A trip down memory lane

On Monday the girls went off to work early so we had a sleep in and generally lazy day, until about 4pm when we put our glad rags on and headed into Piccadilly Circus and the theatre district to meet up with Alyssa. She had booked us in for a pre theatre dinner at Impala, and it was fabulous. Lots of different twists on mediterranean style share plates including a puffy donut style flat bread with spices and a fried egg on top. The show 'Hay Fever' with Christine Baranski, from Mama Mia and Richard E Brant, was good British humour, a fabulous English Country House set and plenty of laughs. A pertinent reminder of the life of the aristocracy, once upon a time.

Tuesday dawned a bit grey and overcast but as Alyssa was working from home, we decided to make ourselves scarce and head for Little Venice, and the Regents Park Canal on another trip down memory lane. 23 Blomfield Road (which runs beside the canal) was my home with the Ogilvy family for two years back in 1973. I was the nanny to their four children - the two eldest girls who were at boarding school, and their two young brothers aged 3yrs and 5 yrs when I arrived. From the canal boat, Jason, it seemed like nothing had really changed although the family home was sold back in the late '70's when Mr and Mrs O were divorced. The canal boat cruise was highly informative, in a school teacher type manner, and the weather was typically bleak and miserable, until we reached our destination at Camden Markets when the sun came out with a vengeance, thus necessitating a cooling refreshment at one of the many little bars overlooking the canal. The markets were much more sophisticated than I remember, but still very touristy and not cheap. Graffiti was in abundance, both alongside the canal and through the Camden markets, and rubbish was notably piled up awaiting collection.

Somewhat invigorated, with a spring in our step we headed off to walk to Oxford St, through Regents Park, and down Bakerloo Street. It was a perfect strolling day and the photos tell the story. Some things never change, the Piccadilly Circus statue, Marble Arch, and Hyde Park corner to name but a few monuments of note, but on the other hand the London Cab, identified by its distinctive square black shape is no longer black - instead a plethora of advertising adorns the cabs, and the louder the colour I guess the more effective the marketing. On the flip side, the London air was clean; almost all the public transport, double decker buses and taxis were electric and the absence of diesel fumes, made walking the streets very pleasant.

We ducked underground at Marble Arch to join the tube back to Kensington High Street, where we joined the girls for dinner and packed our bags in preparation for our early morning departure.Read more