Ka Pai has a day out in London

Sunday July 11th
Would you believe it, they get me road worthy and then go off on a train. As soon as I saw those oyster cards I knew any idea of a big day out on Sunday didn’t include me. I was so hopeful when they started putting bags into me. But the call of a day in London was too great. The tube station is really close so with Ka Pai tucked in the bag they headed for the station around 10am.

Ka Pai’s Day out in London
The central line gives lots of options, but in the end Mary decided they would go all the way to Liverpool Street. She was on a secret agenda. Sunday has the Petticoat Lane Market near the station. So soon they were in the crowds all hunting for a bargain. Mary was remembering the time they had come with here with Kathleen and Greg and was surprised to see the same shorts that Kathleen had bought still on sale. This was in 2007 and they still had a rack at the same price. Do they ever sell anything? Rather than the touts of the Asian markets, here you have the market callers who have made up rhymes and ditties and seem to be on an endless loop. If you want to buy something they seem to be able to press pause and then resume once the sale is made. Alan was able to buy a new pair of shoes with minimum help and no pressure. They didn’t buy much but did find a useful phone charger for the phone Mo has given Mary.

A long walk into Shoreditch to find the Geffrye Museum proved very rewarding. This is another of London’s best kept secrets that Alan had found out about by doing endless research. Set amongst commercial buildings you suddenly happen upon a stand of leafy trees and the 18th century historic alms houses. The museum explores the home over the past 400 years from 1600 to the present day. The focus is on living rooms of the urban middle classes in London. The rooms show how they would have been used and furnished over this period.

Outside are beautiful gardens set out as rooms you can wander through. The new overland line roars right behind the garden. Of course there is the cafe and gift shop, but as admission was free the tired travellers were quite happy to have afternoon in their cafe and a chance to sit down and view the garden. While sitting resting, Mary started thinking about what to do next and decided that a bus, any bus would be fine. So they took the first one that came along and got the front seat upstairs. This is a great way to view London, and as this was a part that was previously unvisited there was plenty to see. Being Sunday, Mary suddenly wondered about Evensong at St Pauls and looked at the map and found they were in the right direction so they got off at the St Paul’s stop. After a short walk to the cathedral, they discovered choral evensong was at 3.15 but on closer looking find there is a free organ recital at 4.45 and it is now 4.40. So they go up the steps and into the cathedral where there is a crowd lining up to get into the seats under the dome. Some very bossy women ushered the crowd into their seats and let all the tourists know in uncertain terms that sightseeing was off the menu and you either sat down and listened to the organ recital or left. St Paul’s is not open for sightseeing on Sunday but you can attend services and recitals for free. On any other day it is £12.50 to get in.

The recital was magnificent. The young organist, Adam Brakel from the USA, is described in the programme notes as an absolute organ prodigy and one of the most outstanding talents in classical organ music to enter the scene. He has the technique most concert pianists could only dream of and has been nicknamed The Franz Liszt of the Organ. The grand organ in St Pauls dates back to 1697 with many refurbishments over the years. The sound was huge, with quite a delay and the sounds ringing around the dome with and overwhelming affect.

Mary was annoyed with the ignorant tourists who insisted on clapping between each movement rather than waiting for the complete work. The organist deliberately waited for the sound to disperse and have silence before starting the next movement. The clapping caused another wave of sound that needed to clear before he could carry on.
Out of the cathedral and back onto a bus in the direction of Trafalgar Square. What a colourful sight as this was world cup final day and Spanish and Dutch supporters were out in force all draped in flags and wearing their football shorts. The English flag was not evident but a few diehard England supporters were still wearing their England shirts but they were in the minority.

After a meal in a pub, Mary and Alan contacted Hamish and made a time to return to base. Unfortunately, they have not been given unescorted green passes to get onto the base. They have to be escorted at all times so are not free to come and go as they were at Uxbridge. Not wanting to ruin Hamish’s viewing of the game, they agreed to return at 9.30, only to arrive back when the game had gone into extra time. Hamish biked over to the gate to get them the key to the house and back into his room to pick up their stuff.
Hemi continues...
They drove me off the base over to the house, about a quarter of a mile. I was very good, I started first time, but Mary had forgotten where to find the lights. I am now parked outside the house and looking forward to starting my adventures on Tuesday. I know that they are off to London tomorrow to Hamish’s brass quartet recital at St Clement Danes. Mary is going to have a lot to say about that I’m sure.