This time it was pouring with rain during breakfast.
We all wore better than canvas shoes, our son borrowed his father’s Doc Martens, I wore boots with everyone else.
Only cameras that could fit in pockets ventured out on the journey today and we headed to Camden Town.
We walked from Brixton station to the underground. A town where even the police refuse to enter at night.
The stalls were wet and drippy but the atmosphere was there.
Camden’s High Street is eclectic,
The inside market was dry and busy,
Outside we battled with pedestrians and umbrellas.
We ate alongside the locks, Chinese and Turkish food. No picnic today, part of the charm of Camden is its open air restaurants and the brightly coloured barges.
We visited our friend from upstairs’ old family pub,
The World’s End,
and had some water…and a half of guiness!
We pushed our way into the underground station which was being closed off as a means to control the crowd,
We came home to dry off and potter around the computer showing each other what we could do.
We cooked at home
and caught up on all the news we hadn’t already imparted on Skype, which wasn’t much at all!
The only plan for Day Four was mass.
St. George’s gave its all for our visiting son and the choir was in full voice.
We walked through the graveyard on the way to lunch,
at Zizzi’s on the High Street where we met my brother and his youngest boy for lunch.
Pizza and pasta are expensive meals to eat out here.
He was able to walk with me for an hour and see the ancient woodlands and flower gardens where I spend time to resource myself after a long day writing words at my desk.
the manor house,
and adjoining stables,
and the River Beck that runs through it.
Then it was time to take the train to Leigh with his youngest sister where he was hurriedly shown around the town and the sea and her church and the street where she lives.
He travelled home on his own arriving safe and sound at about 1030pm. He ate and went to bed.
An unspoken agreement had it that if wake to a ray of sunshine we are to get up and start early.
The weatherman promised Day Five to be a sunny one.
We packed a lunch for the family picnic and went to Covent Garden just because.
We bought Thames Clipper tickets to ferry us up and down the river all day if we wanted to.
We went to Bankside and stood in line for The Globe Theatre tour.
A confused Spaniard handed us a load of tickets saying he didn’t understand the tour in English so his ignorance saved us a few pounds.
We ate our lunch with our backs towards the Thames facing the Globe and its advertisement for 37 plays in 37 languages.
We walked across the Millenium bridge that sways slightly.
We hopped on a Clipper and boated down to Greenwich and The Cutty Sark.
We managed to snap a rare canon shot these days,
We sat in a bakery, had a cream tea,
and a some strong coffee to wake us all up,
The sunshine was relaxing us a little too successfully.
We walked under the river in a tunnel with all kinds of rules that were being broken, no cycling, walk on the left, no skateboarding…it was mayhem down there and when we came out the other side we were in Jakarta! men in long flowing white robes everywhere! We felt as though we’d been transported C.S.Lewis style!
On the Clipper again we rode to Embankment.
We went to The Science Museum and saw Apollo’s moon landing in 3D.
At home once more after eight hours out, we drank coffee in our garden while the sun lasted and ate lamb for dinner.
The rain resumed at 730pm.
Well hello there! My name is Vivienne McNeny.
I am an empty nester exploring life as a Boomer…you could say I'm happily Boomering along!
As a homeschooling Mum I have finally quit the job of role model and mentor to my four children. I do what I want to do, eat when I feel like it, enjoy life with my blue eyed cowboy and clean my house once a month or so whether it needs it or not!
In true English form I write about the emergence of my true identity now that I can no longer hide behind my children as their Mum.
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