Blogs from Greater London, England, United Kingdom, Europe - page 18

Unfortunately, Covid (coronavirus) cases increased rapidly between September and October 2020, and the government enforced 4 week circuit breaker between 5th November and 2nd December in England. We have found this lockdown was not as strict as last one – quite a few shops like independent hardware, electronic shops, newsagents, dry cleaning centres, garden centres and WHSmiths – have remained open. We have been told that public toilets are open in the parks and have been encouraged to visit Priory Park, N8 and Olympic Park near Stratford. Priory Park, N8 Having taken my day off on 20th November, Mark took a day off on that day. We decided to visit Priory Park. Although we had seen this park from bus No.144 on the way to Muswell Hill Methodist Church several years, Mark had never been there; ... read more

If you have been to Wimbledon, as I have, you know there are many choices of adult beverages. Pimm's Cup, beer, ale, and wine, along with my favorite, champagne. It is one of the grandest sporting events I have attended. But did you know? Twenty-eight thousand bottles of Champagne consumed during Wimbledon are served at the world’s oldest tennis tournament. The celebrated annual fortnight would have featured its Singles Championships this weekend, but was canceled due to COVID. Despite strict rules of etiquette for observing the tournament, several matches each year are disrupted by popping corks. Other quintessential Wimbledon comestibles consumed with abandon are an average of 235,000 glasses of Pimm's and 142,000 portions of strawberries. How many of us know about the Wimbledon Pimm's Cup? Per the Wine Enthusiast: T... read more

A lot of people seemed to have become panicked before the lockdown started – many local supermarkets were running out of toilet papers, pasta, bread and kitchen rolls. However, things seemed to get settled after the lockdown started. The shops which sell essential things – food, medicines, banks – were allowed to open. And, we are lucky – there are 13 shops including Morrisons and Wilkinson are open and they are all within 5 minutes walk. All these shops limit a number of customers enter at a time and ask them to buy certain number s of per item – 2 packets of toilet papers per person. The stock of toilet papers, milk and kitchen rolls came back shortly after the lockdown. I was able to buy pasta at Morrisons at the beginning of April. However, ... read more

And wisdom must prevail. Yesterday morning I realized it would be wise to come home . Fortunately my trusty travel agent was able to find me a flight today . This virus seems to have spiralled in the last few days . It is crazy ! Heathrow this morning is very busy but Brenda , who flew Westjet out of Gatwick yesterday says that airport wasn't that busy . Know one really knows what is happening or will happen in the next while. London has been good . We were able to do a few tourist things , a boat trip on the Thames , a wander in Trafalgar Square , the Eye of London and the British Museum . Yesterday I was able to get a ticket for the matinèe performance of Come From Away ... read more

Moje cesta začala už včera odjezdem do Prahy, kde jsem měla zajištěné ubytování nedaleko letiště, jelikož sraz se zástupcem CK byl dnes už v 5:00 ráno. Shodou okolností paní z vedlejšího pokoje na hostelu je mou první spolucestující na Nový Zéland. Záhy na letišti potkávám další nadšence (nebo spíš nadšenkyně), které čeká více než 24-hodinový let se 2 přestupy. Oslovila mě paní Monika s prosbou, jestli bychom se mezi jednotlivými lety mohli držet při sobě. Já bez protestů návrh přijímám. Je lepší se na letišti ztratit ve dvou než sama :-). Kapitán letadla British Airways nás vítá na palubě se slovy, že budeme mít malé zpoždění, protože je nejprve potřeba z křídel očistit led, aby nám správně fungovaly klapky. Namísto v 7:00 tak odlétame o 25 minut déle. Do Londýna se však snášíme na čas. V ... read more