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Post by Tim on Jan 27, 2024 18:28:34 GMT -5
Cool.
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Post by Melinda Halliwell on Feb 21, 2024 14:08:28 GMT -5
Mum and I visited historic St Albans situated in Hertfordshire today. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_AlbansWe went by train from Farringdon using our railcard and purchased discounted return tickets from a station two stops back as my one-day travel card and Mum's freedom pass allowed us to travel up until that station and then reverse from that into London. The main purpose of the trip was to browse around the cathedral built after 300 AD and see the town market but there weren't many stalls out due to rain. We'd visited there with my sister before but didn't peruse the church then which was good viewing once inside. It's not as big as other Cathedrals we'd seen but there was free entry so I donated £5 towards that then. Having eaten lunch before Mum and I looked around town and had tea and cake in an M&S cafe then got the train back to Kings Cross and a bus to Embankment where we got an Uber Boat to Woolwich before the train and bus home subsequently.
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Post by Tim on Feb 21, 2024 19:10:22 GMT -5
Sounds like you had another fun day.
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Post by Melinda Halliwell on Feb 22, 2024 4:23:53 GMT -5
Except for rain we did yes Tim.
For Mum it gets her out instead of staying in constantly which she wants to do whilst she's still able to especially when she can travel in London on trains, buses, and trams for free.
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Post by Tim on Feb 22, 2024 12:11:14 GMT -5
Nice to get out like this.
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Post by Melinda Halliwell on Feb 23, 2024 15:21:16 GMT -5
Tonight Mum and I visited our local greyhound dog tracks for a bit of fun. It had been a couple of years since we'd last gone there. I'd bought a deal through Groupon entitling 2 people free entry plus food and drink for a fixed price of £20. Bets or more goods and drinks cost extra. We won a few races and lost some as well. Getting there around the opening time we managed to park up well and get seating overlooking the dog track itself. Would come again as we like dog racing of course. Tomorrow I shall visit Charlton House near Greenwich free to get into and then the Battersea light show around the power station later in its final night there. www.greenwichheritage.org/visit/visit-charlton-house-and-gardens/batterseapowerstation.co.uk/events/light-festival-2024/Having ordered a train smartcard from a rail company I'm now able to load a one-day off-peak travel card with my rail discount card from their app meaning I don't need to buy tickets from the station and can also jump straight on a bus negating having to pay £1.75 contactless to get to a station and buy a paper ticket overall though some train lines aren't running tomorrow due to engineering works including my local so have to drive to the nearest station that is running of course.
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Post by Tim on Feb 23, 2024 19:12:31 GMT -5
They race dogs?
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Post by Melinda Halliwell on Feb 24, 2024 3:15:24 GMT -5
Yes we do in the UK as well as Horse racing. There are a couple of other places I know of like Nottingham and Sheffield that hold regular race events themselves also. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greyhound_racing
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Post by Melinda Halliwell on Feb 24, 2024 15:38:48 GMT -5
The house at Charlton was okay but nothing to scream about as the public could only visit the second floor which had 4 rooms total. The first floor was private and the ground-only toilets and a small cafe so I'm glad it was free entry making me not waste any money.
The light show in Battersea was much better. There were good installations outside and a couple in as well which I took pictures of.
Arrived there by Uber Boat after eating prior in Greenwich town centre.
Went home by bus and train.
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Post by Tim on Feb 25, 2024 0:20:18 GMT -5
Sounded like a nice day out.
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Post by Melinda Halliwell on Mar 8, 2024 14:27:21 GMT -5
Tomorrow before Mothering Sunday I'm treating Mum to a day out up London catching the Uber Boat from Barking Riverside to Westminster Pier and then venturing inside Westminster Cathedral, not Westminster Abbey which is free to browse around and somewhere not seen by us prior. westminstercathedral.org.uk/We shall eat nearby afterwards before going to Oxford Street and look around then take the boat back to Barking and the train and bus home. Food and boat travel will be paid for by me overall. We're doing it tomorrow as my sister will be home with us on Sunday of course.
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Post by Tim on Mar 8, 2024 18:35:10 GMT -5
Have fun.
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Post by Melinda Halliwell on Mar 9, 2024 0:24:38 GMT -5
Thanks, Tim. I'm sure Mum will enjoy the trip as she normally does when going out of course.
UPDATE: Mum enjoyed her trip with the boat ride and everything and she liked the architecture inside the Cathedral.
We ate in a Five Guys restaurant for the first time and were amazed how many fries we got for 2 people even with them being a small portion which neither of us could eat whole, so a few were left over afterward.
The burgers otherwise looked nice and tasted good but were expensive which I see for the price of being 2 giant beef patties, so we probably won't eat there every time then.
Stopping of in Tottenham Court Road we browsed in Primark and both had a cup of tea in the Greggs restaurant up top before boating it back to Barking for the train and my car drive home.
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Post by Melinda Halliwell on Mar 10, 2024 15:07:43 GMT -5
Mum, my sister and I spent the afternoon at Tiptree Jam Museum a famous British brand who've made preserves since 1885. www.tiptree.com/We ate in the tea room before buying some jam for ourselves and for my friend from the shop and then looked around the museum afterward. Sandwiches were our only option as hot food was not served from 3 pm when we arrived although their afternoon tea priced around £35 for 2 people was quite popular with some people especially since it was Mother's Day. Our pot of tea for 3 was huge which you'll in the photo of Mum and my sister obviously. The Museum itself is small and attached to the side of the tearoom but was still interesting learning how jam was made there. Wilkin and Sons the owners of Tiptree have the royal seal of approval in that the monarchy eats that themselves including the late Queen herself. Tiptree is also a favourite of James Bond who regularly tastes that in Ian Fleming's novels itself.
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Post by Tim on Mar 10, 2024 17:18:28 GMT -5
Never heard of that.
Guess it never made it over here.
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