Thursday, November 13/2008

Barbican in the morning. Booksale still on and get a Lonely Planet Tunisia, as well as a biography of Thomas Merton - both hardcover, unfortunately.

Wednesday, November 12/08

Theatre day. Concession prices at the Vaudeville Theatre on the Strand for a matinee performance of Piaf - as rough and crude and energetic as Piaf herself, with Elena Roger's powerful voice sounding uncannily like Piaf.

Across the Blackfriar's Bridge to the Tate Modern to inspect the new installation in the Turbine Hall, a sort of giant spider thing with matressless double bunks and film in the background - must be explanatory material that we've missed. Then walk along the south bank to the National Theatre to see Gethsemane, a clever play by David Hare about party funding and political compromise - pretty close to the bone.

Tuesday, November 11/2008

By tube to Jean's in West Harrow. Far more than our share of Bombay mix as we sip Merlot and talk in the sitting room. Jean warms herself by the radiator and I can see Siva there in a sarong, glass of wine in hand, watching his quiz parogram on television. It's different without him. Shanti and Antony are to join us for curry but that falls through unfortunately. They miss a great meal with fragrant seasoned rice, mutton cury, and all kinds of vegetable dishes. We've come early in order to leave early, but that's not what happens - 11:16 train home.

Monday, November 10/08

Jenny would have liked a walk in Bushey Park (she's off work this week) but it's wet and windy, so we settle for a cooked breakfast and a chat. J goes with Doug to see and admire the flat that Doug has been doing up for sale with his usual perfectionism, despite the unfortunate timing of the credit crunch. Train back from Surbiton.

Sunday, November 9/2008

By train from Waterloo to Thames Ditton where Jenny has invited us for Sunday lunch. It's a lovely traditional lunch with roast beef and Yorkshire pudding and Jenny's mother is there as well as daughter Emma (now expecting) and her husband Giles and Doug's sister Kathleen and her husband. Good to see them all again. We stay the night.

Saturday, November 8/2008

Visits to St. Paul's Cathedral are free today in honour of the new Lord Mayor of London's installation. As it is usually £10, we take advantage of the opportunity and head down early. The architecture is beautiful, with the dome the second larget in the world, after St. Peter's in Rome. There is to be a dramatised reading of the Dick Whittington story, accompanied by organ music, in the afternoon, but we have the benefit of the rehearsal in the morning. The script is witty and the cat particularly well played. We take some time to explore the crypt, an interestingly secular and military place, final resting spot of such famous military men as Nelson and the Duke of Wellington. Then we walk up to the whispering gallery. The circular gallery has holes opening in the wall through which whispers travel in a circular pipe. It also has an impressive view of the floor below. Another set of steps (making 448? in all) leads to the stone gallery. We look down on the Lord Mayor's parade but it's raining quite hard by now. Once we leave the rain stops, and we do get a glimpse of the gilded carriage as the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress stop at the steps of the cathedral for a blessing, complete with boys' choir.

Back to the south bank at 5 for fireworks above the Thames to finish the day's celebrations. They're quite good and there's a big crowd. The trees along the south bank are covered with blue and white fairy lights and by 5 it's quite dark.

Friday, November 7/2008

Down to the Barbican for email, and in J's case magazines. They're having a book sale as well, and we, naturally, cannot resist and end up buying a travel book and a biography of Thomas Merton - unfortunately hardcover.

Docklands light railway to the ASDA at Crossharbour where we acquire an ASDA UK sim card. Texts 4p and calls 8p, which is better than bouncing everything through Cyprus - although not as good as Cypriot rates. The sim card is free. The lady at the electronics counter is very kind - they're sold out but she finds a card without a package and eventually comes up with a package to scan for the price.

Thursday, November 6/2008

Pass Paul and Jill on our way down to the tube. They're on their way out for a Burmese lunch. Then down to Earl's Court to visit the mobile shop J found last spring with the cheap sim cards and friendly proprietor. It's gone, as is the big, cheap internet. There's a new Philippine bank though. So we try a few more places, acquire a fair bit of misinformation, and rediscover the area, which seems more Asian and less Australian than it used to.

