babyboomerbooks ......stories that endure......
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Helen and
Jenny's trip to Amsterdam
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Friday
13th April 2007 Once
Jenny arrived from San Francisco and we'd had a cup of tea we set
out in the tram to find the floating flower market, which we managed
easily thanks to good directions from a man in the hotel gift shop.
After a little diversion into a Delftware shop where I bought a necklace
we found the flower market which is full of the most incredible flowers
and bulbs especially the amaryllis which are the size of soccer balls
and come in amazing shades of red, pink, white and striped and stand
6 feet high.
We took a canal cruise Red Line around the Prinzengracht (Princes Canal) and it was so nice and relaxing that we stayed on the boat and went on the Green Line, enjoying the glide past houseboats moored in the canals and the tall canal houses that seem to lean forward. It's not just an illusion: they've actually been built that way so that furniture can be hauled up the outside from a beam on the gable and not hit the front of the house. 4 storeys is the maximum height allowed so it makes for a very pleasant and cohesive look.
Our hotel is the Hilton, famous for being where John Lennon and Yoko Ono spent a week-in-bed-for-peace on their honeymoon. Their suite is available for rent at a vastly higher tariff but we were happy with our room and the Fish Market dinner in the restaurant with very fresh fish. It's out in the suburbs but with the tram service so excellent it didn't matter at all. Saturday
14th April 2007
The Kat Kabinett is gorgeous! It is in a canal house on the exclusive Herengracht (Gentleman's Canal) and was bequeathed to the city by a lady in memory of her cat John Pierpont Morgan. You ring the bell and are admitted into a cool dark narrow house furnished with cat art - French posters, statues, paintings, Chinese embroidery, porcelain, carvings, an amazing array - and us the only visitors. In quite a large garden at the back we saw an actual cat daintily walking amongst the parterre hedges and met him later sitting in state on a sofa in the reception room. Not sure if it was JP himself or not, but as Jenny said, it was a wonderful way to look inside a canal house and admire the richness of how they lived. Jenny went back to the hotel for a nap while I set out to find an internet cafe - successfully - and wrestle with the fact that my blogger is now all in Dutch and so are all the instructions, which is why it looked rather strange until I could sort it into English. For dinner we'd had the concierge book us into an Indonesian restaurant and here I saw the power of tipping. Jenny is a generous tipper on the principle that most women aren't and it's up to her to redress the balance so she tipped the hotel doorman - with the result that when a taxi arrived we went straight into it ahead of 4 people waiting to go to the airport. Not that it did us much good as we both loathed that taxi ride with a horrible aggressive driver braking behind bikes with millimetres to spare. The restaurant was traditional Indonesian and we ordered ricetable which is lots of little dishes sitting over candles to keep them warm, mild for me and stronger for Jenny who has a much higher chili tolerance. It was very tasty and the service was excellent. But we took the tram back to the hotel, because it's light until 9 pm and the city feels very safe unless you're in a taxi. Sunday
15th April 2007
The guide book says that in 2006 when the Netherlands was to play Germany in the World Cup a t-shirt was produced saying 'Give us back our bicycles' - a reference to the historical fact that as the Allies were approaching Amsterdam in 1945 the Germans stole every bike they could and rode back to Germany. It's still remembered, not fondly! An interesting feature of Amsterdam is the Coffee Houses - which we investigated only from the outside - of course. There are 250 of them in Amsterdam with names like Cheech and Chong or Serenity and they legally sell coffee and marijuanha to people over 18. They don't look like dens of iniquity, just a rather smoky room with security around the entrance. I was also taken by specialty shops selling mosquito nets in every possible bright and pretty colour and realised that with so much water - 60 miles of canal in Old Amsterdam alone - mosquitoes are going to be a hazard. Not to mention that the 2,500 houseboats empty their sewage directly into the canals which are then flushed with fresh water three or four tims a week. No wonder no-one is swimming in the canals even though the temperature is an unusually warm 25'C! You may be wondering when we are going to the Red Light District: answer - next week! Sunday
15th April 2007 It is very warm and the airconditioning in the lounge is on the blink which made life very hard for the group of Dutch dancers who came to give us a demonstration in their heavy woollen national costumes. (They're not allowed to wear clogs as it ruins the parquet floor.) They were good and very nice people, elderly though: I guess the young ones don't want to do it...
