8 June Hever Castle

Originally, Pat and I had grandeur plans to do lots of out-of-London walks. We got a compass, bought a Timeout book of London walks from bookdepository.com and came armed with hats. But a train strike thwarted our plans and we settled for a truncated version of our grand walk.

We took a train to Hever Station, a good 40 minutes ride out of London. My plan was to take on the public footpath and enjoy the power of right of way through farms. Another couple from the same train did the same as us and we would later get to see them on and off at our various stops and eventually at Hever Station on our way back to London.

It was a refreshing experience walking on grassland and climbing over gates. I was thankful for the idea of folks opening up their land for public walking and is full of gratitude for these people who make UK so special.

Following the Timeout book was not a good experience because it was wordy with no maps. At the buttercup field, we lost our way just as many on Timeout did. Backtracking on waisthigh buttercups, we entered a kissing gate and passed a hole in the bushes made by the hundred who walked through before us.

Hever Castle in its full glory stood behind the gates, toilets and all. By now, the call of nature meant that it would be a visit to the gardens in the castle in order to use the amenities. Might as well, since the 10 km walk was thwarted by the strike and we could not go towards Goldaming.

Hever Castle was sprawling and well maintained. That is to be expected when the entrance was extorbitant. To maximize the cost, we ate, toured and picnicked on the grounds of the castle. I did not even cover the grounds, sprawled exhausted under a shady tree waiting for Pat to return with more photos round the corner. If he was disappointed with my lack of stamina , he was not showing.

Mid afternoon, we retraced our steps back to Hever Station, but not before we explored beyond the church grounds next door. Timeout proved useless and we were heading nowhere. No tired, we were in no mood to get lost. The rolling plains and beyond were overcast with dark clouds which we took as a sign to head back to London.

The walk back was easier this time and we made it in no time to the train station. It had turned cold suddenly and rain started pelting around the little waiting area on the abandoned platform. The same couple and us shared the space awkwardly until the train came.

Hope joined us for dinner and spent the night with us. By now, Pat and I were quite expert making our way around the Tesco at Tottenham Rd. Surely, eating in and buying groceries give a sense of control to our holidays as usual.

7 June Westfield shopping !

Pat and I continued our shopping spree the next day at Westfield. It was a very long ride and admittedly one of the biggest in London.

We wondered aimlessly looking for supplements for H’s new kitchen. The exterior of the mall was the famous Olympic park and the space and gardens stretched on forever. Flowing between the mall and the stadium was the Lee Navigation Canal which we planned to walk the next day. The weather was overcast and I was not much persuaded to explore far beyond the stadium. Westfield was calling and I had a list of things to buy.

It was an uneventful day. H was still sorting out things related to her apartment and it felt that going to fix her place would never happen.

6 June 2016 Wembley Stadium

H went about her sorting out the house and banking things while Pat and I carried out  our first mission in London – shopping!

We collected the Thameslink tickets from Luton to London at Euston before our shopping spree. I have booked it earlier for our coming return trip from Luton Airport to London ( post-Skye ). It was a simple collection process at Euston station and totally uneventful.

We took the overground from Euston to Wembley. It was a clear day, warm and dry. I wasn’t pleased with the weather which is no different from Singapore. What was I expecting, it being summer. Still, a tourist has a right to complain about the weather..

The famous Wembley stadium was a bit of a walk from the station. The white arches loomed large in the distant and our eyes were locked to the structure so that we could get our bearings right. Wembley outlet mall was just beside the stadium and much talked about online so we hope to exercise our strong SG dollar. The anticipation was different from 2005 when we were in London with an exchange of 3 and having to watch our spending then.

We were very focused and zoom in to North Face where we grabbed 2 hiking shoes, some shirts for a good bargain. The kitchenware outlet pricing was way over the top but we got H the basic stuff. I would later scour Lakeland in Westfield for the most exotic bakeware because it was cheaper.

Lunch was a simple affair at Pret but we enjoyed the wifi most. Londoners drawn by the sun were picnicking in the sun while we holed ourselves in the coolest part of the mall’s café.

That afternoon, we visited H’s place for the first time. It was tough lugging knives and pots along Euston and back to Maple street. H walked us to her ‘glorious’ house, a cute little place which is split level with a back garden. We stared, mouth agape, seeing the mini jungle before our eyes. It would take forever! Bees buzzed among the buttercups and roses but all I could think of was – the amount of work in order to make the place an enjoyable one. The kid felt it was no issue and was all bliss, which was a good thing. Just thinking about upkeeping the place was enough to make me tired.