Our second day in London started with more walking. Elizabeth and I wandered around before her school trio officially started at Somerset House for ice-skating.
First we walked through a little park next to the Thames called Victoria Embankment Gardens. It was a lovely oasis in the middle of lots of tall buildings and bustling streets. My eye spotted Robert Burns on our stroll.
The inscription reads:
The poetic genius of my country found me at the
plough – and threw her inspiring mantle over me shebade me sing the loves, the joys, the rural scenes and
rural pleasures of my native soil in my native tongue:
I tuned my wild, artless notes as she inspired.
We then walked through Covent Garden …
… before heading to Trafalgar Square. Trafalgar Square used to be home to some 4,000 London pigeons that flocked there for food. Feed sellers have been selling pigeon food at Trafalgar Square since Victorian times and there were so many tame pigeons that it became a tourist attraction. This photo is from 2000.
There’s even a famous photo of Elizabeth Taylor feeding the pigeons at Trafalgar Square in 1948.
Sadly the Trafalgar Square pigeons are no more due to Mayor of London Ken Livingstone who removed the licences from bird food sellers and banned the feeding of birds. When we were there I saw one lone pigeon searching for minuscule crumbs and it made me feel sad. Ken Livingstone robbed Trafalgar Square of its appeal not to mention starved thousands of pigeons.
It’s just a big empty square now with nothing to recommend it. Maybe this is harsh but I felt sad about what Ken Livingstone did. The only natural landmark of note is the Christmas tree donated by Oslo. This is an annual gift as thanks for our support during the war years.
Elizabeth then headed off to her ice-skating at Somerset House.
While I met an old friend for lunch and more walking. It was absolutely delightful to catch up with someone I haven’t seen in over 20 years. A highlight of the day.
Afterwards I wandered around a bit more and walked past the very magnificent gothic Royal Courts of Justice.
I’ve since discovered you can go on a tour of the building. Next time I’ll have to do it.
In the afternoon we went to the Back to the Future musical which was very good. The special effects on stage were excellent – I had been wondering how they were going to manage the time-travelling car driving at high speeds and even flying. The cast were great too and it was pretty much exactly the same as the movie. I thought Ride the Cyclone which we saw the night before was better though – the dancing and singing were both better. The script was better too but that might be because it was new to me whereas I was already familiar with Back to the Future.
In the evening I was alone for dinner so I opted to go to Pret as it would feel odd sitting in a restaurant by yourself. Pret in London is open quite late and they have large dinner-sized options. I got this Mediterranean-style plate with chick peas, aubergines, hummus, salad and squash. It was really nice.
When Elizabeth’s trip finished we walked back to Euston Station and back onto the Caledonian sleeper to sleep, waking up in Scotland the next morning. We had a terrific time in London but I was pleased to see Scotland out the window of the train in the morning. We opted for breakfast in the dining car. Elizabeth had the pancake again.
I decided to try the vegan cooked breakfast. It was ok but nothing to rave about.
I am pleased to be home and eating my own cooking again. I made tabbouleh and a quinoa chickpea salad for dinner last night. We eat a lot of mediterranean food these days just because it is naturally vegan, with lots of plant species, and very healthy. Plus we like the taste.
That’s it. We’ve both got lots to catch up on now after our little adventure to London – Elizabeth with school work and me with work but it was a fantastic trip and I would do it all over again. It was also nice for Elizabeth to meet some of her classmates.
rachel.blog 
Leave a comment