Stanley's pictures: Time To Catch Up With Wednesdays Post,

as it was Diana's day off,

we decided to go out for the day, so glad rags on,

and we were off out of the park,

on to a number 54 bus,

and soon speeding past,

the pool outside of Homebase,

for the past few weeks Diana had been working a 6 day week, so this was the first weekday off for Diana,

a quick selfie, well these things just have to be done!

as we approached Catford, we passed this strangely painted building on the right,

just before passing the Catford cat on the left,

this building has always intrigue me, I used to pass it everyday when I was apprenticed in a printing company in Lewisham, sometimes used as a bingo hall, but mostly empty or being worked on, this time going past building work has started in earnest, with the roof being taken off and reinforcing steel beams being put into place, I wonder what it's future will be?

pots and pans galore,

as we pass Lewisham's open air market,

mainly food stalls but clothes and hand bag stalls as well,

the traffic light,

as we made our way towards Blackheath, passing the St. Margarets church cemetery on the left,

arriving in Blackheath we walked past the florists,

that had a few unusal plants for sale like this one,

the Cape gooseberry, (Physalis peruviana), which we have eaten many times when we were living in Thailand,

on the right hand side of the road, one of Diana's favorite shops, Oliver Bonas,

as we approached the triangle of shops in the town center,

on the left hand side we noticed the greengrocers selling cob nuts,

so I just had to buy a few for later on this evening,

a bit of a shame, the bookshop was closed, I do like looking around shops selling old books,

we were soon at the church,

and in the distance the entrance to Greenwich park,

well I had to have a pose,

a last look at the church,

and we were soon halfway across the heath,

and into the park,

and past the gatehouse,

some of the trees now looking well into their autumn browns,

although there were a few cars parked up,

there were very few people walking about,

in the spring of April 2019 when we were here, this avenue of trees was a blaze of colour with the cherry blossoms in full flower,

coffee time!

so into the cafe,

for coffee and cake,

'Cheers!', with a coffee,

a quick pose,

and we were on our way to the viewpoint,

looking towards Canary Warfe,

Diana takes the pose,

or two,

looking down towards the National Maritime Museum,

then towards the now disused power station and the O2,

one more,

and we were off to the Royal Observatory, we had visited the museum before, so this time we did not go inside,

but we had to pose outside of it,

we started our walk down the hill,

which was remarkably steep,

a few stops on the way,

in the distance the Queens House,

design by Indigo Jones,

here is a small tip,

if you are going to visit here,

start at the top,

as mentioned the pathway is so steep!

arriving at the bottom there was spring in my step,

and something you do not see very often, no not Diana! the gate with no people anywhere in sight,

and that is where we are headed, in the direction of the Cutty Sark,

I love the way that so many public houses have attractive hanging baskets outside of them,

who could resist a look into this shop?

with its working wooden models,

crossing the road into the Greenwich covered market,

which alas was closed, but if you want to see it in full swing, have a look here,

and perhaps the most famous pub in Greenwich, it was used as a backdrop in Now You See Me II, a film we both enjoyed by the way,

love the hanging baskets,

heading towards the ship,

and passing the Gipsy Moth,

the entrance to the foot tunnel that passes under the River Thames,

the legend above the entrance,

and the exit tunnel on the other side of the river, if you want to join us on a walk under the Thames we walked through the tunnel back in 2010,

a last look at the Cutty Sark,

and the tunnel on the other side of the river,

as our boat arrived,

all set for the trip to the Embankment,

a quick selfie,

then sit back,

as we made our way up the River Thames,

passing both old and new,

riverside homes,

and familiar land marks,

but here is one, H. M.S Belfast, that has a smaller ship tied up next to it, H. M. S. Tamar,

the Walkie Talkie building in the background,

under the pedestrian footbridge and past St. Paul's,

and Cleopatra's needle,

getting ready to dock,

and we were off,

passing some ongoing construction work,

I had heard that parts of London had become gridlocked, due to the mayor of London installing new cycle lanes, moving buses, taxis, delivery lorries onto the other already over crowded roads, and now I can see why, along the embankment a huge cycle lane,

pretty much deserted as was the remaining road, the cycle lane is wide enough for almost two cars to pass, and the central path also unbelievably wide,

and guess what? his own council has scrapped his £33million green traffic scheme over concerns it is causing 'chaos', blocking emergency vehicles and generating 'excessive levels of pollution', what a muppet, I should say sorry to any muppets upset by this comparison,

this is more like it, a floating bar!

