ENGLAND 2

SUNDAY 7th JULY, 2019.

I don't like goodbyes but there are times when they are necessary,  this morning was one of those occassions when we said our farewells to Marion and Mike.  It's always sad to part with good friends.

The drive to the outskirts of London was free of incident but ever so slightly boring along the motorways so we were pleased to reach our accommodation.  Having checked in and deposited our bags in our room, we drove to Heathrow to return the hire car, took the courtesy bus to the airport and a train back to our hotel.

Later in the afternoon, we went for a stroll around the neighbourhood, which seemed a little 'dodgy' though the hotel is a good one, then visited Tesco's next door for some dinner and breakfast supplies as we have a kitchenette so can self cater, and after we'd eaten, watched TV for a while and had an early night.....a bit of a nothing day!


MONDAY 8th JULY, 2019

We have had a most enjoyable day out today.  Deciding not to  walk all over London looking at sites we have seen on previous visits and when we lived here half a century ago, after catching a train to Paddington then another to Westminster, we arrived just in time to join a cruise to Greenwich.
One of the crew provided an entertaining commentary as we cruised along, adding to our enjoyment and on reaching Greenwich, we almost immediately came across a pub where we had a pie and mash each for our lunch.

House made pies, they were delicious and we shared a table with an elderly gentleman who was a local and remembered the times when, as a boy, his Mum sent him to the pub to collect his Dad's pie....that was in the 1930s!  We walked around a little, through the Greenwich Markets

and in and out of a couple of interesting shops, into a cafe for coffee then back to the river.

On our return to Westminster we strolled along the embankment,

through the Whitehall Gardens

and called in at the Princess of Wales pub for refreshments before catching our two trains back to the hotel.  An easy, relaxing, enjoyable day, our last in England.

Tomorrow morning we will leave for home.