A walk in the English Countryside
It is a bleak grey day in the county of Essex and I have talked Jene's brother Geoff to go dawdling through the English countryside. About 250 metres from the main road we hit rural England as the footpath ends along with housing and we walk along narrow roadways surrounded by farmland and open fields. Every now and then a lovely little cottage would appear or a small village on the horizon with the church steeple being prominent.
As you can imagine walking along small country roads for four hours Geoff and I shared many thoughts and feelings on many different levels including assessment of our wife's strengths and weaknesses. To ensure that both Geoff and i live happy and long lives I will not be sharing those thoughts at this time.
We were following a map of the Roach Valley Walk that took us along roadways and the through fields and across farms. These are public footpaths that have been designated for a long time. They travel through private lands and the owners of the property have the responsibility of maintaining the paths. It felt a bit strange walking between barns and over stiles into paddocks and we kept waiting for an angry farmer to appear waving a shotgun.
A Wicked Day in London
Today we travelled into London with sister Sarah, sister- in-law Margaret and special nieces Megan and Lauren to see Wicked at the Victoria Apollo Theatre. We decided that rather than just buying the nieces and nephews some Aussie t-shirts that we would treat each of them to a special experience or gift. Megan is studying drama so we thought a Visit to the West End would be good.
We caught the train from Rochford to Liverpool Street station and then transferred to the underground to travel to Covent Garden. There was a small hut with postcards posted all over it supporting the Great Britain Olympic team. They invited me in but wouldn't allow me to write Aussie, Aussie Aussie oi, oi, oi own the wall.
We then walked towards the West End and it was like being transported on to a Monopoly Board as we went through Piccadilly and Trafalgar Square. We reached the Apollo theatre only to find that we should have been at the Apollo Victoria theatre so had to jump back on the Metro but made it on time.
The musical Wicked was brilliant. A great story, amazing songs and a very impressive cast. We still can't get the song 'Gravity' out of our heads. Jene, being the big rebel that she is, taped the finale on her phone and will probably download it on Facebook.
The show finished about 5:30 but as we had off peak rail tickets we had to wait until 6:30 to return so we decided to walk back past Buckingham Palace. We saw Prince Harry coming out! The picture shows his car and while you can't see him you will have to take my word for it. While walking we caught glimpses of Big Ben, the Tower of London and the Millennium Eye.
Heat Wave Hits London
This morning I went walking in a really thick fog where I could only see about 50 metres in front of me. By mid morning the sun had burned up the fog and a beautiful blue sky appeared. I was able to sit outside in a short sleeved shirt and build up my tan. This afternoon I walked into Rochford and built up a sweat it was so warm.
On my walk I pass a primary school that a small service road opposite which is used for drop off and pick up. This afternoon when I walked past around school finishing time there were two Mr Whippy vans parked in prime location on the service road. Great for the kids but hard for parents to deal with.
I bet you that you had a hard time resisting the Mr Whippy van too Scotty.
ReplyDeletePS Luke notes that your Dream Team is now fully uploaded.
PPS We're all looking forward to the GWS v Syd game this Sat night - wish you were here.