From there we took the Underground to Golder's Green to meet an old friend of mine, Helen. Although my parents had known her parents since before WWII in Czechoslovakia, she and I didn't meet until we both ended up working for Marks and Spencer as our first jobs. She took us to a lovely park for lunch and its too bad Michelle didn't photograph the jacket potatoes because I've never seen anything so enormous.
During lunch Helen showed me a book that had been written about Czech young men who escaped to England during the war and enlisted in the Czech army and fought with the British against Hitler. They had been posted in Leamington. In it she had found a photograph of her father which immediately begged the question as to whether there might be anything in there of interest to my Uncle Ernie who was also in the Czech army, but we didn't know if he had been at the same location. As luck would have it, when I bought a new SIM card for my phone they gave me 60 free minutes to the US which I thought I'd never use. Ernie lives in Florida and I tried to call him from the park. That would have made a good story had he been there but unfortunately he wasn't. I did call him later in the day and yes, he was stationed at the same location. Helen is now trying to get him one of these limited edition books. ...but not only that, it prompted Ernie to tell me another story from the past which involved Helen's dad and her uncle. It was pretty neat for both Helen and I.
Golder's Hill Park
Golder's Hill Park
Golder's Hill Park
During lunch Helen showed me a book that had been written about Czech young men who escaped to England during the war and enlisted in the Czech army and fought with the British against Hitler. They had been posted in Leamington. In it she had found a photograph of her father which immediately begged the question as to whether there might be anything in there of interest to my Uncle Ernie who was also in the Czech army, but we didn't know if he had been at the same location. As luck would have it, when I bought a new SIM card for my phone they gave me 60 free minutes to the US which I thought I'd never use. Ernie lives in Florida and I tried to call him from the park. That would have made a good story had he been there but unfortunately he wasn't. I did call him later in the day and yes, he was stationed at the same location. Helen is now trying to get him one of these limited edition books. ...but not only that, it prompted Ernie to tell me another story from the past which involved Helen's dad and her uncle. It was pretty neat for both Helen and I.
After lunch we visited the Crematorium where both of my parents had their ashes scattered. Of course this means that there is no grave to visit but we strolled around the perimeter path and enjoyed the absolutely magnificent roses of every imaginable colour and size. I leave all the photographs to Michelle and when I asked her later if she had any pictures of the place she told me that her thoughts were all for her Omi and she didn't think about taking a picture.
Michelle has told you in her blog of today that we went to Buckingham Palace today. What a zoo! After the Portobello Road experience maybe I should have anticipated the crowds but I didn't. We couldn't even get near to the action. At one point some poor old boy fainted in the crowd and it was hard for people to push back and let some air in for him. As many of you will know, outside of Buckingham Palace its a pretty big area but honest to God it you'd have thought the royal wedding was happening today. I was blown away by the number of people.
When we tried to get out of the centre of the crowd we were held up by the police who were holding back the traffic so that the incoming guards could march through. The sentries that used to be posted outside of the gate now seem to be on the inside....well no wonder. I can remember as a kid that my dad often took me to see the changing of the guard on Sunday mornings while mum cooked the Sunday lunch. You could go right up to the guy standing guard and he wasn't allowed to flinch. On a busy Sunday there would be maybe 10 other people watching. The photos that Michelle posted were taken with her holding the camera over the tops of peoples heads. Totally nuts!!!
Buckingham Palace and the Crowd
Statue outside Buckingham Palace
When we tried to get out of the centre of the crowd we were held up by the police who were holding back the traffic so that the incoming guards could march through. The sentries that used to be posted outside of the gate now seem to be on the inside....well no wonder. I can remember as a kid that my dad often took me to see the changing of the guard on Sunday mornings while mum cooked the Sunday lunch. You could go right up to the guy standing guard and he wasn't allowed to flinch. On a busy Sunday there would be maybe 10 other people watching. The photos that Michelle posted were taken with her holding the camera over the tops of peoples heads. Totally nuts!!!
From Buckingham Palace we walked The Mall along Green Park. I had to laugh when Michelle asked me who somebody was on one of the statues. Nelson's Column I know... the rest, I haven't a clue!!! As Michelle says, there are a lot of statues in this city all depicting men of note or serious events. Makes Frank Ney, Mayor of Nanaimo and real estate agent seem a little trivial!!! lol.
View of Big Ben from The Mall
Green Park
Thanks to Rick Steves for his great recommendation to eat lunch at the Crypt Restaurant in the St. Martin's in the Field church. As we headed for this location we anticipated that most of the crowd at Trafalgar Square had never heard of American travel guide Rick Steves and it seems we might have been correct. Mind you we were there for noon which is lunchtime in Nanaimo but an hour before Europeans eat lunch. The food was very nice and very reasonably priced, the place was wonderfully air conditioned (its hot here today) and I'm hoping that Michelle's photo will show you the look of the place.
St. Martin's in the Field
(As seen from in front of the National Gallery)
Inside St. Martin's in the Field
Ceiling of St. Matin's in the Field
Inside St. Matin's in the Field
Cafe in the Crypt, St. Matin's in the Field
The Church is right next to the National Gallery where we went next. Thanks again to Rick Steves and to Michelle's efficient photocopying of all relevant parts of his books. Although we did rent the audio tour, we didn't end up using it. Rather than wonder aimlessly around looking at everything, we followed the travel guides recommendations and focussed mainly on those pictures he recommended. His notes come with room numbers and a short comment on each picture which we found totally adequate. Even so we were there for over two hours which, at this point is all that our feet could take. We made it home just before the rain.
The weather forecast isn't so good for the next few day so what we plan to do tomorrow will be as a big a surprise to me as it will be to you. Thanks to all of you who have emailed to say that you are enjoying our blogs. Even though we are over here and enjoying ourselves, you might be surprised to know that the first thing we do when we get home is to turn on the computer to see who has written to us. It is very time consuming to do the blog, particularly for Michelle who has to upload the pictures and rarely gets time to "fix" them before she posts them but since there is no TV in the flat (definitely not a complaint) it has become our entertainment for the evenings. Love to all of you friends and family....keep 'em coming!! Sue
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