London Day 2

Awoke at four again :-( And generally hung around until about seven when I had a too warm bath, which was actually very nice, and then to breakfast, ah there is nothing like a free breakfast! Loads of fruit and a bagel with cheese, reading the paper, there are a couple of stories that I am finding interesting at the moment, one on if fascist parents (the authorities version) should be allowed to keep their children although they appear to have been indoctrinating them (a very difficult one, if it sets a precedent then who starts to decide what the acceptable beliefs are?) and one on workers being sacked for belonging to the wrong political party (PEI, quite interesting on the patronage front).

And then I started walking round London, ambled through a shopping centre (btw where on earth do Canadians buy computer games? In the UK you cannot throw a stone on any high street, except Egham of course, without hitting a computer games shop, yet in Canada I have spotted not one), purchased some postcards and stamps and ambled on, arriving at Covent Garden Market! Actually I really liked it, a lot nicer than the one in, erm, my normal London, loads of small stalls selling all sorts of things (although mainly food related), wrote my postcards over a cup of coffee, and then started ambling again aiming for the London museum, however I turned the wrong way, spent a lot of time walking through a very tired looking area of town until I got myself reorientated, then set off towards the museum again, by this stage it was getting towards lunch time, so I popped into a restaurant called "The Tasting Room" where they do various "flights" of four glasses of 2oz of wine and appetisers as well as normal(ish) fare. Strangely for a wine bar in Canada they didn't do Canadian wine at all! So I had a glass of an American wine which was described as dry, but was a little sweet for me, and a beef and cheese melt, which was chilli in a roll with a bit of cheese on top.

Having enjoyed that I oriented myself and walked up to Victoria Park and had a bit of a sit down, and watched the black squirrels frolicking around, then it started to rain, so I started rushing along Dufferin avenue to get to the museum quickly, after a mile or so I was getting confused (and very wet) then Dufferin ended, so I turned up the road, in what I thought was the correct direction, now I had drunk two cups of coffee for breakfast, and another one whilst I was writing the postcards, and (as I should remember, particularly after running around Boston) coffee is a diuretic so I was busting for the loo. Eventually I found a not too bad looking bar and popped in where I had a pint of beer, extracted the micus, and tried to work out where the heck I was with no joy, the barmaid then pointed me out on the map. I had gone completely the wrong way when the rain started, so I had walked for about an hour in the pissing rain in the wrong direction.

So instead I went to "The Royal Canadian Regiment Museum" which was interesting, when I came out the day had turned nice again lovely and sunny, however by now it was about half past three and I had been walking almost all day, so I walked back to the hotel, I was supposed to go by "The Eldon House" some chappie who did something for Insulin, however despite the fact that it has a flame outside that will not be allowed to go out until diabetes has been cured (well Sharons was cured, but I think that transplants are a bit far as a general cure) I didn't see it. Again I passed through a very tired area of town, a lot of boarded up houses, and all the shops had metal grilles across the windows, well those windows that weren't boarded up anyway. However eventually I ended up at the hotel, my first bit of correct navigation of the day!

Back to the room to lie down for a bit, then down to the bar to watch the last two minutes of the Champions league final and enjoy a martini, then up to the clubroom for snacks, I have real trouble resisting sausage rolls! Although I resisted the free drink temptation. Thence to the managers reception, more sausage rolls, and a couple of glasses of Canadian wine! A bit of a chat with the manager and various members of the team, and now to bed. No supper tonight as I have canape'd myself out!