12 March 2014

Unexpected Aeroplanes

It was a lovely day today.  The Swan Whisperer and I went skating first thing, and then he went off to work, and I did a bit of shopping.  It was too nice to go home. But while I was in Argos waiting for my item to be brought up, I checked my phone, and there was a text from the Daughter to say they were going to watch aeroplanes, and would I like to come too? 

So I texted back "Yes, please", and as soon as my shopping came, I went straight home, threw the makings of some stock into the slow cooker, and went out again.

To watch aeroplanes, you go to Cyprus DLR station, which is way out near Beckton.  Then you walk through the UEL campus and there are loads of benches facing the dock, just across from the London City Airport runway. 

What wind there was was from the east today, meaning that the planes took off from directly in front of us, but they landed nearer the terminal, and came half-way up the runway to turn round, so you did get a good view of them. 

The airport is much busier than it used to be, and planes were taking off or landing every few minutes.  You seemed to get a batch of planes taking off, and then a batch landing to fill the slots at the gates, and then another batch taking off. 

We bought rather disappointing filled baguettes in a local coffee shop - two between the four of us.  Boy Too seems much keener on food than his brother was at that age, and enjoyed the bread, although he wasn't given much, if any, of the filling.  The Boy and I shared a strawberry-banana smoothie, too.

After that, we went on watching planes for a bit, although the Boy was more interested in playing trains, and found the very loud engines of taking-off planes rather scary.  Then we went and found a loo, and took the DLR back to Canary Wharf to have a potter around there. 

It's a long, long time since the Daughter and I used to go there for a wander when she was little, and it's very easy to get lost there - I wanted to go to the big fountains, but we couldn't find them.  We did, however, find a M&S and bought ourselves ice-lollies - sadly, the Boy's fell off its stick before he'd finished "And I wanted to eat it all!" he sobbed.  Boy Too, who had been napping while we were travelling, enjoyed some of his mother's lolly, and we decided we might have to buy some fruit juice and make some lollies.

The Boy said he wanted to go home on the Underground - dull, but faster than the DLR, although he does love the DLR - and I decided I would do likewise.  And then I realised that there is a new way of going home from the days when I used to work in the area, and so I changed at Canada Water.  Luckily, there was a Clapham Junction-bound Overground due in 2 minutes when I got to the appropriate platform, and I am sure I got home faster than I would have done had I done the very long and stair-ridden change at London Bridge.  I must remember that next time I want to go to Stratford!

09 March 2014

Spring Walk

It was the first real Spring day of the year, far too nice to stay indoors, so the Swan Whisperer and I decided we would do the "other" leg of the canal walk we had been planning ever since we walked up the Limehouse Cut about 18 months ago.  So we took the Northern Line to Bank, and then the DLR to Limehouse, and then we took the first branch of the canal, which is, of course, the Regents' Canal at that stage.  There was a place hiring canoes, and we made enquiries - not that we planned to do that today, but we thought we might like to at some stage.  Actually, I'm not too sure I do want to - there was an awful lot of rubbish in the canals,  yuck.

So we walked up the Regents' Canal, overtaking some walkers, being overtaken by others, and having to climb the banks for passing cyclists.  The route was rather interesting, actually, as it goes along the side of Mile End Park, which we hadn't met before.  And of course Mile End Park finishes at Victoria Park, where the Hertford Union Canal turns right - and so did we. 

We walked along the canal - there are houses on the first bit, but eventually you see Victoria Park, which was seriously standing-room only, we thought!  Not too surprising on such a lovely afternoon.

The canal joins the River Lee opposite the Olympic Park - the stadium and the Orbit are to one's right, and the Copper Box to one's left.  I am not sure how much of the park, even now, is open to the public, although I know some of it is - the swimming pool is now a public baths, and watch this space as there may well be a visit sometime in the next few weeks. 

Anyway, that was more-or-less the end of our walk.  We would have liked to have had a beer at a recommended brewery and pizzeria just there, but we were running out of time, so we went straight to Hackney Wick station, a few hundred metres away (and a very splendid zig-zag path leading up to the platforms, much nicer than stairs!), from which we were able to catch an Overground to Highbury and Islington, and then the Victoria Line back to Brixton.

05 February 2014

Sunday and Monday

We had ordered breakfast for 09:00 on Sunday morning, so that we could be away in good time, and were away before 10:00.  We needed petrol, but Madame in the hotel didn't seem to know about any 24-hour stations at supermarkets (French petrol is far, far cheaper in the supermarkets than anywhere else, even a service station across the road from the supermarket), but said there was one open on our way out, so we filled up there (and of course found a plethora of supermarkets on our way out of town, so typical).

