Today is August Bank Holiday Monday. This is a special day for us each year because it is the day when we celebrate our anniversary. This is what you might call our “official anniversary” because we are no longer sure of the actual date when we met and so we settled on the August Bank Holiday Monday as a date that was as good as any other and had the advantage of being a day when we were free from work and other commitments. If you are interested to know how we came together, see Anniversary.

Bellanger

For lunch we went to Bellanger on Islington Green. This French style restaurant was (and is again) one of our favourites for special occasions. They had closed down but decided to open again, for which we were very glad.

Piccadilly

After lunch, we caught a bus to Piccadilly. I only had time for one not very good photo of this famous street before we left it to make for our destination.

St James’s Park

That destination was St James’s Park which is a pleasant place in which to stroll or sit.

Pigeon on a post

There are of course lots of birds and other wild creatures in the park. We hadn’t gone far before we encountered this pigeon who had adopted a rather unusual position on a post. I took the photo discreetly so as not to disturb him. (Did I mention that I’m fond of pigeons?)

The lake

The grass, trees, shrubs and flowers (see below) are all very enjoyable but for many people, the main attraction is the lake and the waterfowl that live on and around it.

Greylag geese

The greylag geese are among the larger birds but there are also swans and pelicans. The latter stayed at a further end of the lake, fortunately, as they are known for their bad habits such as scooping up and swallowing live pigeons.

Pelicans

This photo was taken too far away for you to see that these actually are pelicans but they are.

We found a bench and sat down to watch the coots, ducks, moorhens and black-headed gulls.

Scrambling for food

People are not supposed to feed the birds but they do of course and this makes for a lively scene.

Feeding a black-headed gull
Photo by Tigger

This man arrived with bags of crusts. The birds seemed to know him and took food from his hand. A black-headed gull flew several circuits and at each pass, snatched a piece of bread from the man’s hand.

Rushing to the next feeding spot

Every time someone else started distributing food there was a rush on the part of the birds to join the party and grab their share.

Pigeon on our bench

This pigeon perched for s moment on our bench. He was intent on the food and unconcerned about me taking his photo.

Flower beds

We eventually left our bench and walked to the other side of the park. I photographed this bed of flowers. There are many such and I could see gardening staff busily tending them and the other plants.

Here are some more animals spotted as we went through the park.

Parakeet

Parakeets were not native to the UK but some escaped from captivity and the breed is now well established.

White swans and black swan

As well as the more usual white swans, black swans are also established in the park.

Big fish

Looking down from the bridge that crosses the lake, we saw this big fish. I would estimate his length at something like 18 inches (46 cm). Cormorants fish in the lake but I doubt whether even they could deal with this monster!

Squirrel
Photo by Tigger

There were of course plenty of squirrels, some bold enough to take food from the hand and others who lurk shyly in the undergrowth.

Colourful duck
Photo by Tigger

Tigger photographed this duck as he went walking by. I don’t know what species it is. Perhaps someone can enlighten me?

Cormorant drying his wings

It’s difficult to make out in this distance shot but in the centre is a cormorant. He has been fishing and is drying his wings in characteristic cormorant fashion.

Clive of India

Leaving the park, we walked up those steps past the statue to Robert Clive, also known as Clive of India. If your historical education is as poor as mine, you can find out more about him here.

Whitehall

This brought us through to Whitehall (though this is not a characteristic view of that famous street) where we caught the first of two buses for our homeward journey.

Piccadilly again

That first bus took us to Piccadilly once more where we caught a number 38 back to the Angel and home.

The Castle is a pub at the Angel near where we live. Before Covid-19, it used to be quite a lively place.

The Castle

These days it seems quieter but they serve food and so we thought we would try their Sunday roast.

A corner table

We were the only customers at first and so had a choice of tables. We took one in a corner.

Vegetarian roast
Photo by Tigger

We ordered the vegetarian roast. This was a kind of vegetable Wellington on a bed of mushrooms and other vegetables, accompanied by roast potatoes and topped off with a Yorkshire pudding.

After lunch, we decided to go for a walk.

Wild Kong

It’s a while since I photographed Richard Orlinski’s Wild Kong so here he is in all his glory (if that’s the right word to use).

We went to the nearby bus stop and boarded a number 214 to Highgate Hill.

Highgate Hill Reservoir

We left the bus on Highgate Hill near this grassy hummock protected by railings. It is the Highgate Hill Reservoir and was constructed in 1845 for the New River Company. It is now managed by Thames Water.

