Saturday
August 21, 1982 – London
Funny to
think we’ll be home this time next week – but it has been a most interesting
and enjoyable trip. Had a good night’s sleep last night after a dinner of
gammon steaks, mushy peas and mashed potatoes. Marvellous what you can get out
of packets and cans here!
I went for a
much needed run along the Embankment in lovely sunshine. There are a lot of tramps
of both sexes who sleep on the benches – one I nicknamed Father Xmas as he has
a very big beard which would be white if it was clean. He was snoring as I went
past but a couple of others were busily writing in their notebooks. I would
love to know what the subjects are.
After a pleasant
continental breakfast when I got back, we headed off on our expedition to
Harrods, surely the Mecca
of all serious shoppers. At Rab’s insistence we walked there from South Kensington, wasting ergs of energy which we needed
badly later. What a shop that is – everything everybody has said about it is
true. That has been the story of this trip – everything has been what we
expected it to be. We worked our way right through the emporium starting on the
top floor to the ground floor just gawking at things like a suit of armour for
sale at £2,000.
Matt spent
the last of his money on a Millennium Falcon and has spent the afternoon
happily playing with that and the other Star Wars equipment he has collected
along the way. Our final stop at Harrods was in the Food Department on the
ground floor to stock up for the weekend – there is just nowhere in the
immediate vicinity of the flat where one can buy food, especially over the
weekend. What a selection there was – I just cannot begin to list it. (On future business trips, I would try to
stop in at Harrods on the way to the airport to pick up a wheel of the best
cheese I have ever tasted – a gorgonzola whose name escapes me) We made
some interesting choices but at this stage were so pooped – we had been
wandering around for four hours – that we just grabbed a cab and with a brief
stop at an off licence came straight home. It cost three times the Tube ticket
of £1.00 but was well worth it.
Spent the
afternoon watching telly – very good sport – and trying to get hold of a
newspaper, also very difficult around here.
Sunday
August 22, 1982 – London
The Group
Decision this morning was to take a walk along the Embankment and then go on a
river cruise up to Hampton.
So we set off about 10.00 in sunny weather, but not for long. As we walked
alongside the Thames, the wind came up and so
did the clouds. Having learned a little about British weather, we had taken our
anoraks so we were able to keep warm.
In view of
the deteriorating weather conditions, we reconsidered the planned river cruise.
Given the lack of comfort comfort on the boats – slatted wooden seats ; the
look of the river - very different
without sunshine and the cost of £3.50 each, we decided against it.
 |
| I could always pull the birds in the old days |
So we just
meandered on past Parliament and Big Ben up to Trafalgar Square. Where we fed the
pigeons. At least Rab and I did, but Matt was a bit wary of them and didn’t
like their swooping down at him. I was surprised at Rab because one of her
phobias is being trapped in a room with a bird flapping around.
We strolled
back down The Strand, mainly window shopping since many of the shops were
closed, it being a Sunday, and popping into the establishments that were open.
We had a good lunch back at the flat – smoked mackerel, chips and mixed rice,
all by courtesy of Harrods and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening
relaxing and watching TV.
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