We were on our way to a little town called Lezay, where we were to meet a very old friend - in the sense that I have known her for over 40 years, not that she is particularly elderly - who lives in that area, and had recommended this restaurant called l'Assiette for lunch.  We had plenty of time so decided to drive on the N and D roads, which are, of course, a lot slower, but arguably more interesting - although on the outskirts of towns one does get a little bored of the endless supermarkets and "zones industrielles" lining the roads, and the satnav's endless instructions to "Cross the Roundabout; 2nd exit".  However, we also went through some beautiful countryside on what were archetypal - or did we mean stereotypical, we couldn't decide - French roads, very straight with trees either side.

We arrived at the restaurant shortly after our friend, and after a good meal we went back to hers, where we were spending the night.  We took the dog out for a walk, rejoicing in the lighter evenings, France being an hour later than we are (although it doesn't try to get light before 08:00, which must be thoroughly depressing when you have to go to work in the dark for three months of the year).  And watched a bit of British television, and ate supper, and then talked and talked and talked until the wee small hours, just as we had done forty-odd years ago!

All too soon we had to leave next morning.  The hotel had very kindly telephoned us to say that the Swan Whisperer had left his alarm clock behind, so we had to call in there en route.  We also wanted to go back a slightly cheaper route than we had come, which had cost the best part of €50 in motorway tolls, so we went via Chartres, or the outskirts thereof, which is arguably slightly slower, but very much cheaper as there is little or no toll motorway, but quite a lot of dual carriageway.

The journey seemed, to me, practically endless!  We ended up with plenty of time to shop in Auchan and then a quick bite to eat in Buffalo Grill before getting our planned Shuttle home, but that last two hours.... oh dear.... and I wasn't even driving!  I love to see my friend, and if we go to Tours again it does seem silly not to go and see her, when she is only a couple of hours away, but it does make for a very, very long day's driving home.


01 February 2014

Long Day

The competition started at 08:00, but as we were not involved in the first session, we ordered breakfast for 8.15, and didn't get to the rink until 09:00. To find, of course, that things were running slightly late, but they always do, and the delay wasn't bad. We also found that we were the only foreigners, as the Austrian couple who had planned to give the Masters skates a run for their money had withdrawn.

The Swan Whisperer was skating after the break, doing Bronze solo dances. We realised when he was warming up the 14-step that he was fairly obviously the weakest skater in the group, and he duly came 5th out of 5. However, his European was good, for him, and another skater had a disaster trying to make it one lobe instead of the two everybody else had sensibly settled for. So the SW was Not Last, which, considering he is at least 20 years older than any of his competition, was very gratifying.

Lunch was provided at the rink, and after it we went back to the hotel for a break. I fell asleep and then had indigestion caused by Too Much Cheese at lunch (well there was a fantastic cheeseboard), so stayed in while the SW went for a walk. Finally it was time to go back to the rink and get ready to skate out free dance.

We already knew we had no competition, but we wanted to see what sort of marks we would get, with a view to skating at Oberstdorf if we scored about 8 or thereabouts, which is normal for us. The ice was hard and fast, and I found it scary and didn't think we skated that will. We fluffed the spin, and I rushed the highlight after the step sequence, and didn't even try to be on one foot while the SW did his spiral. So imagine our delight when the scored were announced - not the 5 or 6 I thought it deserved, not even 8 or - wildest dreams 10 - but 14·32! A personal best by a mile! Oberstdorf, here we come!

After that, there was (a stiff drink and) a lot of hanging about until the presentations, after which we got changed and went to find a restaurant that would do us a meal after 10:00 pm, and fortunately there was one just found the corner from the hotel. Not exactly cheap, but seriously worth it - I had the most delicious fish, and a beer. And so back to the hotel, and bed. And trying to wind down from an exhausting day.

31 January 2014

First trip of 2014, Day One

I'm sure I've already used the heading "A weekend in France" and if I have not, I might want it again. So today was the start of our long weekend mini-break to compete at the Coupe de Druides, which this year is dance-only and is being held in Tours.

This meant getting up early to leave by shortly after 7:00 am, not helped by an attack of cystitis, fortunately not severe, but enough to wake me several times in the night. We made our booked crossing, which always feels slightly like a failure, as it feels we've won if we get on an earlier one. But we had 20 minutes to wait in the terminal, enough to buy a new road atlas and for me to discover where I should have bought a new travel hairdryer - the one I bought on Amazon is practically full-size.

Smooth journey, stopping three times, and arriving at the hotel about 6:00 on. Hotel is really lovely, just the kind of place I like. Very warm welcome, large, comfortable beds, and somehow very French. Also cheap!

After a cup of tea (not provided but I brought my trusty travel kettle), we went out for a walk and found the rink, and then looked for a restaurant. Found a very nice one called L'Entracte, not far from the hotel, and had a delicious, if meat-heavy, meal.
Then wandered back to the hotel and a relatively early night.

28 January 2014

Travelling First Class

I had never travelled First Class in my life before last Saturday, when I went up to Crewe for the day.  Now that I have a Senior Railcard, the Weekend First option was not impossibly expensive, and I thought I would treat myself.