25 of us elected to take bicycles and ride to Edam where the cheese comes from. The bikes are new and in good repair but novices like me have to concentrate hard riding over cobbled streets and on top of the narrow dyke that keeps the Ijsselmeer out of the town. Someone commented on all the sheep and cows we'd seen but all I saw was the water on one side and the person in front of me... Edam is picture-book perfect with narrow cobbled streets, hump-backed bridges and pretty houses with sparkling clean windows. The official story is that Edam's housewives pride themselves on cleanliness and wash their windows at least once a week. Curtains are always open because they have nothing to hide. A cheese-tasting has been arranged for us, a nice nutty sweet Edam, but the local guides won't touch it: "We only eat Gouda". Alice can't have had her glasses on because I heard her commenting into her camcorder "here are trays of grapefruit" to a tray of yellow cheeses. Jenny was inspired and bought a dear little teapot with a windmill on the side and a packet of English Breakfast teabags. The bicycle ride back to the boat was hair-raising as it was on roads with actual TRAFFIC and us with no helmets but we all made it, even the person whose pedal dropped off as she crossed a busy road. Bicycles have right-of-way but I don't believe it in my bones.
The boat turned around after Volendam and headed back towards Amsterdam, not that anyone noticed much as we were all busy with dinner - 5 courses - and a music quiz. We took our teapot into dinner and instructed the waiter about pouring BOILING water onto the teabags: no doubt gaining a reputation for eccentricity but too bad. Dinner comes with wines included (other drinks are put on the bill) so it was a lively group that assembled in the lounge to hear the ship's pianist play little snippets of music that we had to identify. Our group was merely average with 12 right out of 20 but the pianist is good and I'm looking forward to hearing more from him. It's restful going to sleep in a moving ship which is very stable: at dinner the wines barely moved in the glass. Tueday
17th April 207 I have a deep objection to too much military history - what I call Luftwaffe - but had to suppress it at Oosterbeek which is a cemetery out in the forest for the killed soldiers, a lovely calm place cared for by the local school children then on into the village to the Airborne Museum in an old house which was the headquarters for this mission, dubbed "Market Garden". They showed us a film of the battle and let us loose in the museum which is full of dioramas of young men in battle scenes.
Back at the boat we farewelled Marthe with a tip: she was worth it being full of information and funny. Jenny and I missed the cruise director's talk in the afternoon and the trip to the wheel-house (shame!) as we were fast asleep but were refreshed and ready to tackle dinner and a nasty quiz in the lounge afterwards. We were better than average this time with 18 out of 20 but bombed out on this curly one: 'How far can a dog run into the woods?' Jenny put "until he drops dead" but you already know the answer: "half-way - because after that he's running out of the woods." Wednesday
18th April 2007
After Matthieu had finished we disappeared into a cafe with Alice and Bob for Bob to try some beers and us to have hot chocolates. He enjoyed his Devil's Beer ("it feels as if a flight of angels has landed on your tongue" says the advertising but I think that would be more appropriate for the hot chocolate.) I bought cherry beer (5.4% alcohol) to have during happy hour and liked it: it's neither sweet nor bitter and quite cherry tasting. Bob found a pub during the afternoon that sold 5 different beers for 12 Euros and enjoyed trying them all. Then we decided we had to buy a present for Rowley the New Zealander who is having a birthday on Friday. I'd seen chocolate penises in Amsterdam which sounded like fun and the cafe owner directed us to "Swiet and Seiksie" - say it to get what it is... What it is is a shop full of erotic sweets... Chocolate penises were judged too tacky so we bought chocolate breasts and had them wrapped in breasty gift-wrap. There was an optional bus trip to Brussels during the afternoon but we declined, a good decision as it turned out because they were held up in rush-hour traffic and didn't get back till after 7pm. I went on the bus tour to the diamond centre, which is Antwerp's major industry, and didn't like that much either. It was a 15 minute talk about how diamonds are cut and a 45 minute look around their showroom where nothing was priced under 1000 Euros. I should have stayed on the boat and caught up with the blog, but happy hour was nice with the cherry beer, most of the passengers away and the pianist playing just for us. After dinner the crew produced a show for the passengers which was fun - a few skits and mimes - talent wasn't a necessity. Things can't be too long as we all fall asleep! Thursday
19th April 2007 The cathedral looks sombre and forbidding outside but inside it's full of beautiful works of art and little side-chapels for very rich families and powerful guilds. We followed Miriam's coat on a walk along the river, past the old fish-market and through to the Castle of the Counts. Our cruise-director had said there was no shopping but he was wrong - the shops were full of tempting and interesting things. In our tiny bit of free time Alice and I set out to have a hot chocolate and a loo stop but found the shops far too interesting with different non-touristy goods and pretty fashions for size 8s. I bought bags and Alice toenail clippers and a bag. You can always tell an avid shopper: she's the one with her legs crossed!
