Just as I had finally stopped feeling I was on a rocking horse, I decided to take another boat trip. This one was from Kew Pier to Westminster, a trip I did back in 1977 when I moved to England, to Richmond. So it was a “for old time’s sake” in a way although so much has changed on the River, so many skyscrapers!
Before we went, though, we took an early morning walk around Canizzaro Park, next to our hotel. And that’s what decided me that I needed a warmer jacket; I covered that story in my post about Sunday I think. The park was so beautiful, azaleas and rhododendrons and magnolias. The garden at the back of the hotel full of tulips. As we emerged from the park we passed allotment gardens and chatted with an 80-something lady whose small front garden was bursting with spring flowers. Wish I had taken a photo but here are some park photos anyway:
We caught the train to Kew but I had misjudged how long it would take to walk from Kew Station to Kew Pier, especially as R’s knee was bothering him, and we barely made the boat. In fact I think if we hadn’t booked tickets they might have left without us, although it was only us and another couple and their dog on board. What a lovely relaxing trip. It took an hour and 15 minutes, R was able to rest his knee. My how London’s skyline has changed! The Rutgers professor that gave lectures on the Queen Mary said that cities just plain evolve and if we long for the “old days” we are holding onto something that doesn’t fit with a new world. Hah, that’s probably something I would have said to my father!
Anyway, my photos were a mix of the old and the new on the river:
By the time we reached Westminster Pier and made our way through the hordes of tourists there and around Westminster Abbey, R was getting testy again. He hates crowds. So we found a quiet side street and a hole in the wall Sicilian pizza place with the best pizza (for me, just like the pizza I remember in Montreal growing up) and a tuna baguette for R. We were the only customers; fun to chat with the owner.
After that we went to Westminster Cathedral. While Westminster Abbey had lines waiting to go in, the Cathedral was quiet and almost deserted. Lovely. We then headed over to M & S for chocolate biscuits (no jacket,) and afterward took the Underground back to Wimbledon. Hallelujah we got a direct train and when we arrived in Wimbledon found Mountain Warehouse and a jacket.
A shared cashew chicken and rice dinner at one of the four Thai restaurants in Wimbledon and then back to the hotel, 8.8 miles since we started off in the morning.
Westminster Cathedral:
Loving your photos. Don't you just love the English gardens, so orderly and well-tended. And the hush of the cathedral sounds like just the needed break.
ReplyDeleteSure glad you found that coat. Comfort is essential, and it will double as a memory keepsake.