Back in the UK - My Trip

I have never had whelks, not a popular item here in the states, I guess.
However, I love escargot, and frog legs (they remind me of very small pantyhose lying on my plate. So cute).

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In 5 weeks our village has its annual escargolade. Two hundred people eating snails by the kilo - accompanied by aioli. Delicious.

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Amazing view, but probably well out of my price range, swimfeeders.

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Here is the latest on the PO Tower:

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Wandered about Central London today.

Made sure my measurements were correct. They are only right at 62 ° F

Had a look at the lions

Checked out the Scotland Yard of my youth - No Hiding Place and all that (being renovated so surrounded by hoardings :slightly_frowning_face:

Noticed the London Eye had lost a gondola (?)

In the evening went to the theatre.

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Excellent shots, Mr Bruce !! Buckingham Palace is close to Petty France, the street. My sister had a pub there - The Adam & Eve if you happen to go by there…

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Strewth, you’ve done some walking if all that was covered on foot. Trafalgar Square, walk around inside the National Gallery, down the Embankment, across the river to the London Eye, then back up Charing Cross road.

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I’m beginning to feel homesick - haven’t been back to my hometown for several years.
Nice photos Bruce…

Will you be visiting China Town Bruce - Gerrard Street?

Good for street photography, and crispy duck.

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I haven’t tried the crispy duck yet but I must!

This is well worth a visit :drooling_face:

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Don’t forget to go upstairs, and the little room at the lower level on the ground floor, great for bowls, chopsticks etc!

Yes! That was exactly what I did when visiting in 2015! Met an online male friend at Trafalgar Square, and we made an afternoon of this! Remarkable being in the middle of all of this history! Just do it, Bruce!

When its not too hot or too wet a favourite route of mine, on arriving at Gatwick, is to get the train to London Bridge rather than the expensive express to Victoria. Then walk up the river, to the Royal Festival Hall, use the footbridge to Charing Cross station, across Trafalgar Square, up Haymarket and then into the large Waterstone’s bookshop to get a much needed drink on the 6th floor. Two and half miles.

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A day that started off disappointing but got better.

I had decided to have an easy day, I thought a day exploring all the stuff that the British stole was the perfect morning. The British Museum is only a block away from my hotel, so off I set…

There were queues and a man shouting, “…ticket holders to the right, non ticket holders to the left.” I asked him if this was for the Bayeux Tapestry but it was not, I found out that you can no longer just turn up to the British Museum and wander round, you have to book a time on line.

Ho Hum, what to do?

Took a trip on the Victoria Line for old times sake to Brixton.

The markets seem to have got Up Market, all the higgle di piggle di stalls are now in Electric Avenue and the undercover market is very refined.

To be frank I really only recognised the town hall, the library and the rail bridge

BTW Brixton Library had the best collection of spoken word LPs I ever came across

Didn’t go to look at the place I lived in the climb up Briston Hill was probably beyond me.

Then a trip up the Victoria Line where I lived on Seven Sisters Rd. My place is still there - the attic room with a window.

Very surprised to look opposite and find that the Finsbury Park Astoria, later the Rainbow Theatre seems to have been taken over by Religious Nutters

Finally time to visit the Tate Modern - what a bloody difficult place to get to!

The exhibition was much bigger than I expected, not only did it have Frida Kahlo’s work but also that of her contemporaries and lovers.

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I walked back through it after the theatre

This is my first visit since 2011 before that 1989

You’re not wrong. I was knackered

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A bit of a funny story.

When I went to Scotland my cousin’s wife took a picture of me, my brother and my cousin, they are a couple of years younger than me but both walk with a stick. I put the picture on my family Whatsapp page.

It naturally drew comments about, “where was my stick?”

Anyway when I walking to the Tate Modern I rolled my ankle on some cobblestones and fell over, a very gentle fall but enough to graze my knee - I have no control over my left ankle since my back operation.

(Warning - horror shot to follow)

Foolishly I posted it on the Whatsapp to show how little damage was caused. I was then bombarded with messages from both kids and grandkids telling me to get a stick!

BTW I have been wearing shorts everyday since I got here.

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Lucky it was only a graze.
I note that, counter to some right wing commentators either side of the Atlantic, you seem to have been able to walk all over London without danger. No gangs of thieves, no hordes of violent foreigners, no sharia law preventing you from doing things. Just strolling around a great city. (Unless your bodyguards were conveniently outside of the photos!)

Some excellent photos Bruce and good explanations of some of the sights you frequented as a young man. I used to love visiting London as a courier, but it was mainly in and out. The parking was atrocious and expensive. On my return to the M1 and the drive home I would stop at the services called ‘London Gateway’ the first services you come to on the M1…It was like jumping off a roundabout and always left me thinking…“What just happened?”

Not necessarily right wing commentators, the majority of people who don’t live or visit London are at the mercy of the news organisations who give the impression that the capital is full of knife crime, terrorists and protesters. Most of whom are foreigners, or are student lefty’s and deface monuments and artwork and support them.

As a kid, our family lived very close to the old Rainbow theatre. We lived very close to Manor House tube station, so it was just a 10 minute walk up the Seven Sisters Road to the venue.

I remember when the Rainbow closed its doors and then became the Universal Kingdom of God, so many years ago now - very sad to see, as the Rainbow was one of the most exciting venues for all the great bands and artists back in the 70’s.

I went there with my very first boyfriend to see a band called Focus in the early 70’s.
Prior to that, in the 60’s, my older sister went to see the Beatles perform there when it was still the Finsbury Park Astoria.

Great memories for me.

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