We were taken to an artisan chocolate maker and I bought a block for David. The big chocolate maker in Belgium is Neuhaus who was originally a pharmacist who tried to make tablets more palatable for his customers by coating them with chocolate. This was so successful that everyone was over-dosing on their medication so he gave up pharmacy and went into chocolate-making - to the world's gain! The
streets were very crowded with tourists we thought, but no - Miriam
said it's almost empty so I don't think Brugge would be as enjoyable
at the height of the season. As it was one of our group almost got
run over by a bicyclist and when another of our group remonstrated
with the young man he went troppo - well they both did - like two
rutting deer. Our brave cruise director John tore them apart but
it was touch and go for a moment and gave us a scrap of drama to
talk about over dinner. Two violinists and a guitarist called La Strada played for us after dinner in the lounge and were excellent - classical and gypsy music played with energy and passion. Friday
20th April 2007
Alice and I rushed out at the end to be first back to the boat to get bikes so we could ride right around the town on top of the dyke, but no need for haste, only about six of us did it. It was a terrific photo opportunity as everything was so picturesque - and we saw our first windmill! The afternoon was super-windmill time: during lunch the boat cruised to Dordrecht where the buses met us and took us to Kinderdijk where there is a concentration of windmills that were built to pump water out of the low-lying areas and turn them into productive farmland. They're just for tourists now with one or two working and the rest turned into holiday homes with elaborate thatched roofs and the sails anchored so they don't turn. Strange thing: seen one windmill you've seen them all and the families of ducks in the canals got just as much attention from the tourists as the windmills. It's been a good year for ducks with about 12 ducklings per family.
Rowley was thrilled with his chocolate breasts but we didn't hear what was inside them... filling, that is... Saturday
21st April 2007 By the time we descended from the windmill a line was forming and I noticed later it was a long line snaking around the flower beds. This was the premium day being smack in the middle of tulip season and in the afternoon was the big Flower Parade with decorated floats and queens. We could have stayed to see it but would have had to battle crowds and make our own way back to Amsterdam.
I have never seen such gorgeous displays of bulbs! Early flowerers had been cut back so that every bed looked perfect - thickly planted in amazing colour schemes like purple and orange that actually work here.
Our cruise organisers were right: we'd had enough by 12 o'clock - tulipped out - and ready for an Amadagio lunch and a nice cup of tea from our little pot. Saturday afternoon was free time so I went into Amsterdam city to buy another bag and had such a search through the crowded winding lanes to find the shop, which I finally did, having nearly given up hope. Saturday afternoon must be a big shopping day as it was shoulder-to-shoulder around the main plaza where there is a fun fair and mega-noise.
