Back in Jolly Ol'

Saturday night we stayed near Shannon Airport - no Irish music there either just World Cup rugby. Early Sunday morning, we took an Aer Lingus flight to Heathrow and, shortly thereafter, were at my friends' place in Maida Vale. Kath hasn't been in London for about 40 years and is looking forward to spending the last five days of her vacation here. I had some errands to do so we took the Tube to Oxford Circus then went into some stores on Oxford Street. It took almost no time for me to get very tired of the crowds and having to be up at 6:15 a.m. for our flight didn't help. So, Kathleen and I went our separate ways - she to St. Paul's for a church service and to Westminster Abbey; me, back to Maida Vale where I had a glass of wine at the tiny restaurant which spans the canal before going back to John and Pedro's (where there was a big birthday party going on so I didn't get much peace there). Everyone was gone by 6 p.m. and then I had the evening to myself until Kath got back.

Selfridges

LaVille Café at Maida Vale

The last few days have been a whirlwind of activity - everything from the Imperial War Museum to going out to Cambridge. I can honestly say that I have had absolutely no time to write blogs. However, today (Thursday) I came back to the flat early so I could get caught up on things.

Monday, we decided to do the "Hop on/Hop Off" bus thing as it had been so long since Kath has been in London and it would be a good orientation. Also, some things have changed since all those years ago! As you would know, there are several different companies that run those kind of tours. The last one I took here was the Big Bus one and it was really good. When we checked the price, however, it was 2 pounds more than "The Original" so we opted for the latter. Big mistake! Maybe it was just the guide we had (an Irish gal who thought she was a comedian) but it wasn't very good. She spent time talking about the Kardashians who stay at the Dorchester rather than mentioning the newish war memorial to animals who have lost their lives in wars directly on the other side of the street. Maybe it is just me but I thought the latter was more important! We did, however, get driven around to see most of the important sights and it was a good start to our time here. Later in the afternoon, we went back to "Little Venice" (near where we are staying) to meet up with a friend of mine whom I met about 20 years ago when he and his buddies were travelling in BC. Long story but I've stayed good friends with two of them ever since.