today we were out,
to London,
so train and tube to,
Charing Cross,
where Poirot would be happy to see an hotel on a station,
and this is our first port of call, The London Camera Exchange, you may remember I had a black spot on the photographs I took at the weekend, the camera sensor cleaner did not shake the piece of dust off, so I feared the worse, but the lads at the shop took one look and in no time at all the camera was back as good as new, what a great service, and no charge!
a very happy camper indeed!
I meet up with Diana for a coffee,
next our walk along the embankment,
passing one of my and in fact many people's heros,
Sir Joseph Bazalgette, a man whom countless unnamed thousands owe their lives to, if they did but know it,
we went into one of the many gardens,
that line the embankment,
the floral displays,
looking so nice,
in the bright sunlight,
as it happened the day was very kind to us,
after taking a few photographs,
we went back to look at the River Thames,
and some of the attractions on it,
with this patriotic colour scheme on the boat it must be 007 at the helm!
well I had to have a pose,
a look at the eye,
Diana used her telephone,
whilst I had the now perfectly working Sony A7ii,
that boat has my name on it, well my favorite phrase on the gangway,
one more quick pose, and we were on our way,
past New Scotland Yard,
Lest We Forget,
a real shame for the many tourists to London,
that the tower of Big Ben was being refurbished,
and there were lots of tourists too, non stop buses bringing them to the Embankment,
a last look at the wheel,
and the queues for the river tours,
as we walked towards Parliament Square,
not only was the Houses of Parliament under renovation,
but also the house of Lords,
and the Abby, as I mention a bit of a shame for those who are visiting this year,
ww walked past the Customs and Excise building,
and the entrance to the War Rooms,
in the middle of Whitehall the Cenotaph,
as I was taking the photograph by sheer serendipity this almost of the era bus went past,
Downing Street,
then some protesters, as we approached a presumably senior figure was ushered into his waiting car,
I do not know who he was, but he has a great taste in cars!
it looked like the tourists found the great unwashed amusing,
we passed the horse guards,
and n the distance where we were going, Trafalgar Square,
we had thought to cross the road,
to get a better photograph if the trooper and his horse, but decided against it as it was so crowded,
so this horse will have to do!
a very unusually named public house,
and here we were,
in the square,
the National Gallery at the top of it,
now in the square,
time for a few poses,
what a nice day it was,
blue skies,
and the occasionally fine spray of water,
I tried slowing the shutter speed of the camera,
to give the water a more,
'ghostly' look, not sure it really worked,
any way back to Diana taking selfies,
and I took a few of her as well,
and nice they were too, well I think so!
I had to pose as well, no feet in this one,
well I guess they are overrated, but no problems with this one,
or here,
opps! no feet again,
a last look at the square,
and we were off,
walking towards Leicester Square,
to just behind it,
Chinatown,
passing through one of the nearby streets,
we soon came to the main entrance in Gerrard Street,
under the archway,
so many restaurants,
to choose from,
we had decided to have lunch here,
but which one?
in the end we choose Four Seasons Porridge Hotpot at 30,Gerrard Street, mixed starters,
Peking duck,
which we always order, even if you have to make it yourself,
to finish a selection of 4 main courses with rice,
'Cheers!', the meal including wine came to £77.40,
we started our walk to the water taxi, passing this rather nice restaurant with these imposing chandeliers,
back past the square,
going downhill,
to the base of it,
past St.Martins,
and Trafalgar Square,
we went down the steps,
at the St. Martin end,
and had to stop,
for one more photograph,
we had called in here on our last visit,
I am not sure what this strange looking gatehouse is,
but I do know what this is,
one of the few remaining Cabmen's Shelters,
just 14 or so left,
the plaque says it all,
we joined the mercifully short queue,
for the water taxi tickets,
normally £10.00 each to Greenwich, but on Diana Oyster Card just over £4.00 and for myself as a OAP just £3.45, bargain!
he footbridge by the jetty,
and we were off,
well not quite,
there were 2 boats going downstream,
we were going to be on the second one,
now on our way,
past the Eye,
and nice it looked too,
a bit dark in the boat unfortunately,
past what was once City Hall,
and a pretty in pink bus,
the city in the distance,
we passed all manner of craft,
and buildings,
and I have to admit,
I do not know what this one is,
but we all know the 'Walkie-Talkie',
and the Modern,
and no one could mistake,
the Shard,
or HMS Belfast,
the flag at the bow,
soon we were at Tower Bridge,
the flag fluttering at just the right moment,
a small Mississippi paddle steamer it looked like,
we passed Canary Wharf,
our destination in sight,
the Cutty Sark,
at Greenwich,
a quick pose,
for the summer I guess,
there is a small amusement park by the ship,
we did a little shopping, then to the 180 bus stop,
the center island still being worked on,
the scaffolding hire alone must be costing a fortune,
we changed buses for the 54 in Lewisham,
arriving at Foxgrove Lodge,
the gardens flowers almost hiding the building,
and the fence,
normally when I take this photograph it is 01.00 in the morning when we are walking home after picking Diana up from her night shift, but now all light and blue skies, after arriving home and a evening snack it was feet up for some television, then after a full day we were off to bed.
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