Sunday 18 October 2020

Saturday,

it was Diana's day off,


so glad rags on,

and we were out,

passing some of the autumn foliage in park residents' gardens,

a quick double selfie,

in Foxgrove Lodge,

the dahlias were putting on a good show,

mask on and in the train,

as we speed towards the London skyline,

new buildings and cranes everywhere,

out side of Victoria station,

we waited for the number 16 bus,

opposite the Aster restaurant,

not long now,

and we were on our way,

going through almost deserted streets,

here in Park Lane hardly a car in sight, the last time I drove here it was gridlocked with cars and buses,

around Marble Arch,

and past the elephants,

then a slight mishap, we were waiting for our stop to be called, but we did hear that one stop was not being used, of course it was ours! so we unknowingly sailed past it,

but we did see a few sights we had not seen before,

anyway off of the bus to retrace our steps,



as we were early,

we had a walk,

alongside the canal,

until we could walk no further on the canal footpath,

not to worry,

we walked along the road,

and came across this tree/bush,

that looked absolutely stunning,

the colours of the leaves looking so nice,

question, 'what do you do with a leaky Wellington boot?' make a flower pot of it!

lots of narrow boats here,

some with herons,

a quick pose,

as we made our way past a few boats,

then we could go down to the towpath,

time for a pose!

looking upstream a bridge,

downstream me!

we decided against walking under the bridge it as we were near to the time we booked our table for lunch,

and then I saw them,

pink flamingos!

we will see Paddington bear next! it was at this point disaster struck, the auto and manual focus on the camera stopped working, so next week it will be boxed up and sent for repair, it was a good job that Diana's telephone has a camera as that is what we used for the rest of our day out, 

we had seen lots of narrow boats, but this is the first short narrow boat that we have seen,

nearly at the restaurant, our table should be ready just as we arrive,

and it was and here we are,

we had booked the centre table overlooking the canal,

our starters arrived, prawn and squid tempura for Diana, King prawns with garlic and tomato sauce for myself, as it happens we actually swapped meals, I had not read the bit about tomato sauce, note to self next time bring glasses!

as we ate we could watch the boats travelled below us, 

our main course arrived,

but first a 'Cheers!', from myself,

and from Diana before she started her spaghetti bolognese, and for myself a veal cutlet with roast potatoes,

what a lovely meal with such nice setting, the bill came to a tad over £90.00 with a botte of house red,

then time for an after dinner walk, we passed this house with a blue plaque to a hero many of my age or older will know of, 

Guy Gibson V.C. if you are younger than myself or not British, this is a history of the man,

we continued over the road, with the cannel going underneath,

until we came to Regents Cannel,

where I had a pose,

with narrow boats in the distance,

all of this waking had taken a toll, I took a quick 40 on the train home,

which meant I had to have a refreshment when we arrived back in Beckenham, thank goodness for O'Neil's!

arriving home I threw a few peanuts out for the fox, but something spooked him,

another fox in the hedge, and not one of the cubs, if it was they would have greeted each other,

more nuts please!

one of the magpies chanced its wing with the 'new' fox,

 it was one we had not seen before with a strange, well at least a not normal looking tail,

we decided on a late evening snack,

starting with a couple of meat samosas,

a chicken tikka masala and pilau rice,

and a sherry trifle to round the meal off,

delicious!

by now it was late, so just one film for the evening, Adams Family Values, which was great fun, and with the end of that we were off to bed.


4 comments:

jpo5626 said...

Great day trip glad you both had such a good time. Food and drink looks great. Here in Central Florida most restaurants shut down given Covid-19. My Thai wife and I cooking mostly at home now and keep busy with many walks with Elmer the dog around the neighborhood. Then feet up like you folks for a good movie. Thanks for the snaps. John and Alley

PattayaStan said...

Dear John and Alley, many thanks for your kind comments, unfortunally for us where we are living we can not have pets, otherwise it would be a couple of Bengal cats, over here most restaurants are still open, but with spaced out seating, we will both be so glad when all of this virus thing is over, best regards, Stan and Diana.

jpo5626 said...

We do enjoy Elmer. He is 3k so pretty small and easy to take with us. Multipoo so smart and clean. He keeps us active and cheers us up on those days we stay in due to rain etc. Your place on the park is excellent, as you get the best of both worlds.....right in the city in front and in the countryside in the back...all within a one minute walk! Have fun and stay healthy!
John and Alley

PattayaStan said...

Dear John and Alley, great that you can have a pet, and that you can have fun with him when out and about, yes the park where we live is a blessing and so close to the railway to London, best regards, Stan and Diana.