An unexpected day out!!

We got up early today and left the house.... which is a bit weird for a Sunday.

Oh?  We're getting a bus somewhere??

We left a CD on the bus!   Hope somebody takes it.....

Wonder where we're going....

Train station?  We're getting a train?!?!

Well not straight away - we had enough time to photograph a couple of new cable boxes.

This one's fully masked

And this one is about an art calendar.

Oh I like that one.....

That one's fun!!

OK..... so our train's not quite ready.....

So we used the facilities and left a floppy disc for them!  Then we washed our paws carefully for about half an hour.

Then it was time to get on the train!

They got a CD as well!!

Wonder where we're going.....?

Oooh - now we've been this way before!!!

Is that Battersea Power Station in the distance?  Are we going to London?!?!?!

We're crossing the Thames!!!

We arrived at Victoria station!

First of all we made use of the facilities and left them a floppy disc.

Then we washed our paws carefully for half an hour.

Right ho - where are we going next??!?!  

We went round the corner to catch a bus - which was just as well as there were loads of football fan arriving at Victoria Station but they were somewhere else, something to do with Wemberly.  We were going to catch a C1 bus (BINGO ALERT!) but the usual stop was suspended so we had to walk down to the next one.

See that sign?  It says C1!!!!

We tied a CD onto the handrail!!

We're going past Horrids here!!  There was a screaming kiddie on the bus at the time.....

And we got off here!!!  Can you tell where we are?!?!

We crossed the road and left a bookcrossing book here.

And then we left a CD on the railing here!!!

Then we walked down past the V&A museum

That's an amazing door, isn't it?!?!

We left this book here on one of the benches.

We're on Expedition Road, having an expedition!!!

Then we went to check out to see if our favourite pizza place was still around.  This one's new - sure it used to be a Japanese place before the pandemic.....

That one's new as well..... think it used to be an Indian restaurant before.....

And Pierino's still there!!  HURRAH!!  They do good pizzas in there!

We had a look at South Kensington station because the signs are pretty and then went to get a number 70 bus.  But the bus stop they leave from was suspended and that bus was on a diversion and we spent about half an hour trying to find where we could get a number 70.  We gave up in the end......

....and got a number 14 bus instead!!!!

They got a floppy disc!

Wonder where we're going now......

Back past Horrids.....

And we got off here at Green Park!

Hang on a minute....... are those elephants??  In London??

OH WOW!!!  I've never met an elephant!!!

Well, would you look at that.....!!

These are very friendly elephants - they gave us a ride!!

They're brilliant!!

Just having a Sunday stroll through the park!

There's LOADS of elephants!!!

Some of them had birds hitching a ride on their heads!!!

We think that one is a stork.....

....and that one we think is a chicken.....

See?  He's got a bird on his head as well!

Oh, these are brilliant!!

No idea what kind of bird that is, though!

We left a floppy disc on one of the stands..... wish we'd taken pictures of the information on them, now.

So many elephants!

By now, we'd reached the other side of Green Park.

And we arrived at Buckingham Palace!!!!!

HELLO QUEENIE!!!!!

That thing is some memorial thing or another....

And we left another bookcrossing book on it!  We just realised that the bag's the wrong way round and the bit that says "Free Book" is facing the wall bit.  Oops.

Then we made our way back to Piccadilly, passing the elephants again

Love those elephants.

And we found another bird statue!  We're seeing lots of free art stuff today!!

BUS BINGO ALERT!!  We're getting the number 38 bus!!!

They got a CD as well!

OK, so where are we going now?  I'm getting hungry......

We got off here, at Dilly's place.

It's near Piccadilly Circus!!  We were hoping to have lunch here at Pizza Hut, but when we turned up we thought they said it's online order.  Do you have the Covid Jabs?  Andrea said yes we're double jabbed but we don't have a smartiepants phone.  Then they said again it's online order.  Then we twigged that what they MEANT was they'd seat us at a table, we'd have to order online on a smartiepants phone (which we don't have) and then they'd cook it and bring it to the table.  Limit the waitress wandering around.  Then we said well we're not eating here then, and walked off.