Then after dinner, Alice, Rowley and I joined the group going to the Red Light District with strict instructions to keep an eye on each other... 48 of us went under the guidance of the cruise director who does it regularly - as a guide, he was quick to point out. No cameras allowed and no lollipop to follow which made it rather difficult with such a large group. The Kwaussies were appointed to bring up the rear and keep the stragglers together: we had our work cut out, particularly as one 76-year-old Canadian man in a flat cloth cap kept getting left behind. He was positive that he just couldn't walk fast enough but I don't know... John knew where to go and soon we were over a hump-backed bridge and walking alongside a canal with rooms either side containing the "working girls". They sit or stand in a dimly lighted room with a glass door and the moment a punter makes a motion, they've opened the door, dragged him in and pulled the curtains over. I was struck by how young and pretty the girls are, often with fluorescent bikinis which seem to float in the darkened room. Business wasn't brisk and apparently it doesn't really get going till after midnight, but a few bold spirits were being pushed in by their mates to the accompaniment of loud jeers. Further back off the main drag the girls were older and not so pretty or not girls at all as we saw in the transvestite street. There are pissoirs set up right out in the open which are removed every morning and replaced at night. We saw the PIC - Prostitute Information Centre - where the girls go for advice about setting up a room and help with their tax. Many of them are from Eastern European countries and come here as a job opportunity: there are no pimps, they get help with the business side of things and monthly medical checks. The Dutch certainly have the practical side of life under control! We returned to the boat with our original 48 - thanks to hard work from the sheep dogs at the back!
Helen
and David's trip to London
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![]() houses of parliament |
![]() Big Ben |
![]() leading females in Marathon |
Once we had caught up on our
news we went out for a walk along the Thames embankment through the remnants
of the Marathon runners, watchers and supporters. There were still a few stragglers
including a blue chicken, the roads were closed, every second person was limping
and there were police everywhere. We ate at a French restaurant near the Festival
Theatre and walked back to the hotel past the London Eye: would have been the
perfect time for a ride but of course the vouchers were at the hotel! David reckons
he walked 35 miles today!
Monday 23rd
April 2007
Bus Trip around London & Westminster Abbey
The newspapers are full of the Marathon today - chiding the organisers for
not providing enough water for runners in the "stifling heat" of
21'C: several people are ill, one quite seriously. However organisers say they
shipped
in 2000 extra bottles of water to each check point.
![]() western entrance |
We got on the Big Bus at Lambeth Palace, which is our nearest bus stop and did the red circuit. The weather forecasters had it quite wrong and we shivered on top of the bus but hung on gamely as we had front seats up top. David had planned this for yesterday but all the roads were closed for the runners. He was fascinated to see all the things he'd heard about for so long and I enjoyed the different perspective from my fleeting visit 8 months ago. We missed out on morning tea however, and here I am starved of good cups of tea... After lunch we met up with a guided tour to 'do' Westminster Abbey and put up our hands as seniors - funny how they believe you without ID. I had thought it would be a good way to see the Abbey but in fact it was too long at 2 hours and by the time we got to the nave where there were SEATS David and I both fell on them, thus proving our eligibility to be seniors. |
f course the Abbey is glorious, chock full of history and interest. I love the tombs of historical personages - Queen Elizabeth I's tucked away with Mary I and a much more elaborate one for Mary Queen of Scots - plots under-foot for non-royals, Winston Churchill with only a simple plaque on the floor reading: REMEMBER WINSTON CHURCHILL. Legend says that he refused a Westminster Abbey burial, saying privately: "I've never been walked on in life and I'm damned if I'll be walked on in death!" We've both been reading the novels by Michael Dobbs about WC so have an interest in him.
![]() Mary Queen of Scots' tomb |
![]() Elizabeth 1's tomb |
![]() Isaac Newton's tomb |
Today we're trying the buses as the concierge says the bus outside the front door will take us to the Victoria and Albert museum. Yes, sort of - but he didn't say it stops half a mile away... He did say we could see the Kylie Exhibition which was really interesting, all those great costumes and photos that have been taken of her. I guess she's an 'icon' now that there's an exhibition about her! I really liked the sculpture at the V&A and the fabulous plaster re-creations of European masterpieces including David. (Last trip Jennifer and I ducked in out of the rain and only saw the gift shop.) |
![]() David |
![]() Connie Fisher as Maria |
Showered,
rested and refreshed we returned via the Underground
to Oxford Circus, where we had dinner before going the
see The Sound of Music stage show. Last visit my sister
Jennifer and I watched a TV programme called How Do You
Solve a Problem Like Maria? in which 100 girls auditioned
for the starring role. We watched over 3 weeks as the
numbers were reduced till finally it was between two
with the final decision made by viewers - guided by Sir
Andrew Lloyd Webber. Connie Fisher won and she was terrific!
