Weekend in London!

Well today, we decided to headed up to London - we've got the Shamanic drumming tomorrow but the trains are playing silly buggers (a 2 hour journey via Littlehampton instead of a 1 hour journey direct) so we're travelling up today and staying over.

We had to stop off at the post office first, but then we headed up to the train station.

Our train was supposed to leave at 11:50 a.m. but it got delayed ...... so finally we all charged off to platform 2 to get the train which left a bit late!!  And the train was packed like sardines!!!  But we got a window seat!!

And we went through lots of pretty countryside .....

Good, innit?!

We think that's Arundel Castle and Cathedral in the distance.....

We saw a few lakes and streams on the way too!

I thought we were making decent time, but nope.  We got held up and slowed down on the way....

Ooooo there's Battersea Power station in the distance..... finally!!!

And we FINALLY made it into Victoria Station THREE HOURS LATER!!!!!!!

Crikey O'Reilly!  What a trip!!!  We just got to make our way to the hotel now!!

So onto the Victoria line to here and then change to the central line.....

And we finally turfed out here at Bethnal Green!!

We've been here before yonks ago when we used to go to the comicon at the Excel Centre.  We've got to walk down there, Roman Road.

Ooo now I think I recognise that....

Oh!!  There's a Buddhist centre there!

Oh, I remember that too!

There it is!  That's where we're staying!  I think they've had a refurb since we were last here though.

And we got room 102 all to ourselves!!

We dumped our stuff and went out to stretch our legs and left a smile card here.

That's a pretty building.

A Pugilist???  What.... oh, we looked it up.  That's a boxer.

We left this card here.

And then we went to get a bus from here.

BUS BINGO ALERT!!!  We got the 254!!

They got a CD!

We went past some grafitti

They've got a fancy turret.....

A Bloo building!

That's the East London Mosque.

And that's the entrance to Altab Ali park.

And we got off the bus here at Aldgate East station!

We decided to have a little wander round first....

This place does Jack the Ripper tours and they do little mobile video displays as part of the tour and also concentrate on social conditions and the backgrounds of the victims.

And this is Whitechapel Art Gallery.

It's got gold leaf whatsits up at the top!

AND they've got a bloo plark!!!

That's Altab Ali park.  Altab Ali was a Bangladeshi textile worker who was stabbed to death in 1978, a racist based attack.  There was major protests afterwards and a grassroots campaign to reduce racism.  They named the park after Altab.

We saw an interested weathervane of a man seated backwards on a horse!!!  And you can see a bit of the Gherkin there too!

OH!!  Dilly will be pleased to see that!!

Then we came for dinner here!!

Uh-oh!

We got a very nice orange drink that was yummy

And then we got a plaice and chips!!!  It was fab

And the bus stop we need to get back to the hotel was right outside the restaurant!

We got the 254 the other way!

They got a CD too!

There's a street market there!!

And here we are back at Bethnal Green!!

Ooooo that blossom is pretty!!

And we're back at the hotel!!

Before we went to bed, Andrea remembered to stamp my passport!!

I'm pooped....... zzzzzzzzzzzzz