It was a perfect autumn day yesterday in London. There was a cool breeze, light drizzle and yellow leaves being blown off the trees. It was my last day in London, so I thought a stroll along the Thames might be in order. I went on another walk suggested by my guide book, this one starting in Richmond and finishing near Kew Gardens. After the usual debacle of trying to figure out which tube line to take and which stop to use to change trains, I arrived at Richmond tube station. I'd actually been there before, I realised, to get on a bus to take me to see England v Italy at Twickenham, but this time I ducked under a walkway and found myself in another beautiful part of London. Beautiful gardens, remains of old palaces, and that familiar waft of damp dog poo as I strolled along the streets.
My walk took me on a wooded path along the Thames, my hair - now taking on huge proportions thanks to the drizzle, was being soundly swept about by the wind. Two 3 mile walks in the space of two days is probably overdoing it a little bit for me, so I didnt enjoy this one as much as the previous day, but it was still nice to explore a part of London I didnt know existed.
I arrived at Kew Gardens and pretty quickly started looking for the tube station to take me back to Heathrow where I had left my case in left luggage and to catch the coach down to Exeter. Before reaching the tube station though, I walked past a very familiar face indeed. It was Alf from Neighbours! I walked straight past him and moments later regretted it, thinking I should have gone up to him and spoken to him. But I probably would have said something stupid like "Hey! You're Alf from Neighbours!" and then, I realised a bit further on that it was probably a good thing that i didnt do that, because he would have looked at me and said "No, I'm Alf from Home and Away!!" So that would have been embarrassing. But anyway, I saw him. Alf. From Australia.
Back at Heathrow I picked up my case, which, by the way is not the case that I originally started my travels with. Alright so I cheated going through customs in Cyprus, carrying in my hands the stuff that wouldnt fit into my carry on case. But I didnt think this would fly with the customs people in the UK or USA, so I thought I would try to find a slightly bigger carry on case. The woman in the shop was very helpful, and even let me re-pack my stuff in the shop into the new case, before I even bought it, so that i could check that my stuff would fit in. I could tell that I was probably not the first person who has done this. She assured me that this new case was still within the proportions of the allowed hand luggage and with this lovely news in mind I bought it. Turns out she was lying. It is too big for hand luggage. Still, it is still the smallest case I have ever gone travelling with, so that is still a tick in the box.
Another quick sandwich from WHSmiths and I was ready to board my coach down to Exeter. We arrived in Exeter 3 hours and 15 minutes later and I stepped off the coach in search of my friend who was picking me up from the coach station. Well, that was the plan anyway. It was tipping it down by the time I got to Exeter. I wandered up and down the station in search of my friend, past the youngest teenage mother I have ever seen who was busy talking to her friend on the phone in the most drawn out accent I have ever heard in the UK, while her toddler sat on the bench drinking a can of coca cola and eating a packet of crisps.
My friend was nowhere to be seen. My phone was dead. I couldnt remember his phone number to call him from the phone booth and when I tried directory enquiries the number didnt work. Apparantly they have changed the number for 192.
I waited for about 40 minutes. He only lives a 7 minute walk from the bus station, but it was raining really hard. Still, I didnt think I could hang out in the bus station for much longer, so I took my chances in the rain, which I was sure was looking like it was going to lighten up at any minute. It didnt. I walked as fast as I could and by the time I got to his house I was drenched. I popped a quick note through the door to tell him I would be in the pub next door and burst my way into the pub, soggy and dripping. At least my hair wasnt a frizzy mess anymore. It was now a sodden tangle hanging limply down my back. To the barman's credit he didnt bat an eyelid. He did however ask me for some ID when I ordered my glass of wine. My old Cypriot ID card didnt do much to convince him of my age, but they let me have the wine anyway.
I sat down at a table facing the door and was leafing through the quality british newspaper that is the Daily Mail when my friend walked in with his pal and an explanation. Apparently it was my fault. Normal people dont take the bus! They take the train!! They had been waiting for me for ages - at the train station!! That will teach me to use the National Express. :-)
Anyway, it gave us something to have a good old chuckle about and after a hearty dinner of sausages and mash at a new restaurant and more than my fair share of wine I crawled into bed hoping for better weather the next day.
And, I was in luck. I woke up extremely early, suffering a little tiny bit from too much wine drinking, but very happy to be in Exeter and settled with a lovely cup of tea and a chat with Sarah. We took our time over a tentative piece of toast and showers and so on, and I tried to remember what I had done with my contact lenses when I had ripped them out of my eyes last night.
Feeling a bit brighter after a lovely hot shower, we donned light rain jackets (light summer showers were forecast for the day) and head off to get the train to Topsham. It was a glorious day really, lovely white fluffy clouds amongst a blue sky. Topsham is a very pretty village, and we took a casual stroll before stopping in a pub for a hearty hangover reducing pie and gravy, before catching the ferry up to the four locks (or it could be the three locks, or the two locks, I cant really remember). At the four locks we ordered a very nice half pint of smooth local lager and sat in the garden underneath the sun enjoying the view. The slightly alarming view of dark clouds heading our way quite quickly. Sarah was as quick as a cat and at the first drop of rain suggested we head into the pub. Almost as soon as we did the "light summer shower" (ready heavy torrential downpour) came down in full strength.