Down Highgate Hill

We set off on foot down Highgate Hill which is quite steep as you can perhaps see from the photo.

Attractive house

Highgate Hill is not a particularly interesting place for walking. However, we did spot one handsome building. It was set back from the road in what looked to be a very pleasant location. I have no idea of its age or history.

Merton Lane

We struck off Highgate Hill along Merton Lane.

Entering the Heath

Merton Lane led us to Parliament Hill Fields, part of the great rough park that is Hampstead Heath.

The pond

We found a bench and sat for a while beside one of the Highgate Ponds. The ponds are famous for bathing though a notice informed us the bathing was not allowed in this one. There are about six ponds altogether and some are quite deep.

Panorama of the pond
Photo by Tigger

This panorama by Tigger gives an idea of the size and shape of the pond.

Men’s Swimming Pond

We continued our walk and passed by the next pond which happened to be the swimming pond for men. Despite the fact that it was a chilly day (I found it so, at least), there were men splashing about in the water.

Men in the water

As the swimmers are hard to see because of the distance, here is s close-up of a group disporting themselves together. Rather them than me!

Last view

This my the last photo taken just before leaving the Heath. The weather was not very friendly though the sun did break through briefly from time to time, so briefly that it was easy to miss it.

Queen Victoria pillar box

We left the Heath by a street called, appropriately enough, Parliament Hill. The only object of interest I found there was this pillar box bearing the royal cypher of Queen Victoria.

By Hampstead Heath Station

Thus we arrived at Hampstead Heath Station and what might be called (without disrespect) the lower end of Hampstead. This is quite a lively area with cafes and boutiques.

Pond Street

We came to Pond Street where we could catch a bus to start our journey home. A number 46 took us to Kentish Town.

Kentish Town

We changed at Kentish Town to a 214 to take us back to the Angel. The only thing to note here is the screened building on the corner. This used to be a polytechnic building where I worked for a number of years. That is firmly in the past, however, and the building has served several different purposes since then. What will its next destiny be, I wonder?

As for us, we returned home to make tea and sort out our photos!

After the trip, the shopping!

It’s a grey cloudy day today and quite chilly (14°C) compared with the heat of the last few weeks. I am trying not to grumble about it m, though, as I remember how I longed for cooler weather only a few days ago.

Jusaka

We started with a visit to Jusaka and a cup of coffee to give us courage.

We took a 38 bus to St Giles’s Church and from there walked through to Tottenham Court Road. On the way, we passed by this famous – or notorious – tall building.

Centre Point

It has had quite a chequered career so far (see its history here) and I don’t know quite what is happening to it now. Some would like to see it torn down but I think that very unlikely. In its defence, I would say it’s not as unsightly as some of the other modern buildings in the area.

Neon artwork

Inside, we could see what looked look a neon explosion. It is presumably an artwork but more than that I cannot say. The photo doesn’t do it justice because of the reflections on the windows and because these are too narrow to allow a view of the whole thing.

Tottenham Court Road

When we reached Tottenham Court Road itself, we found that there were people about but not as many as we would have expected pre-Covid-19, especially on a Saturday. From a selfish point of view, this was all to the good as it made movement easier and more pleasant. (Did I mention that I hate crowds?)

Crêpes, Coffee & Chai

Our first stop was at this eatery where we paused for an early lunch. They offer crêpes, omelettes and something called “galettes”. To the French, who invented it, after all, a galette can any one of various things, both sweet and savoury. So what were these “galettes”? We ordered a “Veggie Galette” each to see what it was.

Interior

It turned out to be mushrooms and other vegetables in melted Emmenthal cheese, wrapped in a lacey wrapper, rather like a thin, crispy crêpe.

Veggie Galette

If the food was delicious, eating it was rather a trial because the supplied knife and fork were made of wood and cutting with the knife was next to impossible. If I come here again, I’ll bring my own utensils.

Inside Lidl

We then walked almost the whole length of Tottenham Court Road to reach the Lidl supermarket. We usually shop nearer home at Sainsbury’s but Tigger likes to visit Lidl from time to time. It has a reputation for cheapness but as I haven’t compared prices I can’t comment on that.

The bus for home

Having totted up our bill at a self-service till (which was very easy to use) we were free to drag our shopping trolley home. I was quite glad when the number 73 hove in sight to carry us back to the Angel.

