Mayfair

Friday October 28th
In Which we Visit Mrs Windsor

A few days ago I commented that it seemed that all of the UK was inhabited by elderly, infirm and slightly lost people with old mismatched clothing. Although this was certainly our observation in the small villages of Dorset, Devon and Cornwall, after a couple of days in London I think we have discovered what happened to the rest of the population.

In contrast to the shuffling elderly citizens of the rural areas we have been amazed at the huge numbers of young people that we now see all around us. And not only young, but obviously talented, ambitious and upwardly mobile as well. It also seems that everywhere we try to walk we are serious risk of being knocked over by the masses of serious joggers that are filling every public walkway. On the roads we have seen every possible type of luxury vehicle, however Mercedes seem to be the most popular choice, with a liberal assortment of BMWs, Audis, Porsches, Ferraris and even Lamborghinis thrown in for good measure.

We quickly got the impression that, for anyone in the country with any aspirations for prosperity, London is the place to be.

We began the day by walking our now familiar route out through the Kensington Gardens to the Serpentine, followed by morning tea at the Lido tea house. We had also decided that it would be a good idea to watch the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. After all, it was only a relatively modest walk further on through GreenPark to the Palace and I felt that the Queen would really appreciate a visit from us. The Ghostriders had always helped to celebrate her birthday by conducting a special ride to the city and I also suspected that Betty Windsor was a regular reader of our website. It seemed only fitting that we make a pilgrimage to the palace and watch her changing her guards.

Today was the sunniest day we had enjoyed for some time and I could feel the warmth on my face as we followed the crowds toward Green Park. Maggie looked around and asked "Are all these people heading to the palace ?" I had to inform her that I suspected they were. And they were.

Although we had arrived 45 minutes earlier than the scheduled 11.30 am time, the area in front of the palace was already crammed with thousands of onlookers.

Dozens of police were already struggling to direct the masses. Hundreds of the ubiquitous "selfie sticks" were already in position to catch the elusive selfie in front of the guards. I quickly started to wonder why we had bothered, since this is not our scene at all. Maggie had already made up her mind that she wanted no further part of it.

"Just wait for the start and then leave", I reasoned with her. She was not convinced. Hundreds more people were arriving with each minute that ticked past. I could feel myself being pushed and jostled on every side. A security helicopter hovered overhead. We both tried not to think of the possible nightmare of a terrorist attack at this spot.

Finally a collection of marching bandsmen announced that something was happening. More guards with shiny breastplates on fine looking horses marched past. At least something was happening. I looked across at the windows of the palace. Was it my imagination or was that a familiar face inside one of the upper windows ? Perhaps it was the warm sunshine causing me to hallucinate but I could swear that I could see the vague outline of an elderly woman with a G & T in one hand and a dog's lead in the other. I waved enthusiastically, hoping that she would recognise the old guy with the white whiskers standing across the road.

Whether she saw me or not was debatable, but after a few minutes we had had enough. Maggie decided to head back to the relative sanctuary of the Kensington Gardens while I headed off in the opposite direction towards the Thames. I felt like a serious walk to burn up some nervous energy and wanted to experience more of this famous city.

I walked away from Buckingham Palace and headed east towards the Thames. This took me through the famous government buildings of Westminster, then through the grounds of the Home Guards and finally to the bank of the Thames.
From there I followed the riverfront walking path north towards the centre of the city. It was still a glorious autumn day and the temperature was around 18C, making for wonderful walking conditions. The biggest danger I faced was of being flattened and trampled underfoot by one of the hundreds of overly eager joggers running along the same path.

My walk took me underneath Waterloo Bridge and then Blackfriars Bridge on my way to the famous London Bridge. As I walked I could see a succession of impressive modern buildings on the other side of the river, including the famous Tate Modern Art Gallery.

As I walked under the London Bridge I hoped that it would not choose that moment to finally fall down.

The next major landmark along this route was the distinctive shape of the Tower Bridge and of the Tower of London itself. When I reached the elevated bridge I felt that it would be a suitable place to turn back and head for home. I had already walked well over 10 km and the GPS told me that I now had a 9 km walk back to the hotel.

Turning inland I left the river and made my way along Towerhill, Eastcheap, King William, Cheapside Poultry, Newgate and Holborn Streets before joining Oxford Street. I knew that it would eventually become Bayswater Road and would take me all the way back to our hotel in Hyde Park. Along the way I crossed a succession of famous roads - including Regent St, Fleet St, Bond St and Park Lane. I could not help but feel like I was walking on a giant Monopoly board.

I arrived back at the hotel around 4 pm. I was footsore and tired, having walked over 20 km through the crowded city. I was ever so glad to finally collapse on the bed and kick the shoes off.

Later in the day Maggie and I returned to the French Cafe in Notting Hill for a delightful meal. We both knew that, with only one full day left in London, our adventure was now rapidly drawing to a close. Although this was a little sad, we were both very ready to return to the sanctuary of our own home again.Read more