London baby!

It's half term so teenager and I have escaped the Island and gone to visit family in London. I woke up this morning to glorious February sunshine so went for a brisk walk round the block admiring the architecture. Later on, when the groceries had been delivered, big sister and I went for a stomp around Ruskin Park; this is a lovely green space near Denmark Hill station, with trees, a bandstand, a community vegetable garden, playground, tennis courts, and paddling pool (now empty due to funding cuts). The park was ablaze with crocuses, daffodils, early flowering cherries and a huge magnolia about to burst into bloom. From the park we followed the road round heading vaguely towards Champion Hill, then picked up a cycle path that led towards Dulwich. This led towards another park, and one could have believed you were in the countryside rather than a city. We didn't go as far as Dulwich, instead turning left by the football club and going to Sainsbury's. Here I gloried in the range of World Foods available, and was over enthusiastic at the till! We headed back up the hill to home then.

In the evening my sister and I headed for ITV studios to watch the making of episode 6 of the BBC comedy series 'Upstart Crow'; this was written by Ben Elton, and was about the life of William Shakespeare before he was famous. It starred David Mitchell as Shakespeare, Liza Trabuco as his wife, and Harry Enfield as his father. There were many other well-known faces, whose names escape me, and it was a very good production. We both laughed our way through all the scenes. This was a fascinating look at how TV dramas are produced, with three sets on stage, cameras, lights, microphones and behind the scenes people everywhere. The costumes were magnificent and the actors were very professional. It was interesting that a half hour show took at least three hours to film. Seeing Ben Elton and Harry Enfield in the flesh made us feel rather old, as they were high on the comedy scene when we were growing up thirty years ago, and they were in their twenties or early thirties. However, they were still just as funny luckily. I shall look forward to watching the finished series.

Day 2 and we got a little touristy. We all hopped on the 176 bus and rode to Cambridge Circus. From here we headed to Forbidden Planet to absorb all things comic book and geeky (not my kind of thing really but the teenagers enjoyed it). We then went to a branch of Pret a Manger and had lunch. We were hoping for an independent café, but couldn't find a cheap one and we were all hungry. However, Pret has good credentials. I had a delicious vegetable, falafel and feta wrap and a strong coffee. After lunch we went to Foyles, and gave ourselves a time limit otherwise we would have spent the whole day there and spent all the rent money! This was my first visit to the main branch and I was most impressed. It is a good job we don't live nearby! After this, my nephew abandoned us and us girls headed for Choccywoccydoodah (impressive), Liberty (impressive and expensive), and then John Lewis, where we got carried away in the kitchen department. We also stopped for tea and a snack here. Nice. We caught the number 12 bus home, driving along Regent Street, through Piccadilly Circus and saw a nice view of Buckingham Palace along the Mall, along Whitehall, passing the cenotaph and Downing Street, past Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament, then over the bridge and, eventually, home. Pleasant day.

Day 3 involved a lazy morning then a trip to Bromley for me and the teenager to check out charity shops and the market. Pleasant afternoon out, and we returned home for a vegan curry feast (yummy!) and extremely chocolaty birthday cake. Nom nom nom! On day 4 we returned to the Island by a slightly roundabout route as there were problems with trains at Woking. A lovely few days away.



Flowers in Ruskin Park



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Plane Tree,  Denmark Hill

William Booth College, Denmark Hill