I rather think that that’s the sum of our activity today and that we shall spend the rest of it relaxing at home.

Tigger photographed this now familiar view this morning but notice an added detail: a rainbow. It is rather faint but you can perhaps make it out, running from the left end of the houses diagonally up to the right.

As the title says, today we return to London. For once our tickets are “open”, meaning that we can take any train. As there are three trains each hour to London St Pancras, we can take our time are leave when ready.

The Met Office forecasts rain with thunder storms later. For the moment the sun is shining but there is a hint of darker clouds to the west.

Before leaving the hotel room for the last time, I took a photograph of the Clock House as a souvenir. Not that I doubt that we’ll see it again in the not too distant future.

Tigger had some last-minute shopping to do so we took the opportunity to have breakfast in the Star Nergis cafe again.

Then we caught the bus to Ramsgate Station.

Trains to St Pancras leave at 7, 19 and 20 minutes past the hour, rather an odd distribution. We have half an hour to wait for the 11:07.

This is Tigger’s panoramic view of Ramsgate Station, looking rather like an eye!

As we speed towards our first stop at Canterbury West, this view of the countryside shows rain clouds gathering. The first drops streak the window.

We have crossed the Medway and arrived at Ebbsfleet International. In a few minutes we reach Stratford International which is already London and almost home. As if to emphasise the point, our train, an HS1, is running on Eurostar fast tracks and travelling at speed as though it is in as great a hurry to arrive as I am!

Stratford, London and nearly home. (Photo by Tigger.)

Here we are disembarking at St Pancras.

Walking through St Pancras Station. (Panorama by Tigger.)

We stopped off at El & N for coffee and sat at a table outside where we watched the people passing by on the station concourse. How many different ways are there to wear a face mask wrongly? I don’t know but we saw a good selection of them.

Coffee finished, we caught a 214 bus which carried us the rest of the way home.

Now all we have to do is make tea and unpack!

This view of the marina has become familiar to us. Apart from its aesthetic appeal, it serves to provide a quick check on the weather. At the moment this is cloudy-sunny though according to the Met Office, there will be rain later.

As you can see, the water in the harbour is as smooth as a mirror, indicating that the wind that has been a feature of the last few days, has dropped, at least for now.

The temperature has also dropped a couple of degrees, making me glad that I thought to bring a pullover with me, “just in case”.

We went exploring for breakfast and on the way passed this quaint stepped street called Abbot’s Hill.

We plumped for Star Nergis where we had breakfasted on a previous visit to Ramsgate.

We had some shopping to do and found what we needed in this section of the High Street which is pedestrian only.

The main business of the day was to go to Westcliff-on-Sea to meet family.

Accordingly, we caught a bus to Margate and changed to a second bus in Cecil Square.

The second bus brought us to Westcliff. Above is Station Road, a main shopping area. Westcliff has a number of Victorian vestiges, including the metal canopies outside shops that you can see on the left of the photo.

We rendezvoused in the Beano Cafe. (There are actually several of these in the area as well as a Beano Kebab.)

We went down to the seaside. It is a quiet area here with just a few shops selling the usual seaside items such as buckets and spades and a few beach cafes.

The tide was at its lowest point and the water was far away across acres of sand and mud. Though there were people on the beach, bathing was not on anyone’s menu.

The dots you can see on the sea towards the right are ships. They seemed to be anchored as none moved from where they were.

This picture shows the ships more clearly.

We stopped off for coffee at this beach cafe.

After this, we made our way back to Ramsgate. It turned out that the Met Office was right because it started to rain, right of cue. We decided to eat early again to avoid the rush. We tried the Turkish restaurant that I mentioned previously, and this time found plenty of free tables.

I ordered a halloumi starter and we both chose vegetarian casserole. Although there were very few diners, service was extremely slow. I think they forgot to bring my starter because it eventually came after they brought the main course.

As it was still raining and is due to continue doing so, we took refuge in the bar of our hotel where we ordered peppermint tea.

We sat in one of a pair of settees. The settee was very deep and very soft and therefore very hard to escape from! But eventually, we managed to convince ourselves to escape and make our way up the 33 steps to our hotel room.

This is the view from the window as I write this (6:46pm). The cloudy and rainy scene offers no incentive to venture out into the streets and so we shall spend the rest of the evening “at home” in our hotel room.

This was our last full day in Ramsgate and tomorrow we return to London. As usual, I am looking forward to it.