Adios

What is an appropriate activity on one's final day in England?

Go to Chartwell of course!

 Home of Winston and Clementine Churchill

Churchill's Chartwell Chickens

There are 2 very nice walled gardens at Chartwell. This long brick wall was made by Winston (with a bit of help from others) between 1925 and 1932. 

Very impressive

I love this.

It was a cigar cabinet.

The inscription reads

..."with compliments of La Comision Nacional de Propoganda y Defensa del Tabaco Habano"

Perfect for storing his paints.

After he smoked all of the cigars.

Winston had a large 2 room studio away from the main house.

His many paintings were displayed in the house and studio. I quite liked his style.

A view of the lovely property and the art studio from the terrace off of Clementine's sitting room.

She could look out over her husband's art studio.

Churchill's office

The house was not huge.

Churchill was not the oldest son so did not inherit the family estate of Blenheim.

Churchill's hand written corrections.

National Trust always offers delicious food.

Here Spring is enjoying an English specialty, tea with scone and clotted cream.

Well we did walk 12 kms today.

In one of the walled gardens.

On a very busy train, on our way to The Gatwick Neighbourhood.

You all know what that means.

The End

I have really really enjoyed sharing my journey with you all. So many of you have told me that you look forward to reading my blog every morning. It was so nice to write this every evening knowing that it was appreciated.

So back to reality, cooking, cleaning, buying groceries, walking Chip (and my friend Shirley reminds me "what about quilting?"). Walking 1240 kms was easy, readapting to home? ...I hope I can. Thankfully I have a kind and understanding husband patiently waiting for me. Thank you Keith!!!

I owe many thanks to so many others as well...

Alice - for encouraging me and always happy to talk camino. And for the encouraging and insightful emails along the way.

Caroline - for coming to BC and then for hosting me for so many days. And for spending 10 days walking the South Downs Way with me. Your turn to return to BC.

Karin, Lonnie, Danielle and Martina, for sharing your stories and your positive energy, with me on our caminos.

Laura and Laurie - for inspiring me to travel well.

Mom, Tom & Gary for being there always and loving me.

Dylan and Brian - for being proud of their ole Mom.

Spring - for joining me on my adventure and always being positive and keeping me laughing.

Wow so many people have made my travelling life and my home life so special. I am extremely lucky.

The End

For Real This Time

❤🇬🇧❤✈❤

It's Not You, It's Me

A Thames River Cruise, someone important, parks, pelicans and a visit to Peru and old friends.

It rained heavily all night and I was awake for most of it.
😥
Self inflicted, I knew better than to eat chocolate cake that late in the evening!
Thankfully the sky was rained out by the time we got going this morning.

We enjoyed the very humourous banter of our Thames River cruise guide.

Saw the usual sights

I have never seen Big Ben quite like this, all swaddled in scaffolding.

An escape from the crowds into St James Park. These are the resident pelicans! 

In London!

Yes, for real.

You can check out the pelican history here:

https://londonist.com/london/great-outdoors/st-james-park-pelicans

A lovely heron

Now that I had expected.

This adorable wee cottage was the home of the St James Park Bird Keeper.

I found out that the species with the white bill are coots, a similar looking duck with a red or orange bill is a moorhen. There are lots of both in England.

Margot, thank you for your interesting email this evening. I can just picture the scene in St James Park. I enjoy your writing, you should write a blog!

Much excitement at Buckingham Palace as some important folks were escorted out in full regalia and a police escort.

No clue who they might be but I reckon that one has to be mighty important to be permitted to wear the hat with the giant plume.

A very late Elevenses

There were only disposable cups so I took a pass on the tea and stuck with my water.

Do you see the swan?

Spring and I braved the Underground

Successfully thank you very much!

We then went our separate ways for the  rest of the afternoon.

I would love to know the history behind this.

The sign reads

"Arthurs Mission

Snow's Fields"

and on the left

"Feed My Lambs"

I assume it refers to the human variety?

I visited The Bermondsey Textile Museum

They had an exhibit of Peruvian clothing design, both historical and contemporary.

This is some design work by first year students.

These are from The Cusco Collection

Of Naeem Khan

This was the WoolYard.

I discovered this delightful & funky place.

Shipping containers were full of vintage items, some repurposed.

Great Atmosphere!

In the same area.

It is adjacent to London Bridge train Station.