Trafalgar Square for Charing Cross bank and the event info from the Portrait Gallery. Email check at the Canadian Consulate and a bit more shopping in Camden Town. Try phoning Jean but not much luck with the phone boxes and a puzzling "restricted access" message when I try using the mobile.

Wednesday, November 5/2008

Short night as they turn on the cabin lights at 5 a.m. GMT, which is only 11 p.m. in Winnipeg. There is news, though: the unofficial results of the American election show an overwhelming Obama victory. And we sit, a planeload of self-contained Canadians and Brits, all interested in the outcome and not a murmur aloud in response.

In London the newspapers are picking up the excitement as well: the transit system's Metro headlines read @History in the Making@ as we get on the underground at Heathrow, but a stop or two later people are boarding with an unusual second edition saying "Good Morning Mr. President" in enormous letters. We reach the Welby long before it opens and, taking the advice of a cheerful middle-aged resident with a Canadian (or American?) accent, go round the corner to the little coffee shop with the outside tables. A pleasant place to wake from jetlag in a little alcove of Belsize Village. Deliverymen for the pharmacy and the restaurant, mums and prams with toddlers hanging on, a steady stream of customers at the bakery. At ten we pick up the keys for the bedsit and at the gate we run into our Canadian friend of the coffee advice with his wife, Paul and Jill they are, and from B.C> They're finishing six months here and are enthusiastic, especially about their great discovery of high quality free public lectures at the London School of Economics, St. Paul's, the Inns of Court and other places. We tentatively agree to meet for a drink at some point.

The afternoon is for supplies - stocking up from the 99p store on Camden High St. and Sainsbury's. Veggies and grapes from Inverness St. market. The market vegetables are half the price they'd be at the supermarket and lovely.

It's Guy Fawkes night and the sound of firecrackers in the dark streets. Lambeth Council has arranged fireworks on Clapham Common and two other parks, so we head off, along with half of London it seems. The tube is jam packed with people, most of them younger than our children. Someone says they've closed Clapham Common Station because of crowds, but we only get as far as Kennington when we're told to evacuate the station "due to a reported emergency." So up in a crowded lift and onto the street. We follow the crowd and eventually work our way to Clapham Common Station - then notice the crowd thinning and falling away to pubs as we walk. We've followed Clapham High St. instead of cutting across to the common. But we've had our night's excitement and a taste of fireworks. A long day, and we're ready for home.

Tuesday, November 4/2008

Our D-Day - and American election day. Bus to the airport, Winnipeg being one of the few Canadian cities where the airport is on the local bus route. Then up over the patchwork of prairie on our way to Toronto, where we have a very short wait for the trans-Atlantic flight.

Newspapers seem to have disappeared in the general economy measures Air Canada is practising, along with vegetables and hot breakfasts, but the wine is not bad and we brought our own Globe and Mail.

Monday, November 3/2008

Errand day. And off to see Mum at the nursing home, taking the customary bag of sweets. Winnipeg buses are some of the politest in the world. The drivers are helpful and a fair proportion of the passengers say thank you as they get off. A stunning day - it reaches nearly 19, with a pleasant warm breeze. And we note the exchange rate on the pound is the best it's been in years - about $1.87. Hard luck for the British, of course, but good for us in the next couple of weeks.

Sunday, November 2/2008

All Souls Day. And D-Day for us, as we leave for the winter. Fortunately, it's also time change day, so we manage to get up in time for the last minute tasks - draining the water, putting the anti-freeze in the plumbing, packing the lunch, etc. There's a very plump partridge in the driveway when I take the water pots out to empty them. And the bluejays and whiskeyjacks show considerable interest in the final scraps of food from the fridge. Shirley kindly takes us to the train and we're off.
Plenty of the room on the train and we settle back as the alpha rhythms begin. Quite good coffee which we take up to the observation car. It's mild and sunny and many of the cottages still have boats in the water. A number of people from other countries enjoying the wilderness and spotting the eagles. The woman behind us is from Ohio, and very interested, asking questions. The man across the aisle, hailing from Saskatchewan, is a mine of misinformation on everything. We're early, which allows us to pick up the return ticket at the wicket, as we're travelling with an electronic voucher.
Ian and Susan pick us up at the station and Janet and Dave, Judy and Dino, and Jennifer and Brian join us at Ian and Susan's for Chinese food. Good to see everyone and get caught up. Susan's niece Kristin and Trevor are there too.

