London-Day 2

Early start, quick walk to Clapham Junction, overland train to Victoria Station (I think). Then on the tube to Little Venice. Quiet, tree lined streets, fronting on to the Regent Canal.
We had a 10.20 am booking on a long boat tour. The boat called Jason was built in 1906 and was originally  used on the canals transporting either raw material or finished goods. Today it transports tourists on a 45 minute trip along the Regent canal to Camden. Great trip, travelling at a very sedate speed (about 2 mph). Passed houses worth 50 million pounds....now that is a lot of money, a small part of the London Zoo plus numerous longboats that are lived in. The tour covered what life was like working the canals. The long boats were pulled by a draft horse..no motors around in those days.

Our longboat, Jason

Realtively cheap living on the canal.

The tour ended at Camden, where there was a market. Spent a bit of time looking around...one shop was interesting..see below

Cyberdog....a highly rated clothing store with futuristic and fluorescent fashions and accessories. Located the Stables Market in Camden Town








From Camden we headed for Greenwich (where my great grandfather John Stewart was born). Spent time on the Cutty Sark ( a fast tea clipper that firstly brought tea from China then later on wool from Australia. Has a guided tour led by an appropriately dressed mother. She recounted the tale of her young son who was an apprentice on the Cutty Sark. Well worth the visit.

Always fancied myself as a master mariner (well my great grandfather, from Sweden and my Great, great, grandfather from Greenwich were both master mariners).

From here it was a brisk walk up a hill to visit the home of the prime meridian. That arbitrary line of longitude that separates East and Western Hemispheres.

 Straddling the prime meridian. Well "she who can not be named" is undecided with a foot in each hemisphere.

The view back to downtown London or Canary wharf (where Evan works.)

Now it was back into town for an early dinner for we were off to a show...musical..."Bat out of Hell"...loved meatloafs rock'n'roll music, but struggled to appreciate the actual show...reminded me of Romeo and Juliet or Westside story as far as the plot went. But as I said the music was great (well the 4 or 6 songs that comprised the original LP were, the rest not so much.
Must say we had very good seats and got a great view of the stage...

Must say that the trip back to SoHo for dinner was interesting...the tube as packed in like sardines, very close and personal., and very hot and humid. one commuter lost it with "she who can not be named" and got very personal and aggressive. Evan assured us that the woman in question was "a nutter". Still very upsetting to us and others around her. Glad when we could escape the tube.

So that its for today, started around 9am in the morning and got back around 11 pm. Another 15 km's walked