A quiet day in London

---

A good nights sleep was just what I needed and was just what I got. We woke up around 0830 and left the hotel at 0900 bound for the Crystal Palace Station, a 30 minute walk away. Paul, Jen and Caitlin had an appointment by Shoreditch Station so we caught the train there and had breakfast in a cafe before strolling the surrounding streets.

Paul texted me to say they'd been delayed but suggested a cafe to fill in some time and we used Google Maps to find "Look Mum, No Hands" a cycling themed cafe and repair shop that was a little quirky and served good coffee. I used the time to try and catch up on this blog and nutted out a few days worth of dribble.

Paul led the way through the streets of London and we passed the Bank of England, The Monument, Tower of London and Tower Bridge on the way to St Katharine Docks where we took a seat at Dickens Inn. It was really nice to not be visiting London as a tourist - both Jo and I have been there several times before and had no need this time to join any queues or take a tonne of photos. We were just strolling the streets at our own pace with nowhere in particular to go to.

I'm possibly being a little unfair by calling St Katharine Docks "nowhere in particular". It's not a place we'd been to before and was a few paces from the busy Tower Bridge area but it was all but empty. There wouldn't have been more than a dozen people in the large multi-level pub and it almost felt like we had the place to ourselves. Paul's mate Ben joined us part way through proceedings and managed to convince the barman to turn Wimbledon off the TVs and put the West Indies v New Zealand cricket test on. We probably spent a little longer there than Paul had planned but a good time was had by all.

On the return home we passed by the courthouse where Rolf Harris had just been found guilty. We didn't stay around for a glimpse of the ex-celebrity current prisoner but we were in the minority it seemed... the English media were all over it.

Ben, Paul and I bought enough food to feed a dozen or more people at Tesco, ten minutes from Paul's Beckenham home. There were only five of us eating but if you leave boys in charge of BBQ supplies you've got to expect over purchasing. The rain came down just as we were about to walk back to Paul's and after 15 minutes of indecision, we finally decided to book a taxi. It arrived pretty much as the rain stopped.

The BBQ was a nice quiet affair - I think I was still recovering from Amsterdam slightly and we left around 2200 in a taxi to our hotel.

---