Monday, October 20/2008

Last leg. Stop for lunch at Thunder Bay. Then refuse to pay the diesel prices at Ignace. Should we go in to Dryden or just go home. J is for Dryden and points out that we can also check to see if the pellet stoves have come in, so we go. Diesel, bread, milk, fruit, and over to Canadian Tire. The pellet stove (SINGULAR) has just arrived. Did we want to take it? Well no, wrong vehicle, but we'll pay for it now. Then notice Ron S. at the counter. Does he have his truck? So change of plans. The girl at the cash says that we got it by ten minutes. As we were waiting for the boys to load it, a woman phoned in looking for one and offered to pay for it on the spot. So J's instincts were good. Home for supper by the fire.

Sunday, October 19/2008

Off around eight, stopping for diesel on the way out of Brampton. We're too early for the Globe and Mail. The roads are pretty clear. Very few transports and no "travaux" so we make good enough time we start to wonder about the likelihood of a ticket. At Sault Ste. Marie we're also too early for the Globe - "depends on the who's driving" [and how fast]. Stop for the night at White River, same motel we usually use. Sixty-eight dollars including tax and they have a fridge and microwave.

Saturday, October 18/2008

Saturday, so everyone is around, including Mike who came in on the last bus - after we had gone to bed. J and Barb do lots of reminiscing. Out to dinner at a little diner with home-cooked meals. Check online for the voucher for the hotel we booked in Tunisia. There is actually a button to click asking them to resend the voucher. Non-reception must be a frequent problem, but fortunately the solution works.

Friday, October 17/2008

Gary and Barb at work, and we wake to a blaze of gold from the oak tree in the next garden. Slow breakfast over newspapers - the ultimate luxury for those from print deprived Sioux Lookout. B&G are back in mid-afternoon, so lots of time for chat. Mandy's boyfriend joins us (B,G,J, Shannon, Mandy and me) for dinner.

Thursday, October 16/2008

A morning visit with Aunt Ruth and Uncle Donald. Aunt Ruth has so many memories that she alone possesses now in the family. It's a lovely visit, chat and reminiscence. Talk of family and travel.
By noon we're gone, off to Toronto. Despite the hazards of the 401 we're there before supper. Barb and Gary are both home and the girls come in later. Shepherd's pie and kapusta - and more talk

Wednesday, October 15/2008

Leisurely start in the morning, as we're only off to Kingston. We take the autoroute through Montreal, but once in Ontario we leave the 401 at Long Sault and take the river route. The old towns are beautiful, and the leaves still at their best. Picnic lunch at a park at Long Sault. We spot Crysler's Farm, site of an 1813 battle, near Upper Canada Village as we drive and stop to look. A beautiful sunny spot overlooking the St. Lawrence, scene of a Canadian victory over an attacking American force more than twice their strength.
At Margi's by dinner time. Maddie is off to rehearse for Phantom, in which she will be playing the lead, but the rest of the family is there. We sit in the living room where a wooden box has centre place - the box in which our great grandmother, Catherine West, brought all her possessions from Ireland. So nice that Margi still has it.

Tuesday, October 14/2008

Election Day. And the end of our visit. We're off early. We'd meant to take the scenic river route, but there's so much fog along the river that there's not much point. The trans-Canada is quicker and the visibility better. At Riviere-du-loup we leave the trans-Canada and take the route along the south bank of the St. Lawrence, a string of lovely little villages with huge churches and the ancient strips of rich farmland along the river. We cross at Quebec City and take the autoroute in to Trois Rivieres, then head up to St Etienne des Gres. Dinner with Patty and Don - chicken done with onion, apple and maple syrup. Then the election results - a sad but predictable Conservative minority.

Monday, October 13/2008

True Thanksgiving Day. And more beautiful weather. We all go for a walk downtown and over the walking bridge to the north side. Katy is hoping for ice cream, but the place isn't open. Not much is, but there are plenty of families out walking. Dogs and babies and cyclists.