One of the jaunts we took was to the city which is just a walk down Victoria street.
We passed Westminster Cathedral and stopped in to light a candle for Desi, a baby struggling for his life in ICU back home. We bought some bookmarks and a child’s rosary from the gift shop and put his name on the prayer list for the altar.
The Abbey’s gift shop was heaving with tourists, they carry a vast selection of royal family commemorative pieces ranging from whole sets of fine bone china, to fridge magnets and bookmarks.
When we had finished browsing we wandered over to Parliament Square to people watch from the fountain.
The London Eye is just visible behind Westminster Hall.
Trafalgar Square where our favourite Pret a Porter is,
and a view from the Thames Uber where we can use our Oyster card as a change from the underground.
Gone are the ship yards and high rise council flats,
instead there are highly sought after river view flats.
We couldn’t visit Bankside, home of The Tate, The Royal Festival Hall and The Globe, without me posing for a photo with the famous dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral in the background.
The grounds of the Victoria Embankment were awash with summer flowers; we had our picnic at the ready once we’d plonked down on a rain jacket to eat our fresh Pret sandwich on the damp grass.
While on the topic of food we planned an early visit to The Jolly Woodman with my brother and his partner and a friend from Highcliffe (where we used to live) and after our wine we popped across the road to In2 Papadam. We ordered a variety of food for the table and had a long awaited for taste of what London does best, curries and Kormas.
On our final night, we decided to eat at a restaurant we had walked past numerous times over the years. Papillo.
The food was Mediterranean and delicious.
I wore a white blouse and was very proud of myself for not spilling anything on it…
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.