The viewers of Britain chose well. (David thought she
was a clone of Julie Andrews - but how could she not
be?) It was an excellent production: I laughed and cried
- did not sing-along slightly flat like the lady behind
me. I had to turn around and give her A Look so she'd
shut up. We had good seats in the dress circle and loved
the whole thing.
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Wednesday
25th April 2007
Madame Tussauds, Rules
It turns out the Marathon runner died of too much water! He drank so much it
diluted his bodily fluids to the point that ion exchange couldn't take place
- or something, I might not have that correct...
Now that we knew
how to get to Baker Street Station it seemed like a good time to
go to Madame Tussauds. We had planned to do it on a rainy day but
the way the weather was behaving there wouldn't be one - in fact
it was the warmest and driest April in 350 years of keeping records.
Unfortunately 11 o'clock was too late as the place was infested
with school groups - not particularly educational to have your
photo taken with a model of Tom Cruise I wouldn't have thought!
They seemed to be European high school kids and there was no way
of getting away from them, British high school kids are in the
midst of exams so they're not visible. The models are amazingly
well done, every hair follicle is visible when you can get up close
enough to see. No-one but us was looking at John Howard so we were
able to examine him in detail. Prince Charles stands opposite Princess
Diana and still doesn't have Camilla with him. Didn't see Elton
John or Dame Edna Everage, but surely they'd be there. How awful
to have your model removed from view... a mini-death! I hated the
torture scenes in the dungeon and thought the 8 minute film at
the end was weak - so no, not very impressed with Madame T's.
![]() Mel Gibson and Helen |
|Lance Armstrong won |
![]() Princess Diana |
![]() Kylie |
![]() David discusses politics |
![]() don't talk about the War! |
Emerged, blinking, into the outside, to find it raining - the only rain for the whole trip.
![]() Rules |
Tonight we went to Rules for dinner with David's tie in his pocket, but they didn't insist on him wearing it. Rules was established by Thomas Rule in 1798 making it the oldest restaurant in London. It serves traditional British food, specialising in classic game cookery, oysters, pies and puddings and every wall is decorated with some interesting picture, deer's head or ship model. The maitre d and waiter were rather sniffy and we didn't like the restaurant as much as we should have - perhaps if David had worn his tie... He had squab which he loves and I had beautiful Devon lamb so there was nothing wrong with the food. As we
were rather early for dinner (due to the Underground being
so efficient) we looked around Covent Garden and discovered
Henrietta Street and a bar called Henry's so had to pop
in there for a drink in honour of our cat Henrietta. |
Thursday 26th April 2007 Kew, West End theatre We set aside this morning for Kew Gardens as the weather looked like remaining fine, so arrived there by 10am for early entry before the school groups ( - we're learning!) I really wanted to see the bluebells and this bluebell season, fortunately we've become hardened walkers and it was nothing to leg it to the furthest corner and see the sheets of gorgeous blue. The Spanish bluebells are taking over in England so Kew works hard to keep them out and the native variety hardy - it has the florets on one side only so it bends in the breeze and has a different bluer blue. I met a lady who said she comes every year to photograph them but she never gets it quite right. David was fascinated to see pheasants just wandering around as if they own the place... The rhododendrons are spectacular and so are the lilacs: all the spring flowers are wonderful. We didn't bother much with the famous hothouses because we were going to the Eden Project, so were quite ready to leave at lunch time. |
![]() Palm House Kew |
![]() Queen Charlotte's cottage |
![]() David and pheasants |
![]() azaleas |
![]() English bluebells |
![]() pheasant |
We
found the Maids of Honour tearoom nearby, which I'd discovered
on the internet as a great place for afternoon tea - we
were quite prepared to compromise and have lunch, as the
chicken pie looked terrific and then scones after. The
chicken pie was magnificent and the scones the best we
had all trip. Legend says Henry VIII came across Ann Boleyn
eating little cakes from a silver dish with her maids of
honour and ever since then those little cakes have had
the name Maids of Honour. Newens Bakery has been making
them since 1860 (where were they in betweeen?) and I bought
two for tonight's supper, not cheap at £2.30 each
and tiny - but very nice, like a custard tart really. |
![]() Maids of Honour teashop |
![]() azaleas at Kew |
![]() rhododendron at Kew |
Underground again to the West End for Spanish tapas dinner near the theatre and then to see Spamalot.
