Day 13 -Diane and Nick and Alpha

Jemma and Cheryl managed to get a good nights sleep despite sleeping top to tail on a single bed. We had breakfast and headed out to Waterloo to meet Di and Nick. It was lovely seeing Jemma meet Di and Nick for the first time. These are our last remaing a Waterman relatives.
We strolled along the South Bank towards Blackfriars and the Globe Theatre chatting and catching up. We stopped for a picnic in front of the Tate Gallery. Cheryl and Jemma popped in to the free section to have a look. Unfortunately they are not mature enough to appreciate the poetic beauty of a white paint splotch on a beige wall or a slit cut through a piece of fabric. Probably sold for about ten grand a piece!
The picnic was lovely. Greek salad, falafel, taramasalata, hummus olives and pita bread. Yummy!  Di, always was a great cook!
We had to stop a few times as the repeated beats of chemo that Diane has endured has wrecked her nerve endings and make it uncomfortable to walk. It didn't matter. The views were great and we're not in any hurry.

 A couple English Bulldogs

 St Pauls from the South Bank

 The Globe Theatre

 Nick in front of the Golden Hinde (Sir Walter Raleigh's Ship)

 The White Tower, Tower of London

 Tower Bridge

Nicky and Pippa Gumbell - Holy Trinity Brompton - Alpha

Harrods Sea Food Hall

We said our goodbyes at 3:00pm as Di couldn't go any further and Cheryl had to get home to the kids.
Jems and I rested for an hour and then headed out again to Knightsbridge and Harrods which is just down the road from HTB. More about that in a minute.

Selfridges is amazing but Harrods is impossibly even better. The architecture, the ceiling and wall sculptures and paintings, the merchandise. There were a lot of items behind glass without prices. That is an ominous sign that if you have to ask you probably can't afford it. I personally think that 3,500 pounds for a clutch purse is quite reasonable. We went into the food court and checked out the price of caviar. 325 pounds for 30grammes. Hmm, let's get some. Does that come with crackers or are they extra? 10 mouthfuls would be the equivalent of the purse. Seriously, who shops here? Oh yes, people who own countries and 100ft yaufhta. They don't even shop there. They send their butlers.
We bought a very expensive gift for a family member (not giving anything away here). We could have bout some nice tea for £20but decided against it. We fled and headed down the road for Holy Trinity Brompton (HTB) the birthplace and current home to The Alpha Course. In case you dint know Jen and I have been leaders in Aloha for about 5 years. We meet at our church for dinner, watch a 30 minute video about God and then chat about it in groups. The video presentation is by a vicar called Nicky Gumbel. We arrived early and were lucky enough to meet Nicky and his wife Pippa almost immediately. I didn't waste ant time, I made a very brief introduction and Jemma snapped a photo before they could change their minds. Awesome. Nicky and Pippa were on their way in to a room where the leaders were preparing for the evenings Alpha. There had to be 50 People in the room. We waited for a few minutes and decided to join in. After all, I am a leader in Canada! We prayed over each other and some leaders told us what to expect that evening. Nick then got up and spoke. Jem and I were in a room with Nicky Gumbel! So cool.
We went upstairs, paid our £4 and goy our dinner and joined some other visitors for the evening presentation. This evenings presentation was filmed and transmitted live all over the UK over the web. We will see if we can look it up when we get home. After the video we joined our small group and were able to chat and get to know a bunch of new people. It was awesome!
Afterwards, Jems and I walked up Knitesbridge to Hyde Park Corner and caught the tube home.

Day 12 - Tavistock Hotel, O2 and Les Miserable

Cheryl met us at the Tavistock Hotel at 10:30. I paid the 5 quid upgrade for the English breakfast which was available as part of our room rate. It was lovely. Canned tomatoes (traditionally grilled or fried), baked beans, sausages and REAL bacon. None if that crappy American streaky bacon burned to a crisp by the Americans. And of course tea and toast to complete the ensemble. In Ireland we had black and white pudding (that's two separate puddings. If you ask what is in it you will not eat it!)

