London Town

The adventure is drawing to a close. We fly home this evening, dodging the various war zones back to the peace of Australia.

We are tired. Six weeks traveling, changing beds most nights, packing and unpacking and of course walking silly distances up silly hills takes it out of you. But the experiences have been great and I will be carrying memories that will last me for many years.

The last four days have been in London staying with my cousin, Tamsin, who has a flat in Kennington, in South London. It’s walking distance to the main action so we have had a good few days exploring.

We have been to London many times before so it was fun to be staying in an area we didn’t know and also visiting parts of London that were new to us. I had a lovely day starting in Notting Hill and the Portobello markets (bit tatty) and then walking through Kensington Gardens via the palace and into Hyde Park. I finished the day at Tate Modern and Borough Markets (fabulous food) so felt very full of rich experiences by the end of the day. A bonus was a Giacometti exhibition at the Tate as he’s a favorite.

You can’t come to London without a show, so we went to the Harold Pinter theatre to see Giant. It was a brilliant but unsettling story about Roald Dahl and an article he wrote in support of a book criticizing Israel for its attack on Lebanon. Very timely and asked the same questions we are asking about Zionism vs Judaism, what is anti semitism, what actions can be justified as defence and can you separate an artists actions from their work. There were no answers given, and there were times you could hear the audience gasp. The lead actor was John Lithgow who you will know from many shows but probably best known as Churchill in The Crown. He was brilliant and very brave, I thought. Outstanding. See it if you can.

I love how the London and New York theaters are often small so you can really get an intimate experience.

Yesterday was a particular treat. A friend, Graham, had recommended we take a river cruise up the Thames to Hampton Court Palace. It was delightful. Firstly it was so nice to see parts of London I’d heard of but never visited- Chelsea, Richmond for example, but we also saw some extraordinary architecture and significant historic sites with excellent stories. The captain was also a good raconteur so kept an amusing commentary going. He reminded me of Michael Cain at his most cockney. We went through two locks and got to see the Thames as it changed from a major waterway into a beautiful tree lined river. There were masses of birdlife and all along there were people out on rowing boats or canoes enjoying the gentle waters. We must have passed under 20 or 30 bridges!

Hampton Court Palace is brilliantly preserved and strangely familiar as I’ve seen bits of it in so many films and TV shows. Think Bridgerton, The Favourite, The Theory of Everything just for starters. The rooms of Henry VIII, George I and William III are intact and open for viewing, as is the garden.

London is one of my favorite cities as you really don’t have to do much to enjoy it. Just wandering about randomly exposes you to constant surprises and treasures. It’s been spruced up since I was here last and it feels great. Brexit and the pandemic have left their mark but this is a city that thrives despite what history throws at it.

So, home. Grateful for a remarkable time exploring this corner of the planet and also grateful for your company.
MxRead more