5 July - concert
Off to London by train – on a really fast train – whoosh
faster than a fast thing. We were in London Euston within 1 ½ hours and only
four stops. We started planning this little expedition in Stratford and
it has taken a week to get organise. Slightly complicated
by not having a permanent address so had tickets sent to Birmingham, organised trains
and hotel through net.
The planning we handled - we are well use to boat time but the
1 ½ to London was a bit quick. Once in London we grabbed a day pass and found our
hotel in Kensington and then off to the pub for late lunch at Princess Victoria
in Earls Court were we met Susie the barmaid from Barcelona. Vicki had a lamb roast
9/10 and I had a burger 8/10 and a few cold drinks. Pleasant way to slow yourself down. http://www.princessvictoriakensington.com/
Back to the hotel to change and then off to the Royal Albert
Hall for Classic Quadrophenia on a No. 9 bus. Peter Townshend played Godfather,
Alfie Boe was Jimmy, Billy Idol played Ace Face & Bell Boy and Phil Daniels
was Dad and along with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and London Oriana Choir –totallly a 10
out of 10. Bloody fantastic with a full house for the world premiere in a
spectacular venue. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/live-music-reviews/11718906/Classic-Quadrophenia-at-Royal-Albert-Hall-review-fantastic-music-but-lacking-power-of-rock.html
Walked back down Kensington High Street to our hotel and couldn’t find
a pub on main street and too tired to venture down side roads, have a full day
tomorrow sightseeing before train back to boat 7pm
6 July - sightseeing
Slow start before we have to check out of hotel, skyped
Clara as hotel had Wi-Fi and then off to explore London. Clara wanted us to find Peter Pan in Hyde Park as she had
been talking to Auntie Joan about this last week.
Peter Pan for you Auntie Joan, hopefully someone shows you
our blog next time they catch up with you xx
So off we started, grabbed
another day pass and jumped on tubes and buses around London Hyde Park, Covent
Garden, the Embankment, Trafalgar Square and Camden Town
Then headed back to
Euston to grab an Indian in Drummond Street at the Taste of India 9/10. Then
back to Euston station for 7.03pm to Birmingham back on Musn Grumble just before 9pm.
Kensington Palace
The Arch
Pete impressed how they have cleaned up Italian gardens since we were here 2007
Watching the sights of Camden Market from the pub having a breather
TOTAL - A busy 2 days with lots of walking done and fast trains and tubes and buses
Back on boat mode
7 July – Central Birmingham to Black Country Museum
Up and about after a rainy windy night in marina – got a
pump out and diesel before moving off. We have also been mooring beside another
Mustnt Grumble, we caught up with the woman who owns it over at office, they
have had their boat for 10 years.
We had decided to take the Birmingham Old line which has 3
locks which takes you to the summit and the Smethwick Pumping station which has
an open day this coming Saturday so volunteers were giving it a clean. We got a
quick look at it and were filled in with some interesting history from them.
After that we cruised on through the four season’s weather. We
crossed the aqueduct that goes across the Birmingham new line and under the
railway line and motorway, we talk a photo of this the other day from new line.
We pushed on and sheltered under the motorway when the
heavens opened for a good 10 minutes having lunch. The water in the canal is
getting a lot cleaner you can actually see the bottom and fish swimming which
is very unusual.
Got to 48 hour moorings at 3.30 and found out the pub at the museum is only open till 4pm – whoosh. Period pub with sawdust floor, had Sadler’s Local
(Stourbridge Ales) my favourite they use Nelson (NZ) hops. Vicki went off in
search of wine and then dinner on boat 10/10 (I think he is crawling).
TOTAL – 9 miles, 3 locks, 2 small aqueducts and 1 tunnel
8 July - Black Country mooring
After the last few days it has been decided to take a day off today so we can do Black Country museum justice tomorrow
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