We took the tube to a East Greenwich and climbed the O2. O2 is a stadium, mall, restaurant gallery and movie theatre. It's is a canvas covered structure with twelve supporting posts, is 52 meters high and 352 meters in circumference. No accident. It is located just a few meters from the absolute zero latitude. All world time zones are relative to this point, GMT, Greenwich Mean Time. Cool eh?
It was a steep climb but we were rewarded with some great views of the docklands. Thanks Chezza for arranging that for us. We had lunch at Nandos inside O2 and then off to Oxford Circus for Cheryl's turn to take Jemma shopping. Three new tops and two pairs of jeans, sore feet and a sore back later we headed back to our hotel for a rest before getting ready for the big show Les Miserables!

The show was everything I remembered it to be. I've read Victor Hugo's original book, seen both movie versions and now seen the play twice. It was longer than I remembered it. My bottom was getting a bit sore near the end. Half way through the second half there was a technical hitch as the barricade didn't move into please correctly. There was some unscripted mechanical whining and clicking and then the curtain came down - just as the French soldiers were starting their attack! The curtain came down, the house lights came on and the iPods and iPhones came out. In no time, the news had circulated that Germany had just humiliated Brazil and knocked them out of the World Cup. It became clear that there were mostly Germans in the audience as the whispers became excited conversation around the theatre.
After the show we crossed the road and went into an Italian restaurant for dinner. It was 10:30pm and too late to start shopping around.

Day 11 - Travel to London

On the road again. We took our time getting up. It felt great to sleep in. Paul made omelettes while Sally ironed our clothes. It's been great staying with Paul and Sally. They spoiled us rotten!
We started our 1 1/2hr drive to Knock at 10:30am and boarded our Ryanair flight back to Luton. The one hour flight was blissfully uneventful, we made our transfers to the train station and on to London St Pancras. The Tavistock Hotel is ok. The room is very basic with two single beds. Still, not bad for the centre of London.
We dropped our bags and walked out to Tottenham Court Road in search of Pizza a Express. We found one near Leicester Square. Jemma had the La Reine, ham and mushroom, and I had the Capriciossa, ham, anchovy and egg. Jemma preferred her pizza to mine! It's been over 20 years since I had my favorite pizza and it was awesome.
We walked down to Trafalgar Square. There were celebrations following the London leg of the Tour de France.
We then wandered up a Regent a Street, looked around Hamblys toy store and then circled back to Tottenham Court road and back to our hotel to rest our weary feet.
A big day tomorrow! Climbing O2 and Les Mis with Chezza.
No photos until I can download to a PC. There's no wifi in the room so we have to go the lobby to blog.

Day 10 - more shopping and a show

We took a morning walk down to the shops. It started raining on and off so we sought shelter under trees and bushes. We had a lovely coffee and chocolate eclair. That doesn't sound like much but it was heaven on a plate!
We hopped in the car and drive along the Atlantic road and stopped at an eclectic group of buildings making and selling art. Glass, wool, paint. You name it and they can make cute souvenirs out of it. Seriously, that place is a money vacuum. We bought a whole bunch if trinkets that seem fantastic at the time but will likely end up in a garage sale in 10 years.
We went home and put our feet up for a couple hours. Later on we went in to Galway to see the 'Trad on the Prom'. Many of the performers have worked with Michael Flatley on River Dance and Lord of the Dance. There were all the traditional musical instruments, singers and if course Irish dancers! The show was simply amazing, We came home and watched River Dance on You Tube and drank brandy until 1:30am. I think I ate a pizza too?

Day 9 - Galway Shopping

Despite all negative forecasts and predictions the weather has been fabulous.Apart from the odd shower it's blue sky and sun all the way.
Paul and I popped out to the shops in the morning and bought fixins for a seafood stew. Lovely fresh scallops, hake, smoked cod and king prawns in a tomato broth. Yummy.
At about 11:00am we drive in to Galway town. People were diving off boards into the freezing Atlantic. Crikey!

We found parking and entered the throngs of people in a Classic Saturday market and shopping centre. The streets were buzzing with shoppers holding name branded paper shopping bags, buskers juggling, contorting and playing traditional Gaelic music and pub patrons swelling onto the street ( I'm going for the James Joyce literary award!).

Galway High Street

So many shoes, so little time!