What are we going to do now??

Well first of all we went to a chocolate shop round the corner on Piccadilly and bought lots of chocolate.  That always cheers us up!!  (we'll show you later!)

Then we walked down to Fortnum and Masons.  HURRRAAAAAAYYYY!

Apparently the main entrance is now entrance only and the door that we went in was exit only.

Whoops.

But that's a nice tea pot thing!!

That's a nice orange and red dangly thing going down the middle of the spiral staircase!!

Anyway we did some shopping (we'll show you later!)

And then went out the exit door that we came in through!!!

They've got smoked salmon and lemons in that window display!

We know some bears who'd like that!!

Then we went to the nearest bus stop and.....

Got the number 38 again!

We gave them a floppy disc!

We got off near Victoria Station and had a look round some of the food places.  We stopped her at the ShakeShack..... the lady at the door (of course, wearing a face mask) explained what we had to do but spoke so quietly we couldn't hear.  She repeated it and we still couldn't hear.  She repeated it again and we sort of understood - we could grab a table and then order at the till and they'd bring the food over.  So we sat at table 11 (well left the backpack there!) and then got in line as other people had got in line ahead of us.  With long orders.  !!!  Then it was our turn and the cashier woman went and spoke to the lady at the door about something, sounded like a bit of a telling off.  Took our order, and we had to pay on credit card rather than cash.  We sat down at table 11.

Almost a whole minute later, we got a cheeseburger, fries and a vanilla milkshake.  The burger was.... just about warm and very small.  The fries were...... just about warm.  The milkshake was really nice though and we had all of that.  Compared to the pre pandemic "we got proper spoilt" food, this was a bit of a dud, although it did fill a hole in our tummies.  And we did get some treats from Fortnums.  And it is the second day out we've had since March last year.  So we can't really complain hugely.

But I don't think we'll be rushing back to this place again!!

After lunch, we had a bit of time to spare before going home so we had a wander and found some more public art!

It was three little houses!!  They're fun!

Then we decided to join in the public art stuff and leave some bits of our own!

We left a CD here too.  After that, we bumped into a couple of Police Officers who were just about to start their shift and we had a chat with them.  They asked how we were and if we're having a good day (we were!!) and we said we hoped the football people wouldn't get too rowdy for them.  They were nice Police Officers, they were!!!

Then we GOT ANOTHER BUS!!!!!  Bus Bingo Alert!!!!

This one got a floppy disc!!  OK so where are we going now?!?!

Oh, I recognise that sculpture!!!

We went up Park Lane and got off at Marble Arch - what are they building???!

A ski slope???!

There's Marble Arch - that used to be the main gate for Buckingham Palace, you know.

Then we crossed over to the other side of Park Lane and got the number 148 bus - BUS BINGO ALERT!

They got a floppy disc as well!

That horse head sculpture used to be up at Marble Arch.  I guess they had to move it to make space for the ski mountain thing.

Then we got off here....

And walked past a bookshop that had a book about Dragons!

And we're back at the station!

It's almost time to go home!

But we had just enough time to shop in here!!  (we'll show you later!)

Here's our train!  We got a window seat again!

And there's Battersea Power station in the distance!!

We're crossing the Thames again!

Ooo there's building work happening.  Wonder what they're making.....

We love this view.....

That's the South Downs in the distance there.....

Better view of the hills....

And we made it back to Brighton!!

When we got to the bus stop, there was a five minute wait for the bus that leaves from here.

But then another bus turned up at the other stop, so we got that one instead.

And we got off here and scooted off home....!!!

These are the posh chocolates that we got from the chocolate shop!  They're dark chocolate covered chestnut and they're yumTASTIC!

And we got more chocolate from Fortnums but not all of that is for us.

Our favourite coffee - that IS all for us!!

And that's the bubble bar that Andrea's got for her barthing. Not for us, we don't do barthing - we'll stick with the chocolate.