2023 Alpine hiking then the UK and Portugal

Hampton Court has its own railway station with a direct line to Waterloo station which is south of the Thames. One then has to cross the river to get a Circle line back to Bayswater station and the end of my three days in London. This update is being created while I wait three hours at Heathrow for a Westjet flight to Calgary and Victoria. I found the quietest place to wait is the Interfaith chapel. Here I met an old Rabbi from Israel and his wife who have found it a good place to stretch out and have a nap. He is a vaccine denier and is convinced that people have suffered heart disease and other ailments as a result of the COVID vaccine. He knows of several people who have died of COVID. He says most people in Israel have been vaccinated. I told him I was a Public Health Physician by training and that I not find it useful to argue with peoples religious beliefs!😁   

  I had never visited Hampton Court even in the first 29 years of my life when I lived in England nor on the many trips that I have made in the last 52 years. After the relaxing boat ride up the Thames I spent about two hours at Hampton Court where Henry VIII lived on and off with his many wives. I only had time to briefly visited the extensive gardens. The Royal Chapel was of particular interest. They only have services there one day a week. There is a large collection of paintings that are part of the Royal Collection. One is not meant to take pictures of the paintings. 

There is a three hour boat ride from Westminster key to Hampton Court. An enjoyable ride. I talked to two women from Sydney Australia. One had been a physiotherapist and one an audiologist. They visit England about once a year to keep in touch with friends and relatives. On the embankment there is another impressive Battle of Britain memorial. There is listed there the names of the many Canadian airmen who were killed in the Battle of Britain. Great views of famous buildings and the Oxford and Cambridge boat race course along the river. Then the boat went through Teddington locks to the upper non-tidal part of the Thames.   

I decided to walk from St Paul’s to Shaftesbury Avenue where I had tickets for “2.22 - a Ghost Story” at the Apollo theatre. It took about 45 mins - but I did have time for a bite to eat before the performance. I modern thriller with fast moving dialog between two couples with an unexpected ending.

For something a little different I went to St Paul’s Cathedral to listen to Evensong. Evensong is almost always a 45 minute service with mostly choral music. The service was sung by the boy choristers. The anthem Cesar Frank’s Panis Angelica sung in a setting in which the Cantoris and Decani choristers alternated was truly Angelical. St Paul’s Cathedral is a vast building designed by Christopher Wren. There is an amazing acoustic delay - like an echo - of about ten seconds which means the sound resonates continuously. The boy choristers sang to a very high standard - with the top notes sounding like one voice.   

I thought I would have a light day so in the morning went for a walk in nearby Hyde Park. It was close to Kensington Park and I came across a beautiful park dedicated to Diana.  

I decided to go to a Musical and having excluded all those I had seen like Les Miserables and Hamilton I chose Moulin Rouge. It was a wonderfully slick performance that was gaudy, romantic, fast moving, and with great songs. All the way through there were hints of other music such as “The sound of music” and “La Boheme”. It had additional songs and did vary a bit from the original movie.  Dinner before the theatre

I tried to get a room at one of the Union Club of BC clubs on or near Pall Mall but without luck at short notice. With the help of Booking.com I found a small room, at a very reasonable price, with en-suite (the size of a boat or RV bathroom) at Kensington Parks Gardens close to Bayswater tube station. It was ideal for one person even if a bit grotty.   

Before catching a train to London we went to see Hop Picking in action at one of the neighbouring farms (Amanda Barker’s) farm. Great nephew Sam was helping out to earn some pocket money before returning the University.Garrington used to have a Hop garden and Hop picking machine like this. The ancient machine had broken down while we were there. Still a very Kentish activity with the hops being used to flavour beer. Some of the Hops are also sold in boxes to flower shops.