photos of "Superbloom" were not especially good Carol. If you search via Google you will find many great images and even short videos. What grabbed me was the sheer number of plants and flowers rather than individual blooms.

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  11. Looks like a great weekend. I love Tower Bridge! There are some in my family who are very judgmental about veganism and even vegetarianism. They consider it radical not to eat meat or feel somehow threatened by those who don't. Both daughters have been vegan/vegetarian so I tend to go "Mama Bear" on anyone who dares to criticize them for their very healthy choices.

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  12. I like all foods, including vegan dishes but find I just don't have the imagination or the will power to come up with creative dishes that won't leave me bored and craving meat. If I had a private vegan chef, I would certainly give it a go.

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  13. You're a brute, YP, for putting the little lady through those long walks in that heat. (Spoken by someone who rarely ventures outside from late June til October!)

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  14. Congrats to Ian and Sarah on their purchase. I can't even imagine how much a house in Fulham must cost. More than I could afford, for sure. I'm glad to hear the Superbloom will go on beyond this year. I wonder how it fared on the hottest days last week?

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  15. Ah, the Chelsea Physic garden. It took me several attempts in the 1990s to get in -- even back then it had quirky opening hours -- and it was a dump. But they sold teas with home-made cakes by lovely sweet volunteer ladies for 10P. It was sleepy and quaint and run-down and I loved it. In the 2000s it got re-vamped and dreadfully posh and now they sell English wine for 20 pounds a glass and it's closed on Saturdays bc it's rented out as a venue for private parties. But it's gorgeous and I hope you get in the next time you're in London.

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  16. Oh! O forgot to tell you: there's a Wollemi Pine at the Chelsea Physic Garden. A botanical fossil.

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Mr Pudding welcomes all genuine comments - even those with which he disagrees. However, puerile or abusive comments from anonymous contributors will continue to be given the short shrift they deserve. Any spam comments that get through Google/Blogger defences will also be quickly deleted.

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