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Showing posts from February, 2015

A tour of the east side of Madeira

Disclaimer:  This is being written a month after the date and my memory isn't what it used to be.  Sadly I haven't been keeping much of a written journal on this trip...so things may be a bit mixed up but you'll never know...only one person will and she won't tell...right June?  Besides trying out a few walking trails June and I wanted to see more of the island and figured the easiest way would be to take a tour. We both thought the Eastern tour sounded the most interesting so on Sunday January 25th off we gallivanted for the day. W got picked up at the nearby Hotel Orca Praia and after picking up a few more sightseers we were off.... Our first stop was the Church of our Lady of Monte in the nearby town of Monte...high high up....it was certainly a distinctive looking church,, The view of Funchal below wasn't bad either! Nearby you can ride a toboggan down into Funchal - it is a popular touristy thing to do.  Unfortunately being Sunday it was not poss

By the sea again..

Yes I am by the sea again...I love the sea, ocean, whatever....I love big bodies of salt water!!!  I nearly called this blog Misplaced Ocean Child but then I thought "well London doesn't have an ocean.."...anyway here I am. My journey down to Cornwall was good, it went so smoothly I kept thinking "okay this is going too well, something major is going to happen" but it didn't.  I didn't fall between the train and the platform at Crofton Park..  I was able to lift the monster..aka my suitcase...onto the train and a fellow in there moved his briefcase so I could haul it in...yep chivilary is not dead..uh huh...I hauled myself in and off we went to Blackfriars, I got my change onto the Circle/District  line platform and low and behold there was a Circle line train via Paddington three minutes later.  I couldn't believe my luck as it doesn't come too often.  I got to Paddington station in plenty of time - way ahead of time actually but I'd rathe

A day of Street Art and Architecture

I must confess to having a bit of a lazy morning...my airbnb hosts are away in France this weekend so I decided to go downstairs in my jammies and make coffee - something I'd never do normally.  Then I discovered "Summer Magic", a Hayley Mills movie was on telly so I settled in with my coffee to watch it.  Finally about 10 I headed off. My destination?  The East End.  Due to weekend engineering works my trip got a bit complicated and I had to take a rail replacement bus from Shadwell to Whitechapel.  From there I walked down Whitechapel road seeing a bit of street art and more along Brick Lane although I had seen most of it previously.... Much quieter on a Saturday than a Sunday as not many markets open.  The Beigel Bake, a 24 hour bakery that specializes in.,..yes bagels or beigels...take your pick on how to spell it...I like their bagels but not enough to stand in the long line up that is usually there at weekends.  I hadn't had much for breakfast