It
was an unashamed take-off on Monty Python and the
Holy Grail and while it was funny, the jokes were
awfully familiar. It
can't have been a good year for musicals in 2005 - more
like a pantomime really. |
David's idea of holiday attractions does not include visiting a department store, but I lured him to Harrods with the promise of lunch and once there, cunningly took him straight to the six food halls. Well, he was blown away, as anyone must be, by the huge array of perfect high quality produce. Ever an avid fisherman he loved the fish displays with all those strange varieties lying there sparkling and shiny and the large scallops like jewels each in its own case. We lunched at the Fish Bar on bouillabaisse, exquisite fish soup full of prawns, scallops, turbot, and generic fish and watched the shoppers. We separated after lunch for me to do some shopping and David to wander: he didn't know you're not supposed to take photos in Harrods and here's his results: note the price of Wagyu beef! |
![]() the biggest scallops |
![]() beautiful fish |
![]() = AU$274 per Kg - some beef! |
![]() Harrods of Knightsbridge |
Even
the art works are different: the fossil fish wall-hanging
is from Montana and can be yours for a mere AU$130,000.
|
![]() £54,000 fossil fish |
David's afternoon was spent at the Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms. Shortly after becoming Prime Minister in May 1940, Winston Churchill visited the Cabinet War Rooms to see for himself what preparations had been made to allow him and his War Cabinet to continue working throughout the expected air raids on London. It was there, in the underground Cabinet Room, he announced 'This is the room from which I will direct the war'. |
![]() Churchill War Museum |
A quick glance at the displayed books during a trip to the loo revealed (a) high quality and (b) high prices – so I dashed off to find a Cash Point (ATM to us). That was quite exciting, like winning at the pokies, as bells ring and notes come fluttering out one by one (but I’m always happy just to have my card returned at the end of it…) Back
in the churchyard we were still a queue of two until David
was collared by The Oldest Parishioner and taken off for
a tour of the church with its 12th century bell tower,
mediaeval door and 14th century lych gate, Joseph Banks’s
grave somewhere inside the church – they’ve
forgotten exactly where as they keep moving the flagstones – and
the grave of the last man flogged to death in the Army.
What a burden the upkeep must be for the ageing congregation
of 90-odd! The church warden told me they’d recently
spent £20,000 fixing the lych gate and the tea lady
said sadly: “We’re all getting old and the
young ones aren’t interested.” She was outside
filling in a few spare minutes with some weeding “because
the Bishop is coming next week.” |
![]() lychgate & St Leonards |
![]() inside St Leonards |
![]() his memorial plaque |
By opening time the queue had swollen to six and we were officially allowed to pay our 50p entrance fee and go in. The awful problem is: shall I spend all my money at the first stall or look around first, by which time the things I wanted at the first stall may be sold? There was so much to choose from and I wanted everything from rows of white-jacketed Chambers Chalet School hardbacks, to gleaming rows of Malcolm Saville, pristine shiny GGB and Bettany Press, Famous Five with lovely dust jackets and other Enid Blytons, Lorna Hill, Elsie J. Oxenham, old Girls’ Own papers, Dorita Fairlie Bruce – all the sought-after authors – though no Jills. Eventually
one has to plunge in and buy – and in half an hour
the pile of notes from the Cash Point had melted like snow
in summer and I had a heavy bag containing three M.E. Atkinsons,
a Lorna Hill ‘Marjorie’ series, Arthur Ransomes,
School Friend annuals of my era, two Pamela Browns, a most
desirable 1st edition “No Mistaking Corker” by
Monica Edwards and two heavenly Ameliarannes, plus an adult ‘BB’ for
David. |
![]() Hilary's stall |
![]() the book sale |
This
evening we Undergrounded to Hampstead Heath to join an
organised pub walk by the same group that took us through
Westminster Abbey - different guide, who arrived 15 minutes
late without a word of apology as the crowd around the
station entrance grew larger until there were 30 of us
milling around wondering if we were in the right place.