The outward journey was via London Midland, a train company I had not used before and, frankly, I don't think I mind if I never use them again!  I would have regretted paying for a First Class ticket had the train not been so full as to be standing-room only between London and Stoke-on-Trent.  The seats were no bigger or more comfortable than in standard class, and the compartment was not at one end of the train so there were a constant stream of people walking through trying to find either a seat or a lavatory that was working (in vain!).  And it was COLD!  The heating seemed to have been turned off in favour of the air-conditioning!  At least in First Class I had a seat and nobody sat next to me so I could spread out a bit.  Plus I could plug in my phone while listening to Saturday morning radio (via Internet, which ate my data rather, but I couldn't get a signal on the FM bands).   Nobody checked my ticket at all - good thing I'm honest - although the guard did say there was an inspector on the train and First Class Tickets Would Be Checked.  They weren't.  On the whole I was not very impressed.

I was, however, very impressed with the facilities at Crewe station, which were both clean and free to use, not a common combination.

My time in Crewe was lovely, apart from being severely hailed on just before I arrived - I had gone to attend a friend's husband's induction to the Pastorate of a Baptist church, and there were other friends there, too, which was great.  After a lovely tea, some kind people let me share their taxi to the station - it had stopped raining and I would happily have walked, but it was nice not to have to.

Then the First Class really kicked in.  I was able to go to the First Class lounge which was very comfortable and had free Wifi and was warm and clean.  I made myself a cup of Earl Grey to drink while I waited.  I was going home with Virgin Trains, and as the train was non-stop the waitress suggested I sat where I pleased, so I had a lovely four-seat bay all to myself.  I didn't want any tea or coffee, but did have an orange juice, although I passed on the snack box, having had a huge tea.  Really, I should have had one and eaten it another time....

Virgin trains were blissfully comfortable and had free WiFi, and plugs, so I turned on my phone's maps and had great fun watching the train careering through the countryside.  Well, while I was awake, that is.  I did sleep between Stafford and Milton Keynes!  The only blight on the journey was that the train was rather late, the earlier storms had caused some damage to the overhead lines.  But when you are sitting snug and warm and it is dark outside, this doesn't really matter!

Virgin Trains did cost about twice as much as London Midland, and you can quite see why.  I am not sure whether I would travel First Class again - certainly not on Southern or South-Eastern, it really isn't worth it.  If I could get a decent bargain on Virgin, though... well, their First Class is worth it!

16 January 2014

A visit to the Museum of London Docklands

I had always wanted to go to the Museum of London Docklands, and finally had the opportunity to take my elder grandson, the Boy, now 3½ .  We met up at Westfield Stratford City, and after coffee and Babycinos we left the Daughter and Boy Too with her friends and their babies of roughly the same age as Boy Too, while the Boy and I made ourselves comfortable (he loved, as I knew he would, the loos in the parent/child room there, which have a big one and a little one in the same space so you can pee comfortably together, and then two wash-basins at varying heights so you can wash your hands together, too.  But there was no way to dry them ("We'll have to shake!" said the Boy) until you got out and there were some paper towels in the nappy-changing area.

We set off on the DLR to West India Quay and then walked to the Museum. I thought at first we had gone the wrong way, but Google navigation soon confirmed we were right.  However, when we arrived it was about 11:30 am and we were told that the children's play area - which is very, very well-reviewed - did not open until 2:00. We hired an activity backpack, but much of the stuff was too young for him - a couple of very easy puzzles, and a book that he dismissed, scornfully, as suitable for his baby brother.  There were some binoculars, though, which he loved, a friendly dolphin finger puppet, ditto, and some shapes which you were supposed to match, but he didn't fancy that.

I think I would have enjoyed the museum better without him.  It wasn't very suitable for young children, as there was an awful lot of reading, and I think you had to know about things coming in big ships and how they used to come to London.  However, he liked the mock-up of Old London Bridge, and showed me which house he would like to live in!  And he liked a lot of the model ships, and was very, very brave when it came to Sailortown, a reconstruction of how the sailors would have lived back in the day, which was very dark and gloomy and spooky, and he hated it, so we came out - and then he insisted on going back in for another go, even though it was scary. He also loved - so did I - the boxes of spices, tea, coffee and sugar that were there to be looked at and sniffed and identified.  The cloves smelt gorgeous!

We had a very disappointing lunch in the cafĂ© - expensive and my salad was incredibly dry and nasty, and my tomato quiche was very odd, although not unpleasant.  I wish I'd chosen a sandwich that looked nice, but it didn't happen.  The Boy had a "kiddies' sandwich" - cheese in white bread - and a pirate chocolate (we thought it was cheese) which was disappointing by being merely a lump of chocolate, not printed like the chocolate coins he got for Christmas and has been enjoying.

Then we went back home via the DLR, the Central Line and the W16 bus, and arrived home a good 45 minutes before the others.  "I expect Mummy's doing boring shopping!" said the Boy.  So we made ourselves drinks and another cheese sandwich as we were still hungry.  Not the most satisfactory day out ever, alas, but not the worst.