London

 We sold the table on a Saturday. On the Sunday evening after church we hied us away to the Ibis Budget Hotel near the airport to stay overnight before our early flight to London. The Ibis Budget Hotel was fine. The lift wasn't working, but we were on the first floor, so what did we care. Next morning at 5am we trotted the 10 minutes to the airport and ran from terminal to terminal (not very far!) to find our flight. We were in London in time for breakfast.

Breakfast was in a nice Turkish café on the way to our London hotel. Bacon, eggs, tomatoes, etc., and a big mug of tea. Bliss. We were staying in the Easyhotel in Shoreditch. It was fine. You get a bed, a bathroom and two coat hooks. Once I fixed the shower all was good. Our week included :

A visit to The British Museum, this time armed with my little book. The Museum was crowded, so we curtailed our visit a little, but not before visiting Alexander the Great and Socrates, as well as Ur of the Chaldees and Assyria. Oh, and the Parthenon Frieze.

The Sky Garden. The Sky Garden was crowded but we still enjoyed our views out over the city, our carrot cake and a big mug of tea and a brief moment in nature.

Breakfasts at Wetherspoons. A haven for those on a budget, there was a nice Wetherspoons just down the road from our hotel.

Churches : Wren churches - I'm so thick I never connected Wren with the Baroque. Now it all seems so obvious. Also some non-Wren, like Saint Thingamabob's Clerkenwell Green, and Saint Wossnim's on Fleet Street. We also did the Temple Church, and now I think that Dan Brown was onto something.

Prosecco on the terrace of a posh bar in the middle of Lincoln's Inn Fields. I was proudly wearing my red tractor sweatshirt and I could tell the waiter was jealous.

A visit to Brenda and Colin in Watford. This was why we chose London over Nice. Brenda and Colin are about 10 years older than us and it was time for a visit.

An excursion by train to Norwich to spend a day with Gwilym and Beth. Norwich is a very pleasant little place, though I do think the pasta palace forgot the anchovies and pepper flakes in my puttanesca.

A visit to a Christian Bookshop, a cornucopia of goodies, but we were flying on the cheapest option - a carrier bag you can sit on - so we resisted all temptation.

We enjoyed wandering round bits of the city that we didn't know. It's what we do when we go away, and it suits us!

 

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