Saturday, 30 November 2024

Crikey,

another day with only one post, 


as usual when it is Diana's day off and we go, out I take way too many photographs, so here we go, 

out into a nice day, not to cold, 

as we make our way towards Catford on a number 54 bus, 

around the one way system in Lewisham, 

alighting at Blackheath, 

so time for a selfie, 

as we crossed the heath, looking through 360 degrees as far as my eye could see, I counted 6 crows, a few peanuts later and there was a murder of them! at the end of the post there is a short video of them and a snow globe on one of the Christmas stalls, 

into Greenwich park,

the trees now all bare, 

time for a pose, 

and well I just had to!

we stopped at the Pavilion café,

for a coffee,

plus sandwich and cake, well these things just have to be done, 

snack over and we were on our way, 

in 6 months time it will be standing room only here in the café garden, 

in the distance the O2,

we reached the observation point at the top of the hill,

so time for a few photographs, 

the Maritime Museum in the distance, 

I got in on the act too,

we were a bit closer to the power station and the O2, 

as I always comment here, at the mix of old and new buildings, 

we started on our way down the hill,

stopping on the way, 

we arrived at the bottom, one year we decided to walk up the hill instead on down, it is so steep, as so many people found out as they puffed their way up as we went down,

the gate at the bottom of the hill,

passing through it, the Cutty Sark in the distance, 

we turned left, 

and made our way here to the post office, a couple of books of stamps and we were on our way, 

the aroma of Christmas, fresh pine trees,
 
we made our way into the market, 

through a narrow passageway, 

and past the pub made famous in the film Now You See Me, it is perhaps the most famous pub in Greenwich as it was used in Now You See Me II, it was so nice to see so many parts of Greenwich and London used in the film that we had visited, all to a chorus of 'been there!',

into the covered market, 

so many stalls to look at, 

from fresh flowers, 

to pop up cards, 

a quick pose, 

or two,

we continued our walk, 

past some of the stalls with antique goods for sale, 

these fascinating, 

flowers from South Africa, 

on to the food stalls,

lots of them, we then retraced our steps, Diana often leaves her earrings on the table, and she mentioned she would like a dish to keep them in, so back to the stall that sold handcrafted goods, the stall called Maggie Mosley Art

and what a wonderful selection of hand painted goods on offer, 

 decision made, 

and two happy smiling ladies, out of interest, these are the steps Maggie takes in repurposing her goods,



 for more information have a look here info@MaggieMosleyArt.co.uk Instagram: @maggiemosley1 

a last one from myself, 

before we made our way to the Cutty Sark,

and there I am again!

the entrance to the pedestrian subway that goes under the River Thames, 

 probably the most famous tea clipper in the world, the Cutty Sark, we have featured it many times before on our previous trips to Greenwich, 

we paid for our tickets for the water Uber taxi up river, 

and here it is, not, it was going down river, 

so a bit of a wait on the floating jetty, 

and here is our boat, 

all aboard!

we settled in for the journey, 

so a few photographs,

to while away the time, 

as we sped up river stopping every so often, 

Canary Wharfe, 

the headquarters of the river police, 

as we neared St. Catharine's Docks, 

a few early sailing vessels tied up, 

they look so nice, but for myself sailing on a boat consists of my usual command, "full ahead both and bring me a pink gin!",

under Tower Bridge, 

and passing the Tower of London,

just a shame the reflection of the window spoilt the photograph, 

off of the boat at London Bridge, 

a quick walk along the jetty, and we were here, the Christmas stalls that line the embankment at this point, 

this was new for this year, curling, 

it looked like good fun but there were than a few waiting so we gave it a miss, 

HMS Belfast in the sunlight, which we visited in September 2010,

opposite the Walkie-Talkie building, 

we started looking at the stalls, 

and passed, 

the Galleria, 

the cheese shop, where is John Cleese when you need him?

a Christmas favorite, fudge, 

it was crowded, 

as we looked at more stalls, 

these looked so nice,

we were nearing Tower Bridge, 

someone had feed the seagulls, 

they were everywhere, 

the bridge, 

we were both a tad hungry, and these had such a delicious aroma, but we resisted, 

and continued looking at the stalls, 

so many things on offer, 

like these tree decorations,

strangely enough only a few days ago I made a post about giving a poster as a Christmas present, and here is a stall selling them!

a break in the stalls, 

before they started again,

we were getting closer to the bridge,

nearly there, 

and then we were walking on the bridge itself, 

looking back towards the Shard, 

and across at the Tower, 

one building was really reflecting the low afternoon sun, 

in the grounds of the Tower, 

three Christmas trees,

we made our way past the Tower buildings to the tube station, 

arriving here, 

for our walk to Chinatown,

the sign above the door speaks for itself, 

with its gay Christmas doormen,

we were soon into the thick of Chinatown, 

a pose by one of the gates,

we were getting close, 

which was just as well as we were both so hungry, 

and here we are, the Golden Dragon,

we have eaten here many times before, and it is popular, several people queuing in front of us even though it was late afternoon,

a look at the menu, 

as I had a wine, or two,

our meal arrived, 

roast pork on rice, 

beansprouts, 

shredded chicken,

half a Cantonese duck, 

and three Vietnam spring rolls, the bill came to £96.00 including service charge, 

we were full to busting as we made our way out, 

passing other restaurants, 

a quick look in here,

 but it was a no sale,

one more shop to try, Mamasons, a frequent stop on our way home from Chinatown,

Diana in,

and out, 

all set for later!

on our way to the station we passed the shop with the most colourful display, 

and more waving cats that you can count,
 
down to the tube,

and that is where we are going, we arrived home where it was feet up for a coffee, 

before I was out, making my way to the war memorial to change buses, 

making my way here, the Moon & Stars, where I was meeting Steve and Jason, in the background the start of Christmas parties was in full swing, after chatting the night away we said our farewells and made a move for our homes, 

I was soon back at the memorial and then home, Diana had already gone to bed, a early start for her tomorrow for myself a Have I Got News For You, with a spiced rum and as promised,

a short video, before I too was off to bed.


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