Boys Weekend to London

CoVid meant that our planned 2020 trip to Faro didn't happy but we agreed to a nervous 2021 trip to London amidst rapidly rising CoVid cases although all of us would be protected by double vaccination.

The crew this year was me, Warren, Tim, Mark and Glen.

I travelled down by LNER East Coast arriving around lunchtime. We were quite to pick up the free ciders being offered outside the station.

We walked from the station to the Tate Modern via a few pubs and spent around an hour around the gallery which really wasn't to anyone's taste. We walked along the riverside and I walked back to KX whilst the rest took the tube. In the evening we wandered and drank around Coal Yards Drops before a fairly early night.

The next morning we headed to the V&A and spend a couple of hours at the gallery.

After a pub lunch we ran into a Freedom For All protest travelling from Trafalgar Square. Warren, Mark and Glen walked straight towards trouble whilst Tim and I headed in the opposite direction and had a pleasant drink on a riverboat pub.

More drinking in the evening near our Premier Inn hotel.

On Sunday we did a riverside walk from Canary Wharf to Tower of London stopping at every pub along the way. Heavy rain meant extended sheltering from the weather. Had lunch at the Ian McKellan owned pub The Grapes.

Another day with a fairly early and subdued finish. Long days and more drink than any of us are used to. 

On Monday morning I had work meetings to do online and then got a lunchtime train home.

Dollar Hill Race

A hot day for a Scottish Championship Hill Race at Dollar. A very hard early part of the race followed by more gentle ups and downs on high ground before a fast descent back to Dollar Academy. Felt slow and hard to begin with but a very good finish. Delighted to get round in 2 hrs 4 minutes around 8 minutes better than my time in the same race 8 years ago.

 

Oxford visit to see Hannah

Colin, Cherry and Max headed south by car to visit Hannah in Oxford. We stopped for an extended break on the way down at Lowther Castle where we had a good walk round the gardens and had lunch. Very nice location that would merit another visit at some point in the future.

We stopped overnight at a Premier Inn near Solihull and had a nice meal out at a Miller and Carter Steakhouse although no-one had a steak.

Arrived reasonably early the next day in Oxford to meet with Hannah. We headed into town and visited the exhibitions at the Weston part of the Ashmolean museum. A longish walk and lunch at the Perch near the river and then further pleasant walking back to Hannah's. A nice pizza dinner at the White Rabbit.

The next day we met at the Jericho cafe and had a great river trip punting on the Cherwell. In the afternoon we had a guided walking tour of Oxford and in the evening a nice fishy meal .

We had a long drive homewards dropping off Hannah on the way at Leicester where she was spending a few days with Becky. 

 

London Meetings

A first trip to London for a work meeting since March 2020. First class train up and down felt quite safe and socially distanced. Just 8 people in the meeting room with a metre distance maintained. London generally quite quiet apart from when England were playing in the football.