Dec 26 - 27, 2011 - Boxing Day & The British Museum

Greetings All,

Boxing Day and I had it all to myself.  Fred had headed back to Liverpool with John and Nicholas for the match Liverpool v Blackburn.  After a nice lie in I headed out for some breakfast and a leisurely walk around Hyde Park.  As stated in earlier blogs the weather has been springlike and while walking through the park I came upon a tree that was coming into early bloom as seen in the picture on the upper right.  The geese are also enjoying the sun and springlike weather and they were getting bread from people out enjoying the weather or the Winter Wonderland which is a mini fairground that comes to Hyde Park during the Christmas Season.  As a note of reference bread is very bad for water fowl as it bloats in their stomachs, this is something we learned on one of our visits to a National Trust site earlier in the year.  I avoided The Winter Wonderland area like the plague because of the crowds and screaming rug rats.  I enjoyed the gardens which were well away from the fairground before heading back to the hotel to relax and read.  Keith and Sandra had made arrangements to meet up with me at the hotel so we could head to The Savoy Hotel together to meet with Adrienne for drinks.  The Savoy is very posh indeed.  Our glass of wine cost as much as a decent bottle but was served with elegance.  You get to taste the wine to ensure it is to your liking.  We were also given a tray of olives and nuts.  Keith treated us and after a relaxing time we headed off on our separate ways.  Adrienne and I walked down to Whitehall to catch a bus back to the flat as from there I know my way back to the hotel by bus.  There was a one day strike on by the drivers on the tube system so they were closed down and the buses were very busy.  Once back at the flat I headed off to the bus stop.  Adrienne walked me there quite unnecessarily but the family were concerned that I might get lost as my sense of direction totally sucks. Don't you just love it when family cares that much!  So on the bus and safely back at the hotel I had dinner at the hotel.  Fred finally returned after a long day and was frustrated as they only drew 1-1 with a team near the bottom of the division.  Oh well, it's just a game but it seems so much more to the guys.

For our last day in London Fred and I decide to visit the British Museum. 

We have been to the museum on a previous visit to London but didn't seem to get very far.  This time we focused on Medieval Europe and Britain.  The picture on the left is a shoulder shawl that was found in Wales dating back to 800 BC.  It sure makes you realize how little history Canada really has, this is stated from a purely Canadian point of view.  The picture on the right is a skeleton from the iron age that was found in Cambridgeshire.  We spent about three hours covering this small segment of the museum. So much to see and so little time but we are lucky as we know we can return to the museum another time to exploration it further.  We headed off walking through Covent Garden and then along the Strand stopping for lunch at a pub near Horse Guards.  Unfortunately, our choice was not very good.  We picked a pub that was hidden up a small alley.  Pubs in little alleys tend to be good, not this one and it should remain hidden as far as we are concerned.  It took almost a hour to get a sharing meat platter (ham, salami and breads) and the choice of ale and cider sucked.  Lesson learnt, check out the drinks first before ordering food.  Finally after lunch we headed back to John and Adrienne's to catch up on e-mails and relax.  Supper tonight was at the Antelope Pub, our last family dinner together for this trip. I had a club sandwich and cheesy chips and Fred had sausage and mash.  We had a great  dinner with everyone and said our good-byes as we were all headed back home tomorrow.  Another great Christmas for us in London!

Cheerio All,

Sandy & Fred

December 24-25, 2011 - Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

Greetings All,

Today was moving day for us. As it was Christmas Eve Day we were heading to The Marriott on Park Lane for the next four days.  Keith had requested that they stay at John's for Xmas Eve and Day so that Nicholas could have more of a Christmas atmosphere.  A late morning and a tidy up we took the bus to the Marriott and got settled in.  After a relaxing afternoon we changed for Christmas Eve and headed back to the flat.  The family headed off to the Christmas Carol Concert at the Royal Albert Hall while Fred and I remained at the flat.  We had opted to not attend this year and we enjoyed a quiet time with the dogs enjoying a glass of wine or two.

Once the family returned we had a wonderful supper of Duck Lasagna, salad and garlic flat bread with a number of different red wines.  Dessert was a Raspberry Rolonde.  It has been a tradition of the London Parkins to open gifts on Christmas Eve and Nicholas was ecstatic.  He was the house elf delivering our gifts from under the tree.  Santa was good to all and everyone was pleased with their presents.  We headed back to the hotel via bus and as it was still relatively early for us we head into the bar for a nightcap after getting rid of our coats.

Christmas Day - After a nice lie in and we had breakfast at the hotel.  London's buses and tube shut down for Christmas Day so we set out to walk to the flat on another lovely springlike day.  It seems we were not the only ones out for a stroll.  The picture on the right is of the Horse Guards at Wellington Arch who passed us while we were on our way and we were stopped by tourists asking the way to Hyde Park.  As I said earlier there was no transit service and we were amazed by the number of people who were stranded looking for service.  You could only assume that where ever the tourists were from they were used to having some form of public transit on Christmas Day.  The walk was nice and much different from a year ago when we were in a deep freeze and had snow. As we neared the flat we saw two police officer on
horseback, with the horses in the festive spirit wearing antlers while on patrol.      