the London Eye,

time for a few poses,

from both of us,

as I strike the pose,

one more from Diana,

if you have ever seen a strange mark on the side of ocean going vessels, it is because of this man, Samuel Plimsoll,

and this is the mark on the side of vessels you will see,

when we saw this bus, we were reminder of an afternoon cream tea we had on a similar bus in 2016,

and this is where we were heading, Trafalgar Square,

normally when we wait for the pedestrian lights to change, when they change to green we start saying, 'Green man, Green man', in case one of us is not paying attention to the lights,

but of course in these PC times we will have to start saying 'Green person, Green person',

the fourth column, I have no idea what it is all about,

but I do know it is time for a pose,

or two,

the fountain sans Diana,

we made our way round the square,

up the steps,

to the National Gallery,

and on past St. Martins in the Field,

towards Leicester Square,

and its cinemas and casinos,

heading towards the Swiss clock you can guess where we are going,

China Town!

with all of its colorful decorations,

we had looked online at some of the restaurants and chose this one, Orient,

a few prawn crackers to start,

and a mocktail for Diana,

and a red for myself,

on to our starters, smoked chicken,

and dim sum,

'Cheers!', from Diana,

and from myself,

on to our mains, chicken with cashew nuts,

along with crispy pork and Cantonese duck,

what a feast,

'Ah!',

meal finished we were of our way,

to Mamasons, where they sell dirty ice cream,

it is one of Diana's favorites, as the ice cream is just like she loved when she was in the Philippines,

decision made,

a wait outside,

and a quick look at the sign,

the first few orders fulfilled,

anytime now,

Ta-Da!

and yes I am told,

it was well worth the wait,

I was taking this photograph of the street Mamasons was in, and checking the photograph when I was approached by a poor lady, she remarked how lovely the photograph was and did I come here often? I replied no, and then she asked me if I wanted to photograph her, which I declined, I say she was poor because I could not help but notice the top three buttons of her blouse were missing,

Diana was standing about 15 feet away, for some reason she found the whole of my encounter with this young, well one has to say well endowed lady, amusing, I have no idea why,

I wonder what it was about?

now for a new adventure, we noticed a 176 bus went to Penge, so we thought we would take one of them for our journey home,

we were lucky and had a seat on the top deck at the front,

lots of hanging baskets from street lamp posts,

as we made our way to Charing Cross,

and past some of the London shows,

it was so much fun seeing parts of London,

we had never visited before,

a bit more of the Mayor of London's madness, all traffic is reduced to the speed of the slowest bicycle, I will not insult muppets again,

I was taking a few photographs,

as we went,

unfortunately,

there was a reflection from the glass window,

but what a lovely way to travel,

over the bridge,

and past the IMAX cinema,

and one of the old LCC fire stations,

I have to admit it, I was completely lost,

and had no idea what this needle was,

but I did know this building, it was where I spent quite some time, it was the LCP (London College of Printing), now renamed,

we were at the Elephant and Castle,

and there he was,

not much traffic so far,

the roads remarkably clear,

then I realized why, no bicycle lanes,

just dedicated bus lanes,

all of this unfamiliar with both of us,

but I did recognize this area,

as we headed down to Dulwich,

to the roundabout at the end of the High Street,

which in the center of it has a massive palm tree, I have never seem one with such a large circumference,

there was still about 20 stops to go,

it was a good job we were not in a hurry!

up the hill,

and past the Horniman's Museum,

towards Forest Hill,

then onwards,

to a snarled up Sydenham High Street,

Penge at last! but not this bus as it terminates here,

by the bus stop there is this imposing complex, by the bus stop there is the Royal Watermen’s Almshouses, there are 46 almshouses in all, built in 1840/41, designed by George Porter on land given by John Dudin Brown,