Once he arrived it was worth the wait and we moved through
the streets at a spanking pace while he expounded on the
history of Hampstead Heath. Because it's elevated it was
where people came for clean air: it retains a village feel
and the residents fight fiercely to keep it that way: even
Macdonalds is a very discreet presence in the High Street.
Property prices are high and I recently read about a man
who had been squatting - unchallenged - in a shed for 26
years. When
property developers tried to evict him he went to court
and was given his shed and land. "I don't care if
it's worth £1 million or £2 million" he
said: "It's where I live". |
![]() pub walk |
Property
development is big, with any old convent, church or barn being
made into luxury apartments. The guide said it so often that
soon we were chanting along with him: "luxury apartments".
There was over an hour of fast walking past cemeteries and
Robert Louis Stevenson's house until we came to our first pub
- which was just like an Australian pub on a Saturday night
- jammed with people. We overflowed into the street with the
dual hazard of cars and irate neighbours. You have to stay
behind the yellow line or risk the pub losing its licence,
or worse still having chamber pots emptied on you I suppose.
Moral: don't buy your £2 million house next to a pub. |
Hampstead Heath itself is not the large flat meadow I'd always vaguely envisaged: it's large but very undulating with hidden pockets, almost private-looking. It was getting dark by now so we moved through there quickly to get to the next pub. David wanted to stay as they were showing Australia versus Sri Lanka at cricket on the widescreen TV, but history called and off we went on the last leg.
Sunday morning seemed like a good time to have our pre-paid ride on the London Eye: trouble was, every other tourist in London had the same idea. They have a weird system whereby even with a pre-paid ticket you have to line up and change your voucher for a ticket and it became so crowded in the ticket hall they had to ask for only one member per group to line up. Why not just buy your ticket on the internet and that's it? Even airports can do it... 20
million people have ridden on the London Eye since it was
opened in the year 2000 - that's everyone in Australia!
It's a terrific attraction and very efficient once you
have an actual, not virtual, ticket. It's quite easy to
step into the moving capule and soon there you are way
above London and looking down on the tiny model of the
Houses of Parliament. |
![]() Helen and David |
|
![]() London Eye at twilight |
Spending the afternoon at Hampton Court turned out to be a good idea - perfect weather and a wonderful venue. David's first photo is true to his forestry background: the strange blobs in the tree below are balls of mistletoe called witches' brooms. David was stunned by the weaponry display and a friendly guide, seeing his genuine interest, turned his back so that he could photograph it. It's set up in a waiting room so that any ambassadors or foreign dignitaries waiting to see King Henry VIII were impressed to see such an array waiting for a battle. There are panels all around the room and regularly one is off being cleaned and each piece checked to make sure it still works. |
![]() witches' brooms |
Hampton
Court |
![]() weapons in waiting room |
I've read about the famous Hampton Court maze and always thought it would be easy: sure enough we got to the middle in no time flat! However—coming out was another matter and we ended up back in the middle three times until finally we called it quits and escaped through the panic gate... Well, it was time for afternoon tea... with scones. |
|
![]() lost in the maze |
|
Monday
30th April 2007 Today we caught the train at Paddington, off to Cornwall to visit the Eden Project. We saw it in the year 2000 while it was being built and were fascinated so here we were fulfilling an old vow to return and see it functioning. The train trip should be rated as one of the great train journeys of the world: "This is how to travel" I thought, sitting in comfort with my knitting and watching the green fields and beaches glide by for four hours. "No wrestling with horrible traffic and finding a parking spot." But
my bubble was broken as we went to alight at St Austell!
Passengers in coach H (us and 2 ladies ) had to move up
to coach G to get off on platform. By the time we'd realised
we couldn't get the door open the train had started again
and we were carried on to Truro. The train manager regarded
as idiots for not knowing you have to lower the window,
reach out and open the door from the outside—well,
silly us! Fortunately it didn't matter to us as we only
had to wait 20 minutes for a train going the other way.