We enjoyed smoked salmon/caviar blinis and Prosecco while relaxing and playing with our presents.  I received an iPad 2 from Fred and am trying to figure out how it works by playing around with it.   I am not very successful to say the least and decided to leave it until I am in much quieter surroundings with fewer distractions.

Supper was beginning to smell awesome and once again John and Adrienne have outdone themselves in providing an amazing Christmas Feast.   The table was beautiful as always and again each of us had a special treat on our plate.  Our supper was yummy; turkey, roast potatoes, parsnip chips, pureed Brussels sprouts, sausage stuffing, cranberries and gravy.  John provided us with a number of  very good red and white wines.  Dessert was a choice of my baked goods, Xmas pudding or cake.

Supper was at 3:00 p.m. also a London Parkins tradition and once the leftovers are dealt with we headed out for a walk around Westminster to walk off our supper.  Amazingly enough it was very busy especially around the Parliament Buildings and the Abbey.  We stopped to take some photos and Fred and I became separated from the group and then separated from one another.  I decided since I know the area well enough I would just venture out on my own and take the photo's that I wanted.  As I started to cross the Westminster bridge I ran into Fred so united again, we headed off to take pictures.  We finally returned to the flat after about an hour of walking.  Everybody else had already returned but sadly the cleanup had not been completed.  We pitched in and so a big job was completed in no time.  More drinks and at around 9:00 p.m. we were offered yet again more food.  Panatone, baked goods or turkey sandwiches if we wished.  Fully sated we headed back to the hotel on foot having enjoyed yet another amazing Christmas Day.

Cheerio for Now,

Sandy & Fred

December 23, 2011- Westminster Cathedral & The Grenadier Pub

Greetings All,

Fred and I headed out in the morning to explore the Westminster area of London.  On our previous visits to London we have said we really should visit the cathedral that John and Adrienne had pointed out on one of our pub crawls.  The weather again was amazing, springlike as we headed out.

The Westminster Cathedral (the Roman Catholic Cathedral) was built on a site that originally belonged to the Benedictine monks who had established the nearby Westminster Abbey.  It was purchased by the Archdiocese of Westminster in 1885 and is the largest Catholic church in England and Wales. After two false starts the Cathedral's construction was finally started in 1895 and was built in a style heavily influenced by Byzantine architecture.  The Cathedral opened in 1903, however, the interior design was hardly started due to economic reasons and the death of the principal architect John Bentley who did not leave any designs or sketches.

As a result the subject and styles of the mosaics in the cathedral have been influenced by donors as well as designers and is overseen by a committee formed just for this purpose.  The first mosaics were installed in 1912-1916 and a second set were installed between 1930 - 1935.  No more were installed until 1950.  Installation of mosaics appears to be completed on a decade by decade basis.  What has been completed is absolutely breathtaking.  Check out my Facebook or our Flickr site or additional pictures.

After our visit we continued to walk along Victoria Street to the Parliament Buildings and then along Whitehall to Trafalgar Square.  We stopped at the Silver Cross Pub for lunch which is across the street from Horse Guards.  We then headed down the Mall and decided to cut across St James's Park.  One of the things I love about the UK is that flowers continue to bloom all year round.  The winter pansies and other seasonal flowering plants were in bloom in the park.  As it started to spit rain we cut our walk short and hopped on the tube back to John and Adrienne's.

We relaxed for a few hours at the flat before heading to Zuma to meet with Keith and Sandra for sake, wine and for Nicholas a cola.  After Zuma we headed to the Grenadier Pub for a family dinner.  We all had a different variety of food and I had the best salad I have had for some time.  After supper we hopped into cabs back to the flat for dessert and a nightcap.  As well the pups Ziggy and Casper got to open a couple of their Christmas presents as they had quite a few and J&A didn't want them to get over excited on Christmas Eve.  Nicholas tried to get into the act as

well but his Dad said he must wait for his presents.

Another great day for us and a good night with family.



Cheerio for now,

Sandy & Fred

December 22, 2011- London: Borough Market & Aquarium

Greetings All,

After an uneventful but busy drive from Liverpool on the 21st we headed out early to meet Keith, Sandra and Nicholas at Borough Market.  John and Adrienne had a few odds and ends to get for Christmas and the Market is one of the places I love to visit whenever we are in London.  The market is extremely busy with the queue (line up) at Neal's Yard cheese store being a 45 minute wait just to get in.  A decision to pass was quickly made by Adrienne and we headed off deeper into the market.  I wonder what the poor shrimp thought when he was placed in this rather large ugly fish's mouth.  LOL.  The sights, smell and colours while always amazing, seem even more so at Christmas time.  We all grabbed lunch from one of the various stalls that are in the market then headed off on our separate ways.

