Blog 7 – A Day in the Life

Blog 7 – Did we go anywhere in February?

Several previous posts have been about our trips and travels away from London; to Paris, to Scotland, but February was all about staying home. (Andy needed a passport renewal, impacted here by the shutdown there. It was actually updated and returned within 9 days, but we could have never counted on that fast service)

So, we planned to stay in London, what were we to do? There were the Chinese New Year’s activities, (see previous post) and some mundane items that needed attention to too; like finding a theater to see all the Best Picture nominees before the Oscars on February 24^th. Pretty much by going for a walk, we discovered the area of Shepherds Bush. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shepherd%27s_Bush Lots of small shops, a very small mall with a small Vue Cinema (and just about the worst Chinese Buffet we have ever been to), and the huge Westfield mall with a beautiful large Vue Cinema. Between them, and the few nominated movies we saw in the states, we were pretty well ready for Sunday night. Only here, it was Monday morning with the actual awards starting at 1:00 am. Thank heaven for the DVR.

This past weekend may be a good example of our stay at home weekends in London. We started our weekend on Friday night with dinner at George IV’s pub. Every now and then our timing is perfect, as it was last Friday, and we are able to find a seat to eat dinner. Their pub food is not what I used to think of as pub food, bangers and mash, shepherds pie; they have some pasta dishes and I had a lovely salmon special with leeks. The music was to start at 9:00, but the band was just arriving when we left at 9:30. A little bit of 9 out of 10 Cats do Countdown and off to bed we went. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8_Out_of_10_Cats_Does_Countdown)

On Saturday we sought out the Virgin Active Health club which is located in Chiswick Business Park. (https://enjoy-work.com/) Saturday’s weather was beautiful, so we started with eating brunch outside at a nearby café. A Business Park. I even like business, and this did not sound interesting to me, but we needed to find a gym in the area and there are just not that many to choose from; off we went. I have seen the backside of the Business Park’s buildings from the underground and from walking up the High Road but had no idea of what the center of the building’s campus might look like. It looks like a Millennial’s work dream. Wide sidewalks, bike paths, benches, grass, meeting pods, a pond with waterfall, and a Starbucks kiosk that was influenced by Airstream. Twelve buildings form a long oval with all this and more inside.

On the back side of the business park, a new bridge was opened that connects the area with the Chiswick Park Underground station. Between the two are a few apartment buildings and a nature preserve; Gunnersbury Triangle Nature Reserve. (https://www.wildlondon.org.uk/reserves/gunnersbury-triangle) This little bit of green has a surprising number of trails, benches, and factoid signs. Lots of wildlife right there between all this modern development.

We ended our Saturday night by going to Showstoppers at The New Palace Theater. (https://lwtheatres.co.uk/whats-on/showstopper-the-improvised-musical/) In two acts, this repertoire group creates a brand-new improvised musical for every show. They begin by asking the audience for several ideas for a setting. Members of our audience suggested a biker bar, bottle cap factory, and based on a vote of the audience, the winning idea of a high school for superheroes. After that we were solicited for types of musicals that the music can be sung like. We had Motown, War of the Worlds (musical), Wicked. Using a variety of hats and props the first act is improvised, acted and sung. At intermission the audience is again solicited, this time for the opening scene of the second act. Suggestions are submitted via Twitter. The whole evening was much fun and more so for us Americans when one person’s super power was deemed ‘Baseball Fact Man’. We laughed pretty hard at the ‘baseball facts’ description of the 1965 game between the Boston Bowlers and the Baltimore Batters. Some Batters made it to ‘4^th’ base during the ‘match’ where an imaginary ball was rolled, thrown, and lofted underhand; Baltimore won the game. Well that’s something.

On Sunday afternoon we took the underground, District Line, to Tower Hill Station to join a walking tour of “Bizarre London”. Note Tower Hill station is named for the nearby Tower of London and Tower Bridge. As it was the second beautiful day in a row, the area was filled with folks waiting to go in the Tower or see the various other sites located in this area. We had come for the ‘show up’ tour presented by London Walks. We have done other walks on our own using the City Walks London, 50 Adventures on Foot and London’s Village Walks guides. But we hope to use this group for a Beatles tour and possibly a Harry Potter tour when friends and family visit this summer; we needed to verify that they are a good option. (https://www.visitlondon.com/things-to-do/place/115945-london-walks)

Yes, based on this one data point, London Walks is a great walking tour option. First, you don’t have to plan too far in advance as you might have to with other tour groups; you just show up. They have lots to choose from; morning, afternoon, and evening Jack the Ripper options. And, not too expensive. 10 pounds regular and 8 pounds concession. (Concession is a discount for students or over 65’s, under 15 are free). They do only take cash, so you must be prepared for that. A good number of folks showed up for this tour, but the guide handled it well, bringing everyone in very close and keeping us all together. The tour lasts two hours. We started at the nearby Trinity Square Gardens (https://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/lgnl/leisure_and_culture/parks_and_open_spaces/Trinity_Square_Gardens.aspx) and Memorial (https://alondoninheritance.com/london-monuments/trinity-square-gardens-memorials-to-execution-and-wartime-sacrifice/)  where she explained both and their significance over time. We walked over to a section of the original Roman walls which circled the city of Londinium founded as part of the Roman Empire. This is one of several sections of the Roman wall remaining in the city which is now surrounded by skyscrapers of all sorts of shapes and sizes. Our tour ended outside Liverpool Street Station. Functions of the buildings in this area have changed; this is the location of the St. Mary Bethlehem Hospital which was founded to treat the mentally ill. They did not treat them well; starvation and shackles being a major part of the therapy, with the patients put on display for the weekend entertainment of the passerby’s who watched as cold water was thrown on the shackled patients making them scream and shake. Over time, the name became shortened and pronunciation evolved to become simply “Bedlam”. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bethlem_Royal_Hospital)

Who wouldn’t need a coffee after that? Whew, off to Joe and the Juice we went before making our way back to Chiswick and a Thai food dinner. To get ready for next week’s movie at Shepherds Bush, we re-watched the Lego Movie, Part 1, set the DVR for the Oscars and off to bed we went – weekend complete.