Streets of London

Monday afternoon, soon after my arrival, my wife, daughter and son decided to venture out on the streets of London; bad ankle and all.  We took the same route to Hackney Wick station my wife and son took the day of her fall.  We made a stop at the site of the accident.  They showed me where and described how the fall unfolded.  I am not sure if it was actually a street or part of a driveway, in either case, the raised bit of blacktop was no larger than my footprint and projected all of two inches above the surface.  It was easily overlooked.

My wife was already feeling discomfort and proceeded slowly to the station.  Our venture required westbound travel on the Overground.  We walked under the bridge and up a long ramp of two or three switchbacks to the platform.  We were headed to a Pizza Express for lunch. 

http://www.whoseview.co.uk/business/PizzaExpress-The-City-London-328223.html

My daughter has a Taste Card in which card holders pay half price or get two meals for the price of one at participating restaurants.  

My son could eat pizza everyday of the week and my daughter is a vegetarian.  All three of these facts were considerations in choosing Pizza Express.  The food and service were OK, once I got help decoding the menu.


After leaving Pizza Express we were back in the tube to visit Harrod's.  We only explored part of the first floor in Harrod's, mainly the food area.

Source:Flickriver

Reminded me of the Reading Terminal Farmer's Market except classier.

Source:Assembly of International Students

Several hours had elapsed since lunch and we decided it might be nice to say we had dessert at Harrod's.

The menu descriptions sounded divine.  Each of us had a drink and a dessert.  The cost was twice that of lunch; close to $80.00.  I am glad I at least have a photograph to remind me of the experience.    About the food, somethings are better left unsaid.


By the time we left Harrod's, my wife wanted to go back to the apartment to elevate her foot.  It took some time but after asking several pedestrians, we figured out how to take a bus back.  

Public Transportation is Amazing on the Streets of London

My daughter told us the name of the bus stop and off we were on the 38 to Hackney Central where we would change buses to the 276 toward Newham University Hospital.  The bus stopped right at the entrance to the courtyard of the apartment complex.  The foot was up and the TV on in less than ten minutes.  We were off the streets of London by 8pm.


©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved

Quality Time in London

Our eldest daughter is a special education teacher in London.  Schools over there are on a very different schedule than schools here, in the US.

Below was cut and pasted from Wikipedia

"In England and Wales, the school year generally runs from early September to mid July of the following year. Most schools operate a three-term school year, each term divided in half by a week-long break known as ‘half term’, and are structured as follows:

• Autumn term: Early September to mid December (half term: late October)
• Spring Term: Early January to Easter (half term: mid February)
• Summer Term: Easter to mid July (half term: late May/early June)

The terms are separated by two holidays each consisting of approximately two weeks: the Christmas holidays separating the autumn term and spring term and the Easter holidays separating the spring term and the summer term. The period between the end of one school year and the start of the next is known as the summer holidays consisting of six weeks."

By design, we were in London during the Autumn half term.  On one hand, we would spend quality time with our daughter.  On the other hand, we would be sharing the transportation system with sightseeing school children and parents, jockeying to see the same sights.  Because of my wife's injury, we were handicapped.

Portcullis House and Palace of Westminster

I wasn't looking forward to sightseeing in London.  I had done most of the prerequisite sights forty years earlier.  I didn't need to see them, again.  However, I was in London with my wife.  This was her first visit to London.  I was willing to do whatever she wanted.  I would make the best of the situation.  However, I could tell, her first visit to London was not going to be a quality visit.

©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved