Aug 05

London again

by in Places we've been, Things we've seen

OK, we’re back in London and Justin & Jane have our next few days mapped out. Today is Thursday so it is return car day to London City Airport. Plan was easy but they’ve moved the airport since I picked the car up 3 weeks ago. Justin came with me after we dropped the bags and Jude at their flat in Woolwich Arsenal and directed me via the non-tolled, non-ferried way to the airport.. Now when I picked the car up I inadvertantly returned to Woolwich via the ferry and the trip took an hour, most of which was sitting in the queue for the ferry so I figured Justin knew the quickest way. Hah! 1 1/2 hours later we get to where I picked the car up and the depot has GONE! Everything has changed. Double park the car in a bus stop, seek direction from a person with a flouro vest who says “see that tall building back there well go back past that and you’ll see more of the same and go past them and turn left and you will come in the eastern gate” OH GOOD! What he doesn’t mention is you have to leave the airport entirely, go back out some main road thats not wide enough for you and the buses, avoid getting killed and perhaps you might just find the aforementioned entrance. Also he neglects to mention that there is no signage and perhaps the car you are returning might get sucked up somewhere. By pure arse we spot a little booth that bears the name of the hire company cos its green so park up beside a Porsche and a man in a hat says “are you returning this?”, to which I can only respond “yes”, to which he says “gimme the keys”. Now there is a sign on  the window of this little booth that says “Apologies, there is no-one in attendance at this booth for the next 1/2 hour, so when the man asks for the keys and he has no ID and no-one is supposed to be there anyway what do you do – of course you give him the keys. I mean after all its only a rental and it is prepaid. However with some buyer remorse we check in at the  rental office which we finally find on our way out of the old airport only to be told they don’t know who it was but they’re sure it’ll be OK. Anyway we haven’t had any bills yet or demands for the return of their car. So we leave the airport, catch the train 2 st0ps back to Woolwich and 15 minutes later we’re back at the flat – 2 1/2 hours after leaving.

Boy London is a funny place.

Bit of house keeping and shopping to do before Jane gets home from her new job (having only started last week) and the afternoon has gone. Justin has taken a couple days off.

Friday Justin and I head off to the British War Museum while Jude catches up on some ‘her’ time. Spent the day reliving WWI and tapping WWII as one day is insufficient to take it all in but some examples of display follow….

and suffice to say it was a chilling reminder of the horrors of war and man’s inhumanity to man. Following on from the New Orleans WWII museum it is simply a reinforcement of the wish to not repeat the mistakes of the past – but  of course we never do learn do we?

Anyway on to brighter things. Saturday we headed uptown for a visit to Parliament House. Justin and Jane booked a tour but children were advised not to participate so Jane stayed in a park with Edith whilst Justin and Jude and I took in the grandeur of the Westminister Palace. No photographs allowed (I guess they’re concerned that you might see a polly slacking off) though there was no action in the houses at this time. The buildings are undergoing some billion pound renovations at present so what you see is a lot of scaffolding and little activity of any kind. The bulk of the buildings were only built or rebuilt in the early 1800’s after a major fire destroyed the older part of the Palace and the then ‘new’ Parliament House was opened by Queen Victoria in 1840. What I can offer are these shots, most of which you’ve seen on the nightly news recently anyway…

I must say though that the interior that we cannot show you is stunning – it would do justice to any palace you could imagine – it is colourful, it is glitz, it is glamourous and it is above all expensive, largely contributed to by the taste of a certain architect whose name I can’t remember and Prince Albert, Victoria’s consort. The tour was good and it is easy to see and hear where our Australian parliamentary procedures come from.

Our next stop was to have been Westminister Cathedral but once again our plans were thwarted by its closure. This time it was just the hour of the day, last time it was closed for repairs (2006). One day we might get to see this place. After a bit of foot slogging around town we had an early dinner after which Jane took Edith home and Justin, Jude and I headed off to Albert Hall for an evening of Beethoven…

one of the BBC Proms. And what a wonderful conclusion to our time in the UK.

Next day, Sunday, its pack the bags and get to the airport. No biggie, just two train stops from Woolwich but when we got there it was queues almost back to Woolwich cos the ticket machine had broken down and it was all manual labour now, something the Brits don’t take kindly to. Did just make the plane but it didn’t get off the ground until 1 1/2 hours after the supposed launch time. Finally arrived in Florence late at night hoping that car rental and hotel would still be accessible. As it turned out all was good and we got an upgrade? to a Volvo V40 (yes it was cos its automatic, not the MANUAL Ford Focus that was booked) and I was happy cos I wasn’t looking forward to driving a manual on the wrong side of the road and all.

OK so, we have arrived in Florence, it’s 10.30pm and it’s 35 degrees and I’m not in a great mood cos I’m tired and angry and hot and I don’t know where we’re going. Ah! the sat.nav – lets dig it out of the luggage. Good, set up the maps – shit -how do you get it to speak English – ah! OK  – and we’re finally on our way and the next chapter can wait.

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