London 3

After we had discovered the little pub, we sat on a street corner under the shade of a tree. It was quite hot and we had walked quite a way.

Taking in the sights, we noticed a group of business men about eight or ten of them on the footpath, chatting and looking at their phones. Then we noticed another bigger group off to the side, this group had a couple of women as well but again everyone had their phones out, lot of chat and checking their phones.

A guy dressed all in black, black jeans and black shirt seemed to be in charge and was going between both groups. The first group suddenly all moved away still with their phones out. The guy in black then came to the second group, after a few minutes they did the same.

We were intrigued about what they were doing and as the guy in black didnt go with them and he had moved closer to where we were sitting, we asked what they had been doing.

The guy told us that they were chasing or doing Pokeman Go! These men were from the ages of mid thirties with a couple of guys in their late sixties, all were wearing suit and ties, the women also looked professorial. I would have guessed their occupations to be lawyers, doctors or property brokers.

The guy in black told us that there were two gyms, one on one corner where we were and there was another one on the next corner and they were waiting for the two to come into sync which didnt happen very often. He had already recorded it the last time so he was telling them of his experience which may have helped them.

I didnt think pokeman was still a thing any more and it was surprising their ages and status.

London 2

Warren retraced his steps re where he used to work, not sure if the building is still used the same or not. After so long, no one that he knew would have been there so we kept walking, went past the Law Courts and the Old Bailey, it was a daily walk for him when he was there. Lots of massive buildings and some of them had pock marks from bomb blasts from world war two. That was quite shocking to see at first hand.

Found the tiniest building front that I have seen, it is Twinnings tea and nestled between two massive buildings.

We also dicovered a 16th century pub, it is still operating as a pub but surprisely it is not open on weekends. It is located down an alley between tall buildings.

London (1)

Safely negotiated into the hotel alongside of Heathrow, filled the car with fuel, checked in and dumped our bags then dumped the car and walked back.
Although the hotel didnt have too many choices on their menu, we didnt want to go any further so shared a platter. So many chips!
Next morning we set off for central London!

Warren had sussed out how to get there and once we were all packed for the flight home left all our stuff at the front of the hotel. We could have lodged it at the airport for a mere £12 per piece, hotel was free. One suitcase and a backpack each so quite a savings.

Our bus stop was a very close 60 metres away and one stop to get to the airport. Warren had also discovered that we could use any card to tap on and off the train and bus all day for a one off cost.

The train or tube was pretty quiet when we got on but it soon filled up.

Many stops, it took about an hour to get to Holburn where we were getting off and it was also where Warren used to work.

Swindon

Warren asked me where I wanted to stay for our last night before London. Like I had a preference! Then I remembered, years ago when we were in London before, we or rather he had a job to do which involved taking some sailing equipment to Swindon on the train. I went with him and then the day was our own, I know we did some shopping and bought my eternity ring somewhere in Swindon. So I said lets go to Swindon.

It is about an hour and a half from the heart of London or at least Heathrowe.

Warren did his magic and found a nice studio apartment. It was easy to get to and had a washing machine fridge and microwave. Nice to be able to wash some clothes.

Swindon has a computing museum and put the address into the gps, it was not that far. A couple of false starts and we found an actual car park, used the rest of our small change and got an hour twenty. Luckily the car park was pretty close, sign on the door says use other door, had to walk right around to discover it was only open Friday and Saturdays.

I said well lets find a cache, there was one near by near this building.

After we found it, it was straight to London as we figured there could be hold ups on the road. Able to check into our hotel that the travel agent booked for us which is very close to airport and the hire car place. Delivered the car and walked back to hotel.

Steam train

Driving around the coast line today we headed for Swanage knowing nothing about it but we thought we would find something to do there.

As usual parking was an issue.

Finally we found a place to park and we walked down to the beach and museum. I looked around while Warren chatted and discovered that there was a steam train that went up into the countryside to and past a castle. Sounded like a fun thing to do.

This was our train coming in, they had to take the engine off and then move it to the other end.

Almost ready to go, nice comfy seats.

The ruins of the castle, a lot of people got off here but continued to the end one more stop and then the turn around to go back. £13 return ticket and £1 each way for dogs, a lot of people had their dogs on board. One couple that we were chatting to, had three dogs.

Pizza in Weymouth

Bit of a funny place, heaps of cafes to eat at during the day but dinners are very different. There was an Italian restaurant across the road from our guest house on the water front. We headed there around dinner time however the menu that they had posted was less than desirable and rather expensive.

We moved on by then most cafes had closed. I was keen on fish and chips but Warren had had a headache from the time before so we gave that a miss.

We saw a self serve restaurant roast pork with vege for £6.95 sounded good so we wandered in. Saw two guys serving up meals but none were what was offered on the boards outside. We stood around like a stale bottle, there was another young guy doing not much maybe he was waiting to clear down tables. A girl was making drinks and refused to make eye contact. I could have spoken up and asked but I was annoyed by then so I said to Warren rather loudly that no one wanted to assist us so we were leaving and then walked out.

Maccas was an option but we decided to go back to fish and chip place and Warren would have a hamburger, we had walked about a kilometre and a half so turned back.

Surprise, surprise a pizza place with no customers. We wandered in, got a welcome from the girl behind the counter and asked if we wanted to order. Yes, they could do hot chocolate would we like cream on top.

This was our pizza, we almost finished it.
The place was trying to an old fashioned American pizza parlour I think, the decor was all route 66 with 60s rock and roll music playing.
However the food was good, service was good and cheerful and the price was pretty good too. Fifteen quid for pizza, garlic bread and two hot chocolates.

A Summer day in the UK

Beautiful day today, we left early with no jackets, did an eight k walk around wetlands. First we saw remote controlled sail boats on the water.

Six guys were on the footpath, seriously concentraing on operating their boats around three bouys. We continued on around and over the bridge so we were on the other side.

These were very popular, £3.50 for 30 minutes, kayaks were £5 for the same time.

A clock with four faces dominated the foreshore.

Unfortunately we saw a lot of people around lunch time, who we think will be very very sore tomorrow. It seems the sun is quite rare and people dont use sunscreen that much. Lots of shirts off, many women were in dresses, more dresses than I have seen in a long time.

Deck chairs were out along the promenade but they too were a hire thing, £2.20 for the day, guess it does save bringing their own. Parking is such a nightmare here that it seems that people park a few kilometres away and then catch a bus. We saw buses heading to a spot about 5kms away and called park and ride.

These are the streets around, most cars are parked with only about a foot to spare. Our guest house has a parking permit and we are parked in the street about a block away.