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Fred, Nicholas and I walked along the South embankment as Nicholas and I were off to the aquarium, a place Nicholas wanted to visit.  We found Nicholas very entertaining and had a good laugh at him, as typical with kids he wanted to know how much farther it was to get to the aquarium.  Fred asked him how he played hockey if he was tired already.  Once at the aquarium I made arrangements to met Fred in about an hour as our next stop was to be Hamleys and I was somewhat worried about getting lost if I went off alone with Nicholas.

The aquarium was very well done and rather deceiving from the outside.  It covered a large underground area with all regions of the earth being represented.  There was a huge tank in the center that contained various species of shark, sea turtles, rays and fish.  There was also an area that showed what fish and plant life now exists in the River Thames now that it has been cleaned up.  We spent over an hour at the aquarium and could easily have spent longer there but Nicholas was concerned about getting to Hamleys, and making Fred wait.  I think he was more concerned about getting to Hamleys, a major toy store we've mentioned in a previous blog.

We took the tube to Oxford Circus and then walked along Regent Street to Hamleys which is a major zoo.  I hate crowds and unruly kids and they were all there.  Thankfully, Fred walked around with Nicholas and I found myself a corner out of the way until Nicholas had made all of his purchases with the Xmas money from his parents, a radio controlled helicopter with a video camera.  Mission completed, we headed back to John and Adrienne's for a supper of Coq au Vin.  After supper we headed out again to Somerset House so that Nicholas could go skating, unfortunately a booking was needed so no skating for Nicholas this night.  We did a quick tour of Covent Gardens before heading back for a good nights sleep, as the Mowatt family was fading quickly after their first full day in London.


Cheerio,


Sandy & Fred

December 15, 2011- Williamson Tunnels

Hi Ya All,

Today after haircuts we headed out to the Williamson Tunnels to explore this archaeological site.  Now, I must tell you at the very beginning I was rather confused on this little adventure as I thought we were going into the tunnels that go under the River Mersey and could not understand why we walked away from the river a good mile from our starting point which, was the hair salon.  The Williamson Tunnels have absolutely nothing to do with the river tunnels as I was about to find out.  You can go on a tour of the tunnels that go under the river but that will be another adventure in the future.
The tunnels were built by Joesph Williamson an eccentric business man between the early 19th century and 1840 when Williamson passed away.  The tunnels vary in size from 70 feet long, 20-25 feet wide and 20 feet high while smaller tunnels are 4 feet wide and 6 feet high.  There has been a great deal of speculation as to why the tunnels were built, but the most probable is that it was a way for Joseph to extend charity but allow men to keep their self esteem.  At the end of the Napoleonic War, many men were returning home with no hope of finding work.  Williamson employed whole families and paid them all for their labour.  The men dug and built the tunnels, children cleared the rubble and women made the bricks that went into the construction of the walls and roofs.  After Williamson's death the tunnels became unused and over time they became dump sites for the homes that had been built above them; all nature of garbage was tossed in.

They remained sealed off until the early 20th century when soldiers from the West Lancashire Territorial Forces Association explored the tunnels.  Their drill in Mason Street stood on top of one of the tunnels and in 1907 the Association produced a map of the tunnels.  It was incomplete because many of them were filled with rubble.  The London and Northwestern Railway which ran between Edge Hill and Lime Street stations also ran through the area of the Williamson tunnels and was also noted on the map and we were shown where the tracks ran through.  In 1995 a geology student from Liverpool University carried out a micro-gravity survey of the site with some of his findings being ambiguous because of the rubble that filled the tunnels and not all of his findings corresponded with those of the Forces Association.  Later that year a professional firm, Parkman, carried out a survey on behalf of the Joseph Williamson Society and since then further investigations and excavations have been carried out. On the tour we were regaled with some very interesting stories about the tunnels.  One story was about a construction company that was pouring a cement footing for student housing after 8 truckloads of cement the footing was still not filled.  They discovered that they had drilled into a tunnel, probably the most expensive error ever.

The archaeological finds in the tunnels range from pottery, ink wells, cutlery and various jars.  Some items were in very good condition considering that they were dumped down chutes that were built into the houses of the time.  Our tour takes about forty minutes and was informative and somewhat amazing when you realize that the tunnels were all constructed by hand, right down to the bricks.

We headed back into town and got caught in a quick downpour.  As we were near the Philharmonic Dining Rooms, a pub, we stopped for some refreshment and to dry off.  Refreshed and the rain had stopped we headed back to the car.  On arriving at the car park reindeer were being unloaded so we stayed around so that I could get some photos.  We have had a full day as we started out at 11:00 a.m, with haircuts and end with reindeer viewing at 5:30 p.m.  Pictures were posted on Facebook in December as I am rather late in posting this blog.

Ta Ra for now,

Sandy & Fred