I slept well considering I was in a strange bed though I did wake up with a very deep voice (huffle edit - Brian Blessed?) Aunty A was already up when I got up and made me a hot water. It was fairly misty over London so there wasn't a lot to see. We had a lovely breakfast of fruits and pain au chocolate and freshly brewed artisan coffee. We got ourselves ready and left for a morning around Greenwich.
Aunty A and her enormous front door. Her very big house.
The three top windows which are hers and a window coming down from the stairs.
We started with a walk in Greenwich Park which is lovely. Very green, open with some lovely flowers and trees.
The entrance we used to get in to Greenwich Park. A bench in the park.
The Observatory. The Rangers House.
We chatted and walked and walked and chatted. Aunty A gave me a guided tour and we went to the deer park (though no deer were being sociable today), the duck pond, the rose garden.........
TL: Flowering Currant and Kerria Japonica
TM: Kerria Japonica (Yogi - that was the yellow one you wanted to know the name of - and is one of my favourites ever!)
TR: Beautiful Camelia
BL: lovely little trumpet daffodils
BR: gorgeous camelia overlooking the park
.......(not the right time of year but many many different ones planted) the Rangers House and along to the Observatory and the Greenwich Meantime Building (correct me if that's the wrong name for it AA). It was quite busy with tourists but they obviously didn't have their own personal guide like me. I learnt that the red ball at the top of the GMT building gets raised around 1pm and dropped at 1:15pm.
Observatory, 24 hour clock, maritime ship in a bottle (which appeared on the fourth plinth of Trafalgar Square), University and the Maritime Museum.
This is so sailors can set their clocks. Very clever. We were going to stand on the Greenwich Mean Time Line but there were far too many tourists trying to do the same thing so we went for a cup of coffee and shared a Harrogate Tart instead by the pillars that are used in many films. It was sunny, it was lovely. We rested for a while and looked at the wonderful views of Greenwich Park (where the equestrian bits were in the Olympics). We visited the Painted Hall (again I might have got that wrong) but I know it was AA's favourite place and it was truly beautiful.
The Painted Hall
We carried on walking on to the Cutty Sark and Borough Market. We didn't have as much time as we would have liked here but did get to try some wonderful cheeses from the wonderful cheese man. We tried Colton Basset which we also had on our pizza yesterday). Shame I can't take cheese back to Canada.
A misty blurry Shard.
After picking up a few essentials like painkillers (foot was feeling very painful) and throat sweets (sore throat) we got on the DLR and went to Oxford Circus (via some underground or other). There we went to the Bra shop and bought some to take back. I learnt that they deliver to canada with free postage and package if you order from the shop or just £7.50 if you order online, not bad!
We were a bit later than we would have liked for the train and ended up running (ouch) but we got there just in time (in fact they closed the doors after me. We had little time to say goodbye but I had a fabulous time and AA is the perfect hostess. I wish I could have spent more time with her but hopefully she will be over to see us again soon.
I had a quick sandwich on the train, it didn't stop before Market Harborough so was very quick. I had been without wifi again all day so wasn't sure if Huffle would be there or not. However, he was there with his yellow gummy snake to remind him he needed some provisions from the shop on his way home. Provisions got we drove back to the quiet of the barn where bedding and towels had been changed and Huffle had tidied. We had a cup of tea, swapped stories of our day and night and looked at photos.
Huffle, Small, Smallest, Grandma and Grandad went to Foxton Locks today. It was a beautifully sunny day and they walked around, up the top, had an ice cream, they watched the boats and helped to open the gates. They had a lovely day. Huffle left the boys with Grandma and Grandad who took them back to theirs for the evening and overnight.
We rang the boys and I had a chat with them. They were having fun playng a Nerf Gun battle with CousinD who was also staying overnight and waiting for Grandmas Sausage Mash and Beans.
Huffle and I relaxed before heading off again for an evening at a CurryHouse with The Hargreaves in Wigston.
Please don't use my photos without asking first. Posted with Blogsy
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