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Published: April 5th 2009
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CS:
Sat 28 March: we trained to Ghent and walked up the main street following tram tracks into Centrum. The weather was rainy but there were plenty of sunny patches in between, and while cold it was not bitter. We found Ghent to be a very interesting and pretty little spot. We stopped at a bistro, overlooking the Law Courts building to avoid a downpour and Lily introduced us to locally brewed Belgian beer. We then walked on to see the 3 towers Ghent is famous for and the older historic parts of town. More walking and then we bought some chocolates, of course, at Lily’s instigation. We found a charming little restaurant, where just on finishing our meal we were joined by Roger (previously from ‘Rhodesia’, latterly of Ghent) for a chat as he said ‘between antipodeans’. He turned out to be a delightful and interesting old codger (at 76 I don’t think he would mind being described that way).
The next day we took a quick comfortable ride by train to Lille and transferred onto a Calais train. We arrived to find very little information and even less interest on the part of the locals we met as to
PP and Lily
Plus a cathedral how to get to the ferry but in due course we found the terminal. The ferry was full of youngsters, teenagers from school groups and holiday makers, much like a cruise ship would be? We were delayed getting off and waited for the bus to the station and then waited for the train at Dover to London so it was dark by the time we made it across town by underground to our appointed hotel just opposite Hyde Park having then travelled for about 10 hours.
It was great to be back in London (PP’s birthplace). We awoke to a lovely spring day, complete with sunshine and blue skies. (Yes we were in London). Breakfast was followed by underground train to Camden Market where we split up leaving Lil to browse while we took the underground to British Museum and to Russell Square for a bit of nostalgia for me, then Piccadilly, Trafalgar Square, Pall Mall, and onto Waterloo Bridge where we picked up with Lily. After an early dinner at the Wellington Hotel we walked to the Playhouse Theatre to see La Cage aux Folle which we all thoroughly enjoyed followed by a night cap at Sherlock Holmes pub.
Tuesday 31 March: my birthday started with a stroll around the Serpentine in Hyde Park followed by a wonderful birthday lunch at the Archduke Restaurant, close to Waterloo station. We walked the river walk to Tate Modern seeing among other works Rodin’s The Kiss, various Giacometti’s, a Hepworth, several Braque’s and lots else besides. Train to Windsor to be met by PP’s cousin Linda, chatting and laughing (and drinking good Spanish wine) all evening, followed by a blissful night’s sleep interrupted only by a phone call for PP offering him a flight testing job in Fiji which he of course had to decline.
Woke to another sunny day, PP’s uncle and aunt Tony and Mary arrived around 11.30, and took us off to a big lunch (with lots of custard on the pud for me - I love custard) at the Old Windsor Carvery. We walked off the worst effects by strolling Windsor Royal Park and enjoying the view towards the castle from King George III’s statue in the afternoon, happily absent from London while all the G20 rigmarole took place. Thursday morning Linda dropped us at the station for a train to Slough (don’t you love these English
names) and Oxford. It was overcast early in the day but cleared nicely later. We walked around the main town area and the colleges (St John’s, Christ Church, and Magdalene); lunch in a bright little café (for me a rare roast beef sandwich with horse radish so strong my eyes are still weeping - yummy) more walking then the train back to London.
We found a small but comfortable hotel just opposite St Pancras Station and left Lily there to finish subtitling her documentary Skipping Waste (which is to be screened at a festival in France soon) and have room service (rather an exotic treat for a hobo). PP and I found my friend Julie’s place in Muswell Hill after negotiating a London bus. Their lovely little house has a splendid view of a vast tract of London. Chatting till we almost missed the last train back to our hotel we found Lil still up but just finishing her project.
Friday 3rd April: Friday morning rising at 4.45am to make the Eurostar train for Brussels we were all tired but the transit was seamless. (Over 10 hours to get to London from Belgium less than 2 hours to return -
Castle in Ghent
To keep out the locals amazing). Having arrived in Antwerp a cab took us straight back to the ship. Lily retrieved her tent and sleeping bag off the ship in double quick time so she could take the cab back to the station to catch the train to Paris. This at least truncated the chances for any extended teary farewells. So big hugs, goodbye till… when/where, who knows?
We met the new passenger John who had come aboard in our absence. He has done a number of cargo cruises before and is doing the whole circuit on this one. The ship got away at 2.30pm, through the lock and out into the North Sea. We expect to arrive in Hamburg early Sunday morning.
PP:
Ah well - these hippy children flash into our routine, disrupt enormously, then flash out again - but what enormous fun!! Disquieting?? But good!! Otherwise “days of empire” nostalgia - not a bit!! But London was good fun.
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