Perfect Blustery Day

With apologies to Winnie the Pooh.

It was, for some part, a blustery, rainy day. We had decided yesterday to go to central London for the day. Katie had some Hatch colleagues that she knew in London one of whom was leaving Hatch and she wanted to see her off.

We decided to go as well, since Cheryl wanted to see the Victoria and Albert Museum and I wanted to do a bit of sightseeing and test out my Fjui camera.

We decided to take the train into London and agreed with Katie to go into town together, wander around while Katie was visiting her office and then meet up later on.

Stephen was adamant that we go see the local train station master at Guildford, Terry, to get the best deal to travel into London and back economically. Stephen took us down to the station, about 5 minutes away to introduce us. Terry was very good, and found us the best rate and the best routing to get to town.

In the UK, the train system much more developed than our systems in NA,  The rail network around London moves a lot of people in ad out all day on the various railways seamlessly.  While rail lines are apparently being closed in parts the country, the rail lines to and from London are well used.
We took the train SouthWestRail from London Road station in Guildford to Clapham Junction, then transferred to another train to get to Victoria Station. Hatch’s London office was there, and Buckingham Palace was nearby so why not!

The ride in was great, but the heavens opened when we got into London proper.

I was not happy when Cheryl barged off in any direction, as I was getting cold from the rain and wind, but as the morning wore on, the weather improved, and so did my humour.

We went to Buckingham Palace, only a short walk away from the station. Cheryl and I got some selfies and took some pictures, then headed to the Palace gift shop which had all sorts of things, including coats and scarves for your dog and little stuffed corgis.

We headed back to the front of the Palace to get a few more snaps, then headed to the V&A Museum. Rather than figure out the tube, we hailed a cab and for £10 got a tour of the city by a friendly cabbie and got dropped off at the front door of the museum.

At the Museum, we decided to purchase tickets for the Winnie the Pooh exhibit that the museum was holding the week we were there.

It was a lovely exhibit with lots of the background details on how the Winnie the Pooh book was created, both on the prose and the illustrations. We also wandered a few other exhibit, including a brilliant one on Silverware and its evolution.

We went through the on site, packed restaurant and toured a bit around the museum to see what was there!

Cheryl picked up a scarf for Naila from the Gift shop in the main hall.

Once we had done our tour of the V&A, we headed out the front door and went on in search of a men’s scarf.

Harrods, we thought would be a brilliant place to get a quintessential men’s scarf.

We were wrong, Harrods in South Kensington is composed of multiple floors with a veritable maze of salons with different brands in each. After inquiring at a number of stops, we were directed several times to the next salon, but with no luck.
There was a lovely chocolate shop on the ground floor, but we did not try any. ;-(

Once we were sure there were no scarves to be had, we headed back to Victoria Station via cab ride again. The cabbie on this trip was not quite as chatty and so the trip was quiet.

After a short ride we arrived safely back at Victoria Station and figured out the route home.  Victora Station is huge, with at least 17 tracks in the station and lots of people moving in and about.

Katie decided to meet us back at the station after her meetings and sightseeing, and while there was some last minute confusion on where to meet, we all made it to the train in the nick of time for the journey home.

The trip home was uneventful. Switched at Chatham Junction again and then took the platform 11 train back to London Road Guildford.

We finished off the day with a family dinner with Ailsa’s mom and family and took a family portrait to commemorate the occasion!

Off to bed for more adventures tomorrow!