My good friend Laura just happens to be in town so Spring and I joined her at a vegan restaurant just around the corner from our room.

Laura recently sold her condo and all the contents so she can devote as much time as possible to travelling. Laura has been a huge inspiration to me over the years, many of my English destinations are a result of hearing of her accounts. I admire how she maintains her vegan diet no matter where she is. (But she hasn't been to small villages in Spain!) Tomorrow she is off to Tallin, Estonia.

On 1 of many bridges over the Thames.

I love this unusual building. Only later did I notice the black friar statue. Not sure which came first, the statue or the Blackfriar Bridge itself.

We crossed back over to the south side on the Milenium Bridge.

When we looked back, there was a perfect view of St Pauls Cathedral.

It is amazing how much one walks as a tourist, this evening my fitbit reads 19kms.

I am so pleased to have spent time in London. I had left London with a negative feeling last time I was here in 2011. At the time I was impatient to get back home to my Dad who had been diagnosed with cancer. I wanted to spend as much time with him as I could.

London has a strong, happy, energetic vibe to it. There are so many young folks here, seemingly happily making a living and busy socializing with friends.

What is not to like?!

So sorry London, it wasn't you, it was me.

Tomorrow we will take the train to Churchill's home of Chartwell.

London Bridges

We travelled to London today where we are staying for two nights.

But first

Enjoying our final breakfast at the Devonshire Arms where all the staff are welcoming and friendly.

We bussed to Chesterfield

Where we visited Queen's Park.

And we witnessed a population explosion amongst the Canada Geese.

Scones and tea while we waited out the rain.

The town of Chesterfield is known for its crooked church spire.

The Spire was 'twisted' when unseasoned wood was used during its construction with 32 tons of lead tiles placed on top and as the timber dried out the weight of the lead twisted thespire. OOPS!

2 hour train journey from Chesterfield to very busy St Pancras station in London.

We passed many solar energy farms and wind turbines but also these nuclear power plants.

I felt a sense of sadness leaving rural and small town England, I wonder if I will ever again have another opportunity to return.

St Pancras Station

London

Then a quick train journey to Blackfriars

I was surprised that the station is in the middle of the Thames.

On a bridge of course.

A monument to 

The Great Fire of London

1666

Even The Thames is extremely high.

Tower of London

Tower Bridge

City of glass

It started to rain again as we returned back to our digs.

But it is warm, the rain felt kind of nice.

We are staying at London School of Economics Bankside student residence.

The staff are super.

The building is a maze and very easy to get lost in.

The bathroom tap water is non potable (!)

The location is right beside Tate Modern and steps from Shakespeare's Globe Theatre.

Unbelievably we walked another 14 kms today.

One Last Hike and a Celebratory Dinner

Spring and I spent our last morning here in Baslow walking up on the ridge that looks over the Derwent Valley. Being Sunday it was fairly busy with other walkers. We enjoyed stopping and talking to a few of them, especially if they had a dog.

This afternoon we hopped on a bus and checked out the neighbouring town of Bakewell.

This is Eagle Rock up on Baslow Edge

Wildflowers are few and far between.

Spring admiring the view.

The 3 Edges, Baslow, Curbar and Froggatt are a rock climbers paradise.

We just admire and sit on them.

It was cool and windy up on the ridge but the sun shone once in awhile.

These gals were also enjoying the view.

 It was just a 12 minute bus ride on narrow windy roads to Bakewell. We had no idea what to expect so were happy to find a pretty, lively village nestled alongside the River Wye.

There were many flowers here. This one is unfamilar to us. The bees loved it.

We found a craft fair. Spring found some nice earrings that will remind her of England every time she wears them.

A Jackdaw

Another "Lock Bridge"

How are there so many excess locks!?

All Saints Parish Church

All Saints cemetery adjacent to the church. 

This grave stone looks particularly old.

Back to the River Wye.

We saw several coots, Canada Geese and mallards, even a white (albino?) mallard.

Ar 6pm the bus came right on time and soon had us back to the homey Devonshire Arms. Just in time too, the rain has returned.

We managed to walk 14.4 kms today. Spring is turning into a walking machine!

Sunday Dinner

(sorry Laura)

We really enjoyed the traditional Sunday dinner of roast beef, roast potatoes, yorkshire pudding and gravy.

The chef here is very good.

And oh yes we were also served perfectly done vegetables.

Delicious.

All Packed

Time for some stitching