The rain passed and the rest of the day was beautifully sunny and I am keeping my fingers crossed for more of the same. I have been promised a cream tea tomorrow, so that is definatley something to look forward to!
My walk took me on a wooded path along the Thames, my hair - now taking on huge proportions thanks to the drizzle, was being soundly swept about by the wind. Two 3 mile walks in the space of two days is probably overdoing it a little bit for me, so I didnt enjoy this one as much as the previous day, but it was still nice to explore a part of London I didnt know existed.
I arrived at Kew Gardens and pretty quickly started looking for the tube station to take me back to Heathrow where I had left my case in left luggage and to catch the coach down to Exeter. Before reaching the tube station though, I walked past a very familiar face indeed. It was Alf from Neighbours! I walked straight past him and moments later regretted it, thinking I should have gone up to him and spoken to him. But I probably would have said something stupid like "Hey! You're Alf from Neighbours!" and then, I realised a bit further on that it was probably a good thing that i didnt do that, because he would have looked at me and said "No, I'm Alf from Home and Away!!" So that would have been embarrassing. But anyway, I saw him. Alf. From Australia.
Back at Heathrow I picked up my case, which, by the way is not the case that I originally started my travels with. Alright so I cheated going through customs in Cyprus, carrying in my hands the stuff that wouldnt fit into my carry on case. But I didnt think this would fly with the customs people in the UK or USA, so I thought I would try to find a slightly bigger carry on case. The woman in the shop was very helpful, and even let me re-pack my stuff in the shop into the new case, before I even bought it, so that i could check that my stuff would fit in. I could tell that I was probably not the first person who has done this. She assured me that this new case was still within the proportions of the allowed hand luggage and with this lovely news in mind I bought it. Turns out she was lying. It is too big for hand luggage. Still, it is still the smallest case I have ever gone travelling with, so that is still a tick in the box.
Another quick sandwich from WHSmiths and I was ready to board my coach down to Exeter. We arrived in Exeter 3 hours and 15 minutes later and I stepped off the coach in search of my friend who was picking me up from the coach station. Well, that was the plan anyway. It was tipping it down by the time I got to Exeter. I wandered up and down the station in search of my friend, past the youngest teenage mother I have ever seen who was busy talking to her friend on the phone in the most drawn out accent I have ever heard in the UK, while her toddler sat on the bench drinking a can of coca cola and eating a packet of crisps.
My friend was nowhere to be seen. My phone was dead. I couldnt remember his phone number to call him from the phone booth and when I tried directory enquiries the number didnt work. Apparantly they have changed the number for 192.
I waited for about 40 minutes. He only lives a 7 minute walk from the bus station, but it was raining really hard. Still, I didnt think I could hang out in the bus station for much longer, so I took my chances in the rain, which I was sure was looking like it was going to lighten up at any minute. It didnt. I walked as fast as I could and by the time I got to his house I was drenched. I popped a quick note through the door to tell him I would be in the pub next door and burst my way into the pub, soggy and dripping. At least my hair wasnt a frizzy mess anymore. It was now a sodden tangle hanging limply down my back. To the barman's credit he didnt bat an eyelid. He did however ask me for some ID when I ordered my glass of wine. My old Cypriot ID card didnt do much to convince him of my age, but they let me have the wine anyway.
I sat down at a table facing the door and was leafing through the quality british newspaper that is the Daily Mail when my friend walked in with his pal and an explanation. Apparently it was my fault. Normal people dont take the bus! They take the train!! They had been waiting for me for ages - at the train station!! That will teach me to use the National Express. :-)
Anyway, it gave us something to have a good old chuckle about and after a hearty dinner of sausages and mash at a new restaurant and more than my fair share of wine I crawled into bed hoping for better weather the next day.
And, I was in luck. I woke up extremely early, suffering a little tiny bit from too much wine drinking, but very happy to be in Exeter and settled with a lovely cup of tea and a chat with Sarah. We took our time over a tentative piece of toast and showers and so on, and I tried to remember what I had done with my contact lenses when I had ripped them out of my eyes last night.
Feeling a bit brighter after a lovely hot shower, we donned light rain jackets (light summer showers were forecast for the day) and head off to get the train to Topsham. It was a glorious day really, lovely white fluffy clouds amongst a blue sky. Topsham is a very pretty village, and we took a casual stroll before stopping in a pub for a hearty hangover reducing pie and gravy, before catching the ferry up to the four locks (or it could be the three locks, or the two locks, I cant really remember). At the four locks we ordered a very nice half pint of smooth local lager and sat in the garden underneath the sun enjoying the view. The slightly alarming view of dark clouds heading our way quite quickly. Sarah was as quick as a cat and at the first drop of rain suggested we head into the pub. Almost as soon as we did the "light summer shower" (ready heavy torrential downpour) came down in full strength.
The rain passed and the rest of the day was beautifully sunny and I am keeping my fingers crossed for more of the same. I have been promised a cream tea tomorrow, so that is definatley something to look forward to!
'...a perfect Autumn day...' In July? :-)
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