To London by way of the seafront arcade

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My unfulfilled dream is to go to Blackpool and experience the quirkiness of entertainment from another age... especially the penny arcades. This trip was yet one more time that my dream was not fulfilled, but I cam close with the Withernsea arcade.... bad carpet, the smell of stall cigars, archaic, an interesting culture mix of lerkers, hopefuls, no-hopers etc and of course the completely overworked and disinterested teenage attendant. We made our way here early on our last morning in Roos to satisfy my curiosity before catching the Hull train to London.



The arcade did not disappoint and 1 hour later, hands blackened from the oily and stained 2 pence pieces we walked out smelling of victory and a tacky coffee mug we traded in our 400 odd tickets we'd won from an assortment of games - slots, sliding trays, claw machines, etc etc etc....



The train ride to London was uneventful, other than the incredibly expensive cardboard sandwiches we'd ordered for the dinning car.



Arriving in London we took a Blackcab to the Farmers Club - an exclusive hotel for those in the farming/ag community - which is near Trafalgar square. Madge, a member through work, had been fortunate enough to get us all rooms. What an experience, tie and jacket at the breakfast table, Lords and Ladies in town for parliament chatting over tea in the reading room... this was a once in a lifetime look into a world a non farmer would ever see in the UK. So amazing... thanks Madge.



That night we caught a Tube to one of London's newest and the EU's tallest building ... the Shard, by Renzo Piano. The building had the grace and elegance of finish typical of Piano... The short ride up two lifts took us up to the viewing platforms at a height of 244.3 metres (802 ft). What amazing twilight/night views of London.



For dinner we wandered around SOHO and Covent Garden until our feet refused to go any further and found the first place that had free seats.

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Photos

Wind turbines around Roos
These have been extremely contentious... people either love them and their outputs or hate them for their visual impact... very few people sit in the middle of the road.

More winning, payout time...
The "investment" was $8 and the payout of $7.99 MSRP for a tacky coffee mug for Madge.... I loved breaking even.

Farmers Club
Madge was brilliant and got us a room in the Farmers Club, an exclusive hotel for you guessed it.... farmers (not your everyday farmer). The hotel was centrally located near Trafalgar square.

Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

The Shard
Nice angle.