This morning we left home early because we're on a special spy mishun!!
First we had to get to the bus stop......
And we got off at the train station!! Huzzah!!
We had a bit of time before our train, so we used the facilities and left them a CD. We washed our paws for ages as usual.
Then we got onto our train and got a table seat!!!
We gave them a floppy disc!!
And we're off!!!
Love this bit!!
OOooooo, we're coming into London!!!
There's the Shard building!!
Big, innit? We didn't get off the train here though.
We're going over the top of Borough Market here!!
We got off at Blackfriars!!!
We exited at the north side exit and used the facilities and left them a floppy disc. We washed our paws carefully too.
They had a big wall with lots of European towns listed..... we think this chap is trying to remember where he's supposed to be going......
We came out opposite the Blackfriars pub.... that's an art deco building. Really must go in there one day...
But not today. We're going on a rekkie mishun!!
We went past this wrought iron staircase - that takes you up towards St Paul's Cathedral but the back streets rather than the main road. The Youth Hostel is that way.
We looked the other way when we crossed the road.... that building's on the other side of the Thames near the Tate Modern!
We spotted a funny vista at a Mexican restaurant!!
And left a CD on a railing!!
Then we found our bus stop at Ludgate Circus on the other side of the road.......
....and forgot to take a picture of the bus number!!! (we remembered later on though, don't worry!!) They got a floppy disc!
And we're off!!! That's St Paul's Cathedral there.
We saw various parts of the old London Wall on our way, left over from when the Romans were here, or something.
And this is what our friend Little Fox is getting up to, huh??
Anyway, we got off here at Finsbury Square.......
....And remembered to take a picture of the number 76 bus for the Bus Bingo game just as he was driving off!!! D'OH!!!
We crossed over to the little park and left a bookcrossing book on the bench.
And a CD on the railing!
And spotted this memorial...... how sad.
Then we went back to the bus stop and admired this building before we got the next bus.
Right..... so which bus next?
BUS BINGO ALERT!!!! It's the number 214!!!
This bus got a CD.
We went past this fabulous old red brick building at the Old Street roundabout.... it's fab, huh?!
We're coming up to St Pancras/Kings Cross station here!! We know this bit!!
There's that funny painted building over the road!!!
A bit later on, we passed a set of what look to be art deco buildings..... these are called The Chenies and are apartment blocks built in the 1940s in the Art Deco style! Interesting....!
And then spotted some interesting grafitti!!!
The sign behind the traffic light pole says "Welcome to Kentish Town!"
And this is the O2 Forum building which started out as a cinema in 1934 when it was built! That's two art deco buildings on the same bus route!!!
And we got off at the very last stop, Highgate School.
We crossed the road and walked back towards the main road passing the start point bus stop for the return bus ride.
That's the clock tower for Highgate School...... which is actually a stunning building that we forgot to take a picture of!
That's a pub that does Sunday lunches but we're not eating there.
We walked past a small church with a graveyard too.
And met a gold lion!!
Andrea says we're going over to the other side of that bus...... OK then.
That white building with the blue thingy..... that's called the Turquoise Kitchen and it's a restaurant. We're going to have an early lunch there!!
Bit of a posh light there, huh?!
We got a fizzy drink.....
And chicken shish with rice and salad.....
And pieces of warm flatbread!!! That was proper yummy and really tasty!!! Oh, we'd eat here again!! Their website is HERE if you want to look up their menu - they open from 9am until 10:30pm so you can have breakfast, lunch AND dinner here - but it's contactless payment only so be sure to have a credit/bank card!!! That was nommy.....
After lunch, we walked a bit further on and found a signpost for Highgate Cemetery!
Pointing down Swains Lane! Oh let's see how long it takes us!!
We started walking down the hill and found this memorial stone. We're not sure what RNVP means (neither is Google!) but it might be Royal Navy Volunteer Police......
OOOoooooooooo spooky cemetery......
That must be the Highgate cemetery west that isn't usually open to the public.....
