The first job of the day, as the title says, was to take our laundry to the launderette where they do service washes.

The launderette

If you look carefully at the reflections in the launderette’s window, you might make out a certain tigerish person 🙂

The former Ingersol building

On the way, we photographed the former Ingersoll building for no better (or worse) reason that we like it, especially the mosaic bearing the name.

High up post box

We continued walking and went past an old primary school building (it is old but is still in use) where, next to a door, we spied this post box. Why is it so high? Was it installed by a very tall person? Or was it perhaps placed that high to prevent young pupils putting in it things they shouldn’t? I’ll probably never know.

Menu box, Hat & Feathers

As we passed the Hat & Feathers pub, we noticed the the glass on the menu box has been smashed. What? Are people now stealing menus? Actually, the second box, round the corner was intact but had no menu in it either. Make of it what you will.

Upstairs on the bus

We caught a bus for the next part of our outing. It was rather crowded downstairs so we ventured upstairs.

Rainbow crossing
Photo by Tigger

From the bus, Tigger photographed this pedestrian crossing that someone has painted in rainbow colours. You wonder how they managed to do so with traffic running in both directions. I also wonder how long it will survive before being repainted in the normal black and white.

A less crowded bus

At Shoreditch, we changed buses. This one was much less crowded. In any case, we couldn’t have gone upstairs because it was a single-decker!

Bethnal Green Gardens

We left the bus in Bethnal Green, by the Gardens. We would have liked to visit the V&A Museum of Childhood that is situated here but it was closed.

Bethnal Green Town Hall

We passed by Bethnal Green Town Hall which, though small for a London town hall, is quite striking.

Iron door screens

Among other details, I liked these decorative iron door screens. The town hall was opened in 1910 and you can find more about it here.

Catholic Church of Our Lady of the Assumption

We passed by this church. As it was open, we might have gone in for a look but there was a service in progress so we made do the a quick picture from the door.

We met a couple of denizens of Bethnal Green.

Interested but suspicious
Photo by Tigger

The first was a black and white cat taking his/her ease in a garden. S/he seemed interested but suspicious so we left him/her in peace to enjoy the tranquility of the garden.

Moth at rest in a notice board
Photo by Tigger

The second was this pretty moth resting on a glass-fronted notice board outside a police station. There were a couple of officers in the doorway but what they thought of us photographing their noice board I do not know!

A nice cafe

As it now felt like lunchtime, we looked around and found what looked to be a good cafe. We had lunch here. I took the above photo over my shoulder, using the selfie setting. As not everyone likes being photographed by a stranger, this seemed a discreet way to do it. No one complained, anyway!

Stag’s head (not real!)

There was a stag’s head on the wall but it is not a real one. So that’s all right, then 🙂

The Black Horse

We spotted this apparently dead pub in Roman Road. There has been a pub here since about the mid 19th century though it was rebuilt later. I think it was still open and operating until fairly recently but now its future seems in doubt.

“Butterfly” apartment block

I was intrigued by these apartment blocks in “butterfly” configuration with a central tower or shaft which I assume contains stairs and lifts.

“Three Bears” apartment blocks

Compare the “butterfly” with these three massive tower blocks. Because of their different sizes (though that might be an effect of the perspective), they made me think of the Three Bears of the Goldilocks story.

Duck weed on the Regent’s Canal

The Regent’s Canal passes through the area. As the photo shows, this is a year when the duck weed is proliferating. Areas of water surface are solid green except where disturbed by boats or water fowl. This must cause havoc for fish and water plants, deprived of light and oxygen.

Wood pigeon

I photographed this wood pigeon who settled on the fence nearby until passers-by scared him away.

We now took the bus back to town.

Shoreditch High Street

We changed here, within a stone’s throw of Liverpool Street Station, to a 205 which delivered us at the Angel.

Thus ended today’s adventure. What of tomorrow? Wait and see! 🙂

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!