Lamppostings

London – Day 8 – July 17, 2019

G&B treated us to the hotel’s breakfast buffet which meant we got to have a proper English Fry Up Breakfast and lots of great coffee. It was so good!

We headed to the Olympic Park which is right next to where we were staying. We walked around, went up to the Olympic Rings, the kids played on a playground. It’s an amazing park and I love that it is not going to waste after the Olympics finished. All the facilities are still being used, new businesses and education facilities are being built. It feels vibrant and full of life.

Back to the hotel. G&B headed back to Birmingham. There were tears. It’s hard to say goodbye, but friends are worth the pain of separation.

Graeme and Becky truly are lifelong friends. We are so thankful for them. They are kind and generous, fun and adventurous, faithful and patient. They were simply the best adventure companions. Laid back and easy going and up for anything. Graeme was our fearless navigator and got us everywhere we needed to be. We did so much in a short amount of time and it was the best. So much laughter, so many conversations, inspiration and plans for the future. Yep, there were tears.

We took a bus to the Dr Who Museum and Shop. It was fun to be there. An incredible amount of Dr Who merchandise and memorabilia. We did go into the Museum which there’s a charge for. Sadly, they don’t allow photography in the shop or museum which I think isn’t the best strategy. They take a photo of you going into the Tardis and if you ask for permission they will let you take a photo or two in the shop. The museum was interesting and had a couple of pieces from favourite Dr Who episodes such as Van Gogh’s clothes, the Are You My Mummy mask, and others, but since I couldn’t take photos, I can’t remember them all.

Bus back to Stratford. The boys and I wandered around the cheap side of Stratford which is in sharp contrast to the newer fancier parts and the mall. It’s where I used to do a lot of my grocery shopping on my way home to our flat after we got married and lived on Leytsonstone High Road. Colin graciously took our laundry to a local laundromat. Sadly, I forgot to add Zane’s underpants and socks, so we made a plan to visit Primark to get him some new ones for the rest of the trip.

We hung out at the hotel for a while which was a nice rest.

The NZ Blacketts (Colin’s brother Shane, his wife Carolyn, and their kids Kate, Anna, and Ethan) had arrived and we met up with them at Liverpool Street Station and walked to Brick Lane. We ate at the Jasmine Curry House which is where the Princess Diana painting is. Because it was dinner and not the lunch special, we ordered what we used to get – special biryani and a mango curry among other things. Definitely not £5 for a curry anymore, but so worth it! It was fun to see the kids interacting and having a good time together.

We walked them back to their AirBnB which was on Brink Lane. Zane was not impressed that it was over a shop called Kill the Cat. We did a Pokemon Go Gym Battle before heading back to Stratford.

24,520 steps

10.2 miles

On a side not, I walked in my sandals most of the day, for some reason I thought it would be a light walking day, I was wrong. It’s worth it and completely necessary to have excellent walking shoes. You might have to sacrifice a bit of street cred style, but you will be so sad if you do not.