Week 2

My husband is currently working on a contract in London, although that is coming to an end very soon.  When he is in that area he rents a room in a family home as the cheapest form of accommodation in what is a very expensive area.  He has been in the same house for two six month stints and has got to know the family quite well.  He is staying in an East London vicarage with 5/6 bedrooms two of which are let.  When the family he lives with mentioned that they were planning to go on holiday they also suggested that we might like to go down and stay in the house with him whilst they were away.  This would give us the opportunity of a holiday which we might not have had otherwise, and we would also be house-sitting.  The house-sitting proved to be a very good idea, as whilst we were there I was reading in the Evening Standard about a lady who went away for the weekend and came back to find that squatters had moved into her house in her (short) absence, thrown most of her personal possessions in the garden in bin bags, except the clothes which were being worn by one of the squatters, her wine which they were drinking from her glasses - they did offer her a drink.  They told her that the lady who owned the house was dead and that her son had rented the house to them.  She was most surprised to hear this as she was obviously not dead and she didn't have a son.  She had to go to the High Court to get them evicted but unfortunately they had trashed her house and her belongings.


For us though it proved a much happier story as we had a very good week although David had to work we were able to be together in the evenings.  During the day we were out and about most of the time.  We went into central London most days although we did spend one day exploring the Essex countryside.  Well we tried to - we couldn't see much because of the rain.  It wasn't any old rain, it was a Marks and Spencer type rain - thick and impenetrable, lashing and bouncing, opaque curtains of water.  We had a look at Waltham Abbey church because it was at least indoors, we couldn't see any of the rest of the abbey because of the heavy rain and when we came to head home we were crawling along at about 15mph because it was unsafe to do any more.    We managed to have a quick look at Theydon Bois before the rain started, that happened just as we were going to sit on the village green to eat our lunch.  Epping forest was just a fog on the windscreen as we ate our lunch in the car in the vain hope that the rain would ease up enough for us to take a walk. 
The other days on the whole were fabulous, warm enough not to have to worry about coats or jackets (with one memorable exception)  We wondered the streets and absorbed sights, sounds and atmosphere.  We visited Covent Garden where Christopher and I had been before but Beth hadn't.  She was hoping that we might be able to get affordable seats for the opera (we knew that really wasn't very likely) but when we got to the door of the Royal Opera House she was crestfallen to see a notice announcing that it was closed until early September for refurbishment.
On another day Beth arranged to meet up with a friend for the day.  Her friend lives 30 - 40 miles from us but they couldn't organise themselves to meet up close to home and ended up spending the day together in London.  I found them in Harrods - what a surprise.  Christopher and I had spent the day in the Science Museum which would have been great if their signage had been good.  We spend far too long following signs to things which just weren't there.  
The highlight of our week was our visit to Parliament.  We had a guided tour of the Palace of Westminster and saw both the chambers, plus much else - the Robing room where the Queen dons the crown for the State Opening of Parliament, lobbies, meeting rooms, and the voting lobbies.  It is stressed time and again that one may not sit down in the legislative chambers, no reason was given for this with regard to the House of Lords, but in the House of Commons the MPs have had to stand for election to win the right to a seat in the House and therefore no-one who has not fought for the right to a seat may ever sit down in that chamber.   When we came out of Parliament we met up with David who had been visiting Millbank tower for work and we went off to find something to eat.  Finding food is always a challenge for us because of Christopher's inability to eat wheat.  We ended up in Wetherspoons in Victoria station out of pure desperation.   Beth and I then went to visit friends who live in Bloomsbury.  We had a lovely couple of hours with them with much laughter, it is usually too long between visits although this time I had been able to visit them in June as well.  
The next day being Saturday we were all able to go out together and set off in brilliant sunshine for the Cabinet War Rooms in Whitehall.  The weather forecast had suggested a light rain shower at 1 o'clock.  When we emerged from the underground at Westminster we were met by crowds sheltering from a humongous rainstorm which went on for hours - so much for a light shower - thanks Met Office.  We waited for about an hour and then just gave up and got wet.  We headed straight to the CWR in the hope that they would have a cafe where we could get something to eat.  Sadly their attitude is as bad as their cafe.  After 3pm they do not serve anything other than sandwiches and don't expect them to be polite about it.  Sandwiches are of course out of the question for Christopher unless they are made with wheat-free bread and of course not many places cater for that so we were unable to eat until after we came out of the Cabinet War Rooms well after 5.30.

There is one place I do want to mention because I was so very impressed by the staff.  We were in Carnaby Street - the home of fashion in the1960s - and still very much a focus of fashion.  Christopher went to a shop which sold Vans (a type of shoes) and was pretty much in 7th heaven.  I was using my walking stick a lot in London and when I went into the shop I saw some seats and headed towards them, one of the staff saw me and said "do please sit down - would you like a free drink?"  WOW - is that service or what?  I didn't have a drink but I can tell you I was mightily impressed.  Well done to the Vans shop on Carnaby Street.