Our Day in London
Was it only eight days ago? Wow. Last Wednesday we gave Dad a break for a day and boarded the Southern line for the hour-plus trip up to London.
The Chelsea Bridge, just west of the Victorial Rail Bridge where the train crosses the Thames on its way to London Victoria Station.
Our first stop was to meet bloggers Kathy Flake and Natalie Bennett for a lovely vegan buffet lunch at Sasa Thai (as mentioned in my food post). We talked about the sorts of things all bloggers seem to talk about at these gatheringss - yes, lots of meta-conversation! It was pretty odd to listen to Kathy's American accent and Natalie's Aussie one and realize that, out of the four of us, I was the only one who wasn't an ex-pat. I don't think poor Robin got a word in edgewise among all these rapid-fire feminist bloggers!
After lunch we decided to have a meander, as much as I could handle with my new Lewes-purchased fold-up walking stick in hand (which, alas, wasn't much), and came upon Denmark Street. I never knew that London has its own version of Tin Pan Alley; pretty cool!
Insert obligatory Muffin Man remark here.
As I couldn't walk very well, and it was starting to rain anyway, we ducked into the White Hart, where they apparently subscribe to the Weekly World News.
I thought the atmosphere was nice, but some people might opine that the place has gone to the dogs.
We cut through Bloomsbury Square in the rain. I loved this charming play area.
And, as with so many places in England, the flowers were lovely!
Here's my friend Hilary, probably the person I've known the longest out of everyone with whom I'm still in touch (Steve comes in a close second), and undoubtedly the initial source of my Anglophilia. One of my closest friends during my "Jewish singles" years, Hilary was also my guide and companion the first time I visited England in the early '80s. She was new to the concept of blogging, but not to the internet as she does a fair bit of writing for Trip Advisor. This was taken at My Old Dutch, previously mentioned in my food post.
Avedon Carol was also there for our teatime gathering, and her husband Rob later joined us. Avedon's camera, like Bryan Talbot's (see my Bristol post), was infinitely cooler and more compact than mine, and she snapped this photo of Robin.
Amazingly, her camera did not break when she took my picture. Alas, I don't photograph well; there are very few pictures taken of me that I really like.
After Rob joined us, we took the underground back to Victoria Station before seeking out an area pub, so we'd be near the station for our return journey to Lewes. Although it was rush hour, the folks on this busy street weren't nearly as pushy as the madding crowd was last time we were in the area.
Maybe they're all so well-behaved because they're in the approximate presence of the Queen... Anyway, as mentioned previously we had a lovely time at the pub. Rob has one of the world's coolest jobs, in my opinion, working at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry (they made the Liberty Bell and Big Ben, among others), and Avedon has led the most fascinating life I've heard about since listening to various tales of the hippie era from my old friend Anna Ackner. She was apparently one of the pot-smoking student-types that Nixon met at the Lincoln Memorial, as dramatized in the 1995 movie, and was acquainted with Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin and that crowd. I was in awe and more than slightly jealous of this remarkable woman who had been a witness to so much history in the making! Avedon and Rob graciously invited us to stay at their place in East Ham the next time we're in the area, and considering that Dad may need a 2-day break from us and London is best done on an overnight basis anyway, if I can walk better by then I think we'll take them up on that offer!
All good things must come to an end, as we got back onto the Southern for the trip back "home." I really envy Robin's ability to nod off at the drop of a flash bulb...
Was it only eight days ago? Wow. Last Wednesday we gave Dad a break for a day and boarded the Southern line for the hour-plus trip up to London.
The Chelsea Bridge, just west of the Victorial Rail Bridge where the train crosses the Thames on its way to London Victoria Station.
Our first stop was to meet bloggers Kathy Flake and Natalie Bennett for a lovely vegan buffet lunch at Sasa Thai (as mentioned in my food post). We talked about the sorts of things all bloggers seem to talk about at these gatheringss - yes, lots of meta-conversation! It was pretty odd to listen to Kathy's American accent and Natalie's Aussie one and realize that, out of the four of us, I was the only one who wasn't an ex-pat. I don't think poor Robin got a word in edgewise among all these rapid-fire feminist bloggers!
After lunch we decided to have a meander, as much as I could handle with my new Lewes-purchased fold-up walking stick in hand (which, alas, wasn't much), and came upon Denmark Street. I never knew that London has its own version of Tin Pan Alley; pretty cool!
Insert obligatory Muffin Man remark here.
As I couldn't walk very well, and it was starting to rain anyway, we ducked into the White Hart, where they apparently subscribe to the Weekly World News.
I thought the atmosphere was nice, but some people might opine that the place has gone to the dogs.
We cut through Bloomsbury Square in the rain. I loved this charming play area.
And, as with so many places in England, the flowers were lovely!
Here's my friend Hilary, probably the person I've known the longest out of everyone with whom I'm still in touch (Steve comes in a close second), and undoubtedly the initial source of my Anglophilia. One of my closest friends during my "Jewish singles" years, Hilary was also my guide and companion the first time I visited England in the early '80s. She was new to the concept of blogging, but not to the internet as she does a fair bit of writing for Trip Advisor. This was taken at My Old Dutch, previously mentioned in my food post.
Avedon Carol was also there for our teatime gathering, and her husband Rob later joined us. Avedon's camera, like Bryan Talbot's (see my Bristol post), was infinitely cooler and more compact than mine, and she snapped this photo of Robin.
Amazingly, her camera did not break when she took my picture. Alas, I don't photograph well; there are very few pictures taken of me that I really like.
After Rob joined us, we took the underground back to Victoria Station before seeking out an area pub, so we'd be near the station for our return journey to Lewes. Although it was rush hour, the folks on this busy street weren't nearly as pushy as the madding crowd was last time we were in the area.
Maybe they're all so well-behaved because they're in the approximate presence of the Queen... Anyway, as mentioned previously we had a lovely time at the pub. Rob has one of the world's coolest jobs, in my opinion, working at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry (they made the Liberty Bell and Big Ben, among others), and Avedon has led the most fascinating life I've heard about since listening to various tales of the hippie era from my old friend Anna Ackner. She was apparently one of the pot-smoking student-types that Nixon met at the Lincoln Memorial, as dramatized in the 1995 movie, and was acquainted with Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin and that crowd. I was in awe and more than slightly jealous of this remarkable woman who had been a witness to so much history in the making! Avedon and Rob graciously invited us to stay at their place in East Ham the next time we're in the area, and considering that Dad may need a 2-day break from us and London is best done on an overnight basis anyway, if I can walk better by then I think we'll take them up on that offer!
All good things must come to an end, as we got back onto the Southern for the trip back "home." I really envy Robin's ability to nod off at the drop of a flash bulb...
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