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a full english breakfast consists of all of the following:
tea or coffee
toast with marmalade or jam
2 eggs
2 bacon
2 sausages
black pudding (blood sausage, my favourite!)
baked beans
fried tomatoes
fried mushrooms
fried bread
and sometimes a potato/hash brown patty.
i only tackled this breakfast once at a hotel/pub i was staying at in the lake district. it was included with the room so i had to have it. 😊
i've been doing some more exploring of london, mostly from
above looking down. my new ukranian friend elena and i went to
sky gardens in london. it is a high rise building built in 2015 offering a 360 degree view of the city from the 35th floor. i think it is much better than the
london eye which is expensive and not as high. you have to make a reservation to go up to the sky garden but the venue is free. once at the top there is an outdoor viewing platform to enjoy, and also a cafe and restaurant among the many plants and trees. the air feels fresh and oxygenated after street
level london.
another day i went on
the big bus tour of the city which is a
hop on hop off open bus tour. it was a beautiful warm sunny day and i felt like i was experiencing london from the tops of the trees. all around london there were beautiful floral displays because of the world famous
chelsea flower show which was on that week. i only hopped off the bus once and that was at
covent gardens which is a market with shops, cafes and local crafts. i don't have fond memories of this place. back in 1985 when i was 19 i visited london for the first time. on a day out to the market i found myself being followed by a darker middle eastern looking man. he kept appearing everywhere i went. inside one of the shops he approached me and grabbed my buttocks and asked me if i would like to go home with him. i was so shocked i went up to the sales clerk and started to cry. she immediately called security and the man ran off. security took me up to their office and gave me a cup of tea
and let me stay with them until i felt better. everything is made better with a
cuppa. they were very kind and later walked with me to the tube station to see me off safely. fortunately this time at covent gardens was uneventful. if i was approached now i would say
'ok lets go!' (kidding!)
near my auntie val's in wanstead there is a park with a pond with ducks and swans. it is a nice half hour walk from her home. a few times i have enjoyed a quiet sit on the bench while feeding the birds leftover stale bread. spring is in the air! the male pigeons are strutting their stuff around the females, flaring their breasts out and spreading their tail feathers while bobbing their heads up and down. i think it is the swan that mates for life? also near wanstead is
stratford where the 2012 summer olympics were held. there is a huge shopping mall there where my favourite M&S store is located. M&S is great for buying underpants.
walthamstow, which is where my godmother used to live and is just beside wanstead has been named the cultural district of london. i can
see why. it is definitely multi-cultural. there is not 1 english shop left anywhere in walthamstow. the few times i have taken the bus there was not one english speaking person on it. (but i must admit the foreigners are much better at customer service than the english.) even the local pub has been turned into a mosque. why did i travel the world to experience different cultures? i could have saved money and just walked along the high street. there are shops and restaurants from all over the world here. ukranian, russian, indian, chinese, caribbean, african, polish and turkish just to name a few. and all of the butchers are
halal. i have heard that all of the chicken now served in london is halal. so the KFC's, nandos and mcdonalds all serve halal chicken. the one thing i can't seem to get in london is a regular cup of coffee. even mcdonalds only serves lattes and cappuccino's. i end up ordering an americano with heavy cream. i don't think they know what coffee cream or half and half is here.
the trains, undergrounds and buses here are an excellent efficient way to get around but are expensive.
london is very pet friendly. quite often i have seen dogs on the buses and the tubes and even in the pubs. after the age of 65 all of the seniors in the UK get a free bus pass. they also get a free television licence and 250 pounds towards their heating bill in the winter. i think this is very generous of the government but they even give these benefits to the multi-millionaires!? now how does that make sense? my mom has a fridge magnet that reads
'common sense is not so common'. it should be according to your income like they do in canada. maybe i should put my name in for the PM. 😊 poor theresa may..... enlarged pictures of her crying have been plastered all over the daily papers. the british media are ruthless.
only 1 more week before i fly home. i have a couple of outings planned for before i leave. on monday i am taking the train to broxbourne which is north of wanstead and only a half hour away where my arcadia friend bob lives. we are going to go on a day out in the country with a visit to
the
ascott estate in
buckinghamshire which is part of the national trust. then on tuesday evening i am going to see
sergei polunin at the
london paladium. i first discovered him in a documentary on netflix. he was the youngest principle male dancer ever to get the position with the
royal london ballet at the age of 19. then when he was at the top of his game he just left without a word. if you go on to
youtube and search his name and type in '
take me to church' you can see what was supposed to be his final dance. needless to say it wasn't.
i'm sat in this library and it is sunny and 25 degrees out so i better sign off and go out and enjoy the rest of the day.
cheerio!
cruisin susan 😊
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