The girls went off in search of a cardigan and more shoes for Jemma's Les Miserables outfit. The cost of Les Miserables is going up every day. Remember I bought some new shoes too.
While the girls shopped Paul and I rested against the wall of the opposite shop basking in the sunlight and people watching. After a delicious lunch the girls carried on their shopping marathon while Paul and I retired to a quiet pub for a couple or three Guinness.
We came home, prepared and ate the fish stew, then put our feet up in front of the telly. Another perfect day!

Day 8 - Galway, Ireland

We checked in to our flight the night before and found that the flight was not leaving at 11:40am but had been moved to 6:45am! WHAT?  A bit of quick math(s) told us that we had to be up at 4:30am and on the road by 5:00am. I think Paul was salivating at the opportunity to take the Bentley out and open her up on some open road. Of course, this is England, and the roads are busy 24 hrs a day but we were able to fly past some cars doing a measley 90mph as if they were standing still.
Luton airport was an absolute zoo. It was like walking into Wembley stadium prior to a major football match. It was packed. I have to say though, the English have got moving masses of people down to a fine art. We weren't standing around for long. We flowed through security like a we'll oiled machine. Dozens of screeners open and some very efficient people pushed us through like chicken livers and onions going through a mincer. There's a reason why I said that.
Our 1 hr Ryan Air flight was short and painless and we arrived in Knock to sideways, lashing rain that was actually quite warm. Apparently, the weather had been great up until this morning. Charming!
So Jemma set foot on Irish soil for the first time in her life. Both my Nan and Grandad on my mums side have Irish descent and of course Joanne, Jenny's mum is a Finner. You can't get much more Irish than that!
Paul and Sally met us at the airport and whisked us away to Galway to hot cups of tea and a mountainous Irish Fry.
We let our bodies recover from the early morning flight and delicious breakfast for a couple of hours then set of in the car again in pursuit of some sunshine. We optimistically pointed out some bluish looking sky in the distance and headed in that direction. After an hour of winding roads we found ourselves not only under some clear sky but back at Kylemore Abbey where Paul took me last time we were here. It was 15Euros to get in but unfortunately, one of the sisters (nuns) had passed away and the funeral was being held at the church, closing part of the grounds, so half price today. I made a slightly insensitive comment about one persons pain is another's gain and we strolled in to the Abbey grounds. More history and more oohs and has and ' I never would gave guessed that's and the sun actually came out!

 Kylemore Abbey

 The Victorian Garden

 Afternoon Tea

 An angel on the gothic church 

Stained glass in the gothic church

Day 7 - St Albans

I spent nine years in St Albans and Harpenden after leaving Harrow at age 19. It's a beautiful City with a lot of history, pubs and Indian restaurants. St Albans was named Verulamium in Roman times and still has a few remains. There are many stories of residents digging up their garden to plant potatoes or build an extension only to find some Roman coins or the floor of a Roman Spa!
On this Thursday morning we dropped off Jake, Raif and Gabe to school and Lisa, Rhys, Jemma and I drove the 35minutes to St Albans.
We parked up at the high street and wandered down the hill to the Abbey church. St Alban was the first English Christian martyr in about AD300. Christianity was still illegal in these days and punishable by death. Ironically, it wasn't long after St Alban was beheaded that Rome converted to Christianity.
We had just walked in to the cathedral when an enthusiastic tour guide informed us that a tour would begin in 10 minutes. The guide was very informative and explained the entire history of England, all it's kings and queens (or so it seemed) over the next hour.

 St Albans Abbey and Cathedral

 Amazing stained glass

 Gothic style architecture

Fully saturated with the rich history of the Abbey, or was it a church?, we headed off to find a pub for some grub. I had a vague memory of the location of The Ole Fighting Cocks, an ancient pub and reputed to be ( it's in the Guinness Book of Records) the oldest pub in England. One thing I do know is the beer I had and the bangers and mash were none like I had ever had before! Fantastic! I'm sure they would have been as good if we had not got lost and tracked half way across St Albans in the wrong direction for the previous half hour.

 Lunch in the Ole Fighting Cocks

My old house in St Albans

After lunch we trekked back up the hill in a circuitous fashion to the car and headed back to Amersham to collect the kids from school.

That evening we had an Indian delivered (in Canada that means East Indian food) and enjoyed the hottest Madras I have had in three decades. Holy mackerel was that hot!  I basically didn't taste any of the other 9 or 10 dishes.