This is the Waterlow Park tennis courts. At this point, Swains Lane is REALLY steep, like a 45 degree angle!!! Would hate to go down when it's iced up (you'd have to use skis!!) and it's not going to be pretty coming back up again later today!!!!!
And here we are at Highgate Cemetery East where the entry fee/postcards kiosk is!!
And surprisingly, the gates to Highgate west are open and people are going in and out freely!! We had a chat with the lovely volunteer at the kiosk, and things have changed. Instead of buy an "east and west" armband online to see both cemeteries, you now can just turn up whenever you want and buy a ticket at the kiosk for either just the east cemetery (£4.50) OR for BOTH cemeteries (£10.00) and it's advised you do the west cemetery first if you choose to do both. It's contactless payment only so again be sure to have a credit/bank card. And then you just go in. They have a little gift shop there too so we had a look at the postcards and books and bought a few. (We'll show you later!)
And then we tackled the steep mountain climb back up to the top. (We have more Bus Bingo numbers planned.....!!) We passed this house with mirrored glass tiles on the front.... weird huh?!
We stopped at practically every lamp post on the way back up to catch our breath.....and left a floppy disc on these railings!
And FINALLY!!!! WE MADE IT BACK!!!!!
As we retraced our steps, we left another bookcrossing book on this wall.
Looks like they have good views of London from up here.....
......and good views of caykes!!!!
The Highgate Pantry..... everyone needs a Highgate Pantry!
And then we made our way back towards the Highgate School bus stop - and there's a bus waiting for us!
That was a very easy part of London to get around!
BUS BINGO ALERT!!! It's the 214!
We gave them a CD....
And then watched the world go by.
Ooo yum!
Interesting little church - they had a gold mosaic picture above their main entrance too.
We spotted some graffiti on the wall too!!!
King's Cross! I know where we are now!
See? Told you so!!
That's the National Autistic Society.
And some more interesting reflections!
And we're back at Finsbury Square - but the other side to where we started!!!
So we crossed over the square - the book we left on the bench this morning had been taken!
And went back to the bus stop!
BUS BINGO ALERT!!! It's the number 43!!!
They got a CD as well!
And we're off.....
Hmphff - I was trying to get a shot of a statue just before here but the bus sped by too quickly!
And we got off here just past Islington Green!!!
We walked back to the park and decorated the railings....
We like doing this!!
And we stopped to say hallo to Street Cat Bob. We left him a floppy disc with a flower on it.
And we left another floppy disc here!
And then headed back to another bus stop on the side of the park.
BUS BINGO ALERT!! It's the number 30!!
We gave them a floppy disc too!
And we're off.... what a lovely day we've had!!
And we got off here because it's time to go home!!
So we crossed the road and found the entrance!
We stopped off at Fortnums because we had to buy something (we'll show you later!)
And we stopped at the Laduree concession because we had to buy something (we'll show you later!)
We popped into to use the facilities before we left, and gave them a CD. We all washed our paws carefully afterwards too!
We spotted a Big Ball!!!!
And a fancy tree!!
And then when we got down to our platform there was a train waiting for us and we had enough time to get on and find a window seat at the front!!! Hurrah!!
And we're off!! This is Farringdon!
We're arriving at Blackfriars Station - we were here this morning!! We're not getting off though.
This bit's always interesting....
And this bit's my favourite!!
There's the South Downs!!! We're nearly home!!
Ta-Da!!!
When we got out of the station, there was a 12 minute wait for a number 6 bus that we'd normally get home, but there was also a number 7 bus just about ready to leave so we dashed over the road and got on that!!
And it dropped us off at the end of the line here!! Just a short walk home!!
OK, so we got a map of Highgate Cemetery East.....
And some postcards.... and that's a Karl Marx fridge magnet too!!!
And an interesting looking book!!
We got some more coffee because we're starting to get a bit low on coffee.... that's gone up £1 in price, we noticed.
Schlurp...... sniff, what's inside??
OOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooo!!!!!
