Holiday: London 31 July - 2 Aug

Sat 31 July

Nicky and I had thought about trying to see a West End show today leaving the boys with Greg, but it all got too hard. Instead Nicky found a free Croydon Summer Festival, just near Mike & Lesley which we thought we’d try. It had a bit of a world music flavour to it, which is always good for me.

It took us about 1.5hrs to get to Mike & Lesley as we came a bit of a roundabout way. However they welcomed us in, cooled us down with drinks and then drove us to the Festival so Nicky could leave the car. As Nicky put it, it was like being dropped off by Mum and Dad! The Festival was great. It’s put on by the Croydon Council and had several stages, workshops, childrens activities etc. We heard a couple of bands and watched a Caildigh (sp?)- a barn dance - before finding our way back to M&L’s on public transport so Nicky could get home. It was sad to say farewell to Nicky, not having any idea when we might see each other again. But it was lovely being back with M&L.

Sun 1 August

This morning the three of us went to Lewin, Streatham Baptist Church, where Mike baptised me back on 1 Dec 1991. Mike retired (!) a few years ago so there’s a new Senior Pastor now but M&L visit occasionally. It was lovely to visit and there were still some people who remembered me from 1991-1992 so it was great to say hello to them. Also great to see 2 of the musicians from back then still ministering.

It was very difficult for M&L to extract themselves as they are still much missed, and loved there. Eventually we did and in the afternoon Sally and Dennis visited. S&D were members of the same housegroup back then, and got married in 1992 just before I returned home. I helped Leslie in the kitchen at the wedding.

We spent a few hours catching up, and reminiscing. They like to remind me of a particular picnic we had at Crystal Palace at an outdoor screening of Robin Hood when I took some homous in film canisters. I obviously didn’t have any other plastic containers so resourcefully used what was at hand, to the great amusement of my friends! Apparently I entertained everyone at a 10 Pin Bowling night as well - I don't remember that at all...


Mon 2 August

M&L had booked for us to go on the London Eye and river trip. We travelled up to London and then joined the masses of people doing the same thing. M&L had done the trip before, but not in peak tourist season! The river cruise went for about 40mins but was great as it went from the western end of the Houses of Parliament to the eastern side of Tower Bridge. There is much to see, on both banks, of that section of the Thames, and the commentary was both interesting and entertaining.

Despite ‘booking’, we still had to join a long queue for the London Eye itself. Essentially it’s a very large ferris wheel, but is an amazing structure, and very tall.

We boarded our ‘pod’ and it takes 30mins to do one complete revolution. If you don’t look down, you don’t notice that you’re moving, but if you do look down, you realise how high you are! It was a great trip, and on a good day you can apparently see for 40 miles. We had a grey day with only bits of sunshine, but it was still great.

After that we wandered around Covent Garden and into a pub well known for its Cornish Pasties, in which we of course had to partake. Monday is not a great day for the markets in Covent Garden, nevertheless there was still quite a good vibe in parts. Again it was nice to re-connect with these places.