South Croydon And London

We were awake at 7:00 and left the house at 9:20. We walked to Southgate station and bought new Oyster cards as ours have expired. We caught the underground, changing lines before getting the overground to South Croydon.

We went to Auto Taps and bought the system and sensor we need for the prep bowl. We stopped off for espresso at Buongiorno cafeteria, run by a very nice young Sicilian man so I got to speak Italian on this trip. From there we caught the overground to London Bridge and walked from The Shard to Borough Market.

Lunch came from Furness Gourmet Grill. We shared a platter of mussels done in a creamy white wine and garlic sauce and crispy battered deep fried calamari with seriously hot fresh chillies and a sweet chilli sauce.

We bought gelato from 3Bis Gelateria, pistachio for Dave and hazelnut for me.

We ate these walking up to Bankside Pier where the Globe Theatre is.

From there we crossed the Thames on the Millennium Bridge and walked up to St. Paul’s Cathedral before walking through Blackfriars Underpass and along Victorian Embankment to the HMS Wellington.

This ship has been turned into a museum for the Merchant Navy exhibiting their efforts in the two World Wars. We then walked to Waterloo Bridge and turned away from the river, walking through the Victorian Embankment Gardens and up past the Savoy Hotel towards The Strand.

We stopped off at The Coal Hole for a drink. London Pale Ale for Dave and Mortimers Orchard cider for me.

It was darkish when we walked out at 15:30 which has to do with some weather phenomenon going on. We walked through the market and went to Cotswold to choose shoes for Dave which we will collect tomorrow as Mark is organising them on his staff account for us. From there we caught the underground to Arnos Grove and did a lot of walking, visiting 4 large hardware and plumbing retailers looking for a £2.99 washer. Once we had bought it we walked back to Talya past the New Southgate Cemetery which has a section which looks totally forgotten about.