After a thoroughly enjoyable time in Paris, we are now back in London and have spent some time seeing the sights.
Caught up with Ben on Friday (9/10), in downtown London (SOHO) for Lunch, with a bit of shopping for nothing particular. We were invited to a the Terrace Restaurant in Wimbledon on Friday night for drinks for one of Ben's Aussie friends (and work colleague), to help celebrate her birthday. Win and I stayed for a couple of hours then left the part goers to it. Had a quiet meal at a local noodle bar (called "Slurp").
Saturday, we walked to the Wimbledon and visited the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum. I was impressed with the total concept which goes back into the history of the game, original racquets, rules, mode of dress etc. Up to the present with current players comments and a video featuring John McEnroe.
Sunday caught the tube to Hammersmith and had a traditional Sunday roast at an old pub (Old Ship). Anne selected this restaurant as she had been here before and the roasts they served were good. She was right a great roast beef and yorkshire pudding with the vegetables. We sat in a newer part of the pub overlooking the River Thames. After lunch a leisurely stroll along the riverbank to Putney. And then guess what, into the King James Hotel for a few drinks (draught ciders for me), and then it was time for dinner at an excellent Italian restaurant in Putney. This was magnificent as well. A great day of feasting yet again, with Ben, Anne, Matthew, Win & myself.
Monday headed up North of London to St Johns Wood to Lord's, the home of cricket. They do 3 tours a day (I guess except when there is play). These tours are advertised as 100 minutes, and ours was closer to two hours. The guide we had really knows his stuff and was delighted to be sharing his knowledge. The museum here is also full of history of the game, Lord's ground itself as well as plenty of memorabilia. So we got to go thru the members bar, the committee room, as well as the famous long room. We also went into the visitors dressing room, and our very informative guide, was able to point out where different players eg Steve Waugh, McGrath, Lara, Warne, sat (superstitious?). The visitor's dressing room also list all visiting players who have attained a century in a test, or bowled a few good balls as in "5 for" and "10 for", these dating back to the late 1870's although the ground has a much longer history. After the tour we headed into town to have dinner with Ben & Anne at a Spanish Tapas bar. Once again great food.
Do we do anything but eat? good question
Tuesday was another nice day in London, and we chose to travel by tube into Westminster and take a leisurely boat trip down the Thames to Greenwich. A very interesting cruise learning more about the history of London and the Thames. Had a pleasant stroll around Greenwich, and went to the Royal Observatory, and went to the Prime Meridian of the world - 0 degrees longtitude, better known as GMT (Greenwich Mean Time), also known as UTC (Universal Time Coordinate) or Zulu Time, and of course took photos at the 0 degree marker.
Wednesday and we were off to Win's birthplace Pirbright Army base. This was a nice hour drive from Wimbledon thru picturesque Surrey and the village of Pirbright to the army base. These days of course you cannot get past the gate which was manned by police and armed British soldiers.
I was now looking forward to Wednesday evening when I would be catching up with my Swiss IBM colleague, Mark Hofmann, who I have not seen in the flesh since he moved back to Switzerland from NZ in 2005. This was a great evening as I caught up with a number of other IBMers, and as IBMers do, talked work, so it was a productive evening as well as enjoying good company and good food.
So now planning and looking to forward to Friday (16/10) when we head off to Florence with Ben & Anne for the weekend.
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