The taxi driver waiting at the St Austell station had already
heard of our predicament: that's small towns for you! We've
only ever had nice taxi drivers in Cornwall, unlike train
managers. |
![]() Boscundle Manor |
We stayed 2 nights at Boscundle Manor, an excellent small hotel not far from the Eden Project and after a revivifying cup of tea set out for a walk around the property and the nearby village. We stopped at the Post Office for stamps and a chat with the post mistress and asked her what changes the Eden Project has brought to the area. "Gridlock" was her emphatic reply. The increased traffic is too much for the road system and at the peak of the summer you can't move. She's definitely married to a local: her husband sleeps in the same bed and room as he was born in above the Post Office. We had dinner at the Manor, excellent food but a very formal atmosphere. |
Tuesday
1st May 2007 It captured our imagination 7 years ago and we've been eager to have a look at how it has developed. This is how they describe themselves on their website: "More than just a green theme park, then? Eden is about connecting plants, people and places. We are a living demonstration of regeneration and we aim to reconnect people with their environments locally and globally. We don't have all the answers, we don't want to tell others what to think; what we do is invite people to explore their world afresh." Hmmm.
Wikipedia says: "The
Eden Project is a large-scale environmental complex in
the county of Cornwall in England in the United Kingdom.
The project is located in a recycled china clay pit, located
some 2 km from the town of St Blazey and 5 km from the
larger town of St Austell. The
Eden Project has quickly become one of the most popular
visitor attractions in the United Kingdom. The complex
includes two sets of giant interconnected transparent domes
made of ETFE cushions, each emulating a natural biome,
that house plant species from around the world. The first
emulates a tropical environment, the other a warm temperate,
mediterranean environment." |
![]() theatre & biomes from the entrance |
![]() honey bee |
![]() restaurant surrounded by lettuce |
The emphasis is on education, especially educating children, in how important plants are to us and our survival. Almost everything we do every day involves plants and plant products and the giant honey bee symbolises how much we depend on it. They're very big on using things reponsibly and they make great efforts to recycle. Even the pen you use to fill in the entrance card is made from recycled CDs, the restaurant has separate bins for waste, the cutlery is made from wood - and on it goes. I particularly liked the winding outdoor path in many colours, made from recycled sneakers. (Note the prevalence of red hair in the school group...) |
![]() recycled sneakers |
![]() school group having lunch |
![]() accessible information |
| The tropical biome is WARM - just how warm you don't realise until you emerge back into the Cornish air - which was another beautiful spring day. (The UK had its warmest April in 356 years of record keeping while we were there.) Warm enough to grow bananas which were ripening nicely, and the largest flower in the world—which gives off the smell of rotting flesh to attract pollinators (fortunately it wasn't in full swing.) There are crops of sugar and a Malaysian house set up: they maintain close links with Malaysian botanists. |
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![]() tropical flowers |
Restaurants link the two biomes and of course we had to have a pasty for lunch with special Eden ale for David and elderflower cordial for me. David souvenired the wooden cutlery - which is one way of recycling. Tomato sauce is available and comes in a big container from which you scoop out how much you want: none of those nasty little unopenable containers here! |
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![]() eat them at your own risk! |
The Mediterranean biome was a lovely place to be, just the right temperature and with familiar plants and smells to us, perhaps less so to the British. I can't get away from tulips: there has been a big display here on Tulip Mania though the flowers are coming to an end and being pulled out of beds by the tractor load. Once again I'm struck by how decorative vegetables are: the beds of lettuce are beautiful. And so neat, not a weed in sight! I talked to a lady who was walking around: she turned out to be security. What a cushy job I thought, but just then she was called off to an emergency so maybe not. |
![]() mediterranean biome |
![]() statues in the grape vines |
![]() beds of lettuce |
![]() primulas |
Here
we met Dave who was sitting on a wall near the lettuces rubbing
a brass bowl with a wooden stick to see if it would hum.
(It did.) Here's another cushy job I thought—but in
fact Dave is a manager (the manager?) engaging in some PR
and meeting his clients. He was a very nice guy and he and
David settled down to a really good yarn about trees and
botany.
David enjoyed telling him that the few eucalypts they've got growing aren't labelled correctly. |
![]() Dave making the bowl hum |
![]() fritillaries |
![]() David examining the eucalypts |
![]() spiral |