tate a téte

Once again I say goodbye to to Maidstone Auntie -- it gets no easier -- and head to London Bridge station. I am at London Buddy's by 1:30 and we head out in the glorious sunshine for the Tate Britain. Our bus gets caught in traffic and after 3 lights and no forward progress we hop off, walk down Shaftesbury Ave., through Covent Garden, across Trafalgar Square to the Mall where huge Union Jacks are waving in honour of what I suddenly realize is the 40th anniversary of our family leaving London for Canada, then beside the Serpentine, behind Westminster Abbey where my Mum used to work, along the river to the Tate, eat lunch, look at art and Art, buy presents for Dad (birthday), cross the river, walk by the Houses of P, the Eye and all that, cross back on the Jubilee Bridges (that wobble as the train passes), back up the the Strand, up Charing Cross Road (bookstores!) to Oxford Street where we catch a bus (before we can get tickets out of the machine -- a free ride finally) back to Islington and dinner at the local Strada. A beautiful sparkly last day in London. Thanks London Buddy.

I did not take any pics -- wish I had now but it seemed a bit obvious at the time. How many 10000000000000s of pictures of the Thames does the universe need? But that does not help my blog at all. One of the things I bought my Dad was the mini Tate-to-Tate set and now I can re-enact our walk whenever I want.

train luck?

We got up at 4:30 this morning in order to get to the airport at 5. Good thing we were there early because it was BUSY! Got to Heathrow by 8ish and my colleague and I parted ways. She went to meet her partner and go to Oxford and I returned to Paddington, then Victoria to catch a train back to Maidstone. Somehow I got on the wrong train. I think I might have mixed up the 10:24 to Canterbury East with the with the 10:42 to Canterbury West. Or vice versa. Or not that at all. I blame the early rising. I started to notice I was in an unfamiliar landscape but there was noone on the train to ask. I leaned out the door at Rochester and called to the signal person. He was most helpful. He told me to go to Gillenbury and then get a train back to Strood and then get the train to Maidstone. Okay then. When I disembarked, a young woman came up to me and said, "You are Canadian, right?" Wow! She gave me some more good train advice and told me that after 10 years in England she still misses Calgary and the wide, open spaces.














Strood was quite desolate and windy on a Sunday mid-morning and there was something squeaking rhythmically ... I started to feel that Lee Van Cleef might saunter up any minute. Lee Van Cleef in the wilds of Kent.














Everything worked out fine and I was back on Belmont Close only an hourish later than originally planned.

islington wander

We spent the day in Islington wandering about. I did not take any photos. Why? I forgot my camera. But it looks something like this:

Then we had dinner at Fifty Six on Newington Green. Dinner was very pleasant and the restaurant very comfortable. Just as we ordered coffee the Turkey versus Czech Republic UEFA cup game ended. Turkey had won and the streets filled with honking cars. It got too noisy to stay out so we went home to continue our chat.

train luck

After lunch I left Belmont Close to head back to London. When I got to the train station there was a sign that read very simply 'No Trains'. Wha?!?!











I had to take a bus to Sevenoaks. It was kind of great to go bashing through the winding country roads on this great big double decker picking up all the train passengers between Maidstone and Sevenoaks. I called LondonBuddy to tell of the change in arrival time and he said to try to get a train to London Bridge rather than Victoria as that would be easier. When I got to Sevenoaks station there was one train waiting there and the only place it was going was London Bridge! We met up effortlessly and he treated me to a fantastic dinner and debate at La Petite Auberge in Islington.

home for lunch

Who says
Friday the 13th
is unlucky?

visiting fred

afternoon in the garden

early morning on belmont close

maidstone, kent

On June 11 I took the train to Maidstone to visit my Auntie. Her house is one where I have spent many happy days in her company. She moved here when I was a small girl and we lived in London. In those early days, the estate was new and the gardens were un-landscaped. My parents used to take us to visit and the grown-ups would work hard laying sod and patio stones and planting flowers while my sister and played about. There were walks in the woods, barbeques, a rocket in the playground, drives down country roads and pub garden lunches.

our girl takes london

trafalgar square, the portrait gallery and souvenirs
























































































and then home to record the day...

london again

this time with a daughter-of-a-schoolpal and her grandmother.
we met up at the flat they are renting on park road (regent's park).
they had arrived here in old blighty at 10 a.m. and were just
waking from post flat naps. we got sorted and then strolled
down the road for dinner in a french bistro on Baker Street.

buckfast abbey

we started here. i did not take too many photos but you can see more here,
including an a amazing stain glass room in the church. the buckfast monks
make a wine that is quite strong and, i am told, quite favoured by certain
people in scotland.

widdicombe

the tour guides were my son-of-a-cousin and his lovely girlfriend pictured above.

haytor