Our plan whilst in London was to visit locations we have not been to before and we started off with a bound in our step. We were out pavement pounding by 9.30am.
We caught the bus down to the Camden Markets which was about 20 minutes away from where we are at in Paddington Basin. It is great if you can get those front seats up top but alas they are like gold.
It wasn’t Toques first experience on a double decker bus as back in 2016 she had done Hop On and Hop Off buses in Liverpool and Stratford Upon Avon. She got lots of attention bestowed upon her by other passengers.
The Camden Markets are quite unique in that they are on the side of the Regents Canal as this area was full of warehouses which would have been full of goods and produce coming down from the north and heading out to the docks of London. It is set among old stables which would of held the horses for the Hanson cabs back in the day plus the horses for the wharf and canal. There use to be an enormous horse hospital on the site and according to the literature, many an old horse saw out its last days here.
Lots of different stalls to wander amongst and lots of people to try to avoid. We needed to carry Toque around as it was all too overwhelming for her.
This is a very well known spot at the Camden markets for gongoozlers and we will come down this way on Wednesday as we head to Limehouse down on the Thames River near Tower Bridge.
We then proceeded to make our way back to Paddington Basin by firstly walking through Regents Park where we had never been before. This beautiful wide promenade where you could imagine the wealthy and privileged strolling, riding horses and in elegant carriages.
The work and care of the flower gardens gave up a excellent vista and aroma.
This particular rose of which there was no identification had not only dual colours but had a dual smell. If no one had been looking Di would have pinched one. The Rose Garden was quite the pleasant assault on the oldfactory sense.
There were a number of entrances and exits to the garden and many with very ornate gates. Each one of course were named after the aristocracy.
Now this scene is quintessentially British. A bandstand with deck chairs (£1.40/hr hire rate) beside the lake in the park. One important item missing is the shirtless Brit with his hanky on his head with each corner in a knot!
Once out of the park we walked to Baker Street to view 221 Baker Street.
We were stunned to see the huge queues of people waiting to go through the Sherlock Holmes museum. A photo was more than sufficient for us.
We found the man himself outside the Baker Street tube station.
Then there was this little beauty. There was an altercation between a Bentley and a Porsche with both of them getting the most minor of scratches. They pulled off the intersection to exchange details when the Porsche hit the high kerb and blew his low profile front tyre with a huge bang. He really was having a bad day.
We got back to Paddington Basin after having covered nearly eight kilometres for some lunch and to put our feet up for a while.
After a short rest Fraser decided to pop out again as he wanted to go to Lords to see if there was much happening at the ground in preparation for tomorrow’s big game.
Unfortunately the whole place was closed off and he could only glimpse through the bars of the gates.
His wanderings brought him past this magnificent row of terrace houses. There is a lot of concern in places like London and Bath where these lovely homes have been bought by wealthy international people and are very rarely lived in. They are ending up with streets of these empty houses which are called ghost streets. Not sure if there is much they can do about it.
The rest of our day was spent watching the women’s Wimbledon final and resting our feet in preparation for another day of full walking. Toque wasn’t too interested in doing much except catching up on her sleep.
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