The Knees Have It

It has been a fair while since we posted anything on here. And, for that, we apologize.
Sheelagh's knees suffered in Africa, but while in London, she was able to do our daily outings, if somewhat slowly. We were able to take in the play, "Come From Away", a wonderful West End musical of the events in Gander, Newfoundland after 9/11 when all flights to the US were grounded, 39 of them in Gander. We were proud to be Canadians!

The last point of interest in the city was Kenwood House in Hampstead Heath.

Back in the 1750's, the first Earl of Mansfield bought this property, and with the help of Robert Adams, one of Britain's finest designers, transformed the home into a stately country house. 

In the 1920's, the family sold the pile to Lord Iveagh, a member of the Guinness family. He bought it to house his art collection, but never lived there. He turned it over to the state in 1927 with the understanding that it would always be free to the public. 

Here are some photos.

 The Adam library, considered his finest room in the country.

Gainsborough, Turner, Vermeer, Rembrandt, Reynolds, Lawrence, Constable and many others hang around this place. 

Our six days of London ended and we trained down to Eastbourne and here the knees took a turn. For no obvious reason, Sheelagh was immobilized. We even played with the idea of coming home until the wedding. But, we decided that we would change our plans and just head for Glasgow and hunker down and let the knees heal. We were sorry to miss our friends Delyth and Malcolm in Felixstowe. 

So, we are now being quiet in Queensborough Gardens in the west end of Glasgow. It's a lovely flat and everything we need is nearby.

We are in the ground floor flat.

It is gracious and the floors are beautiful old planks. My office in High River would have been just like it some day if the flood had left them alone.

Nice modern kitchen.

The neighbourhood is quiet. 

I think that will be it for awhile. I appreciate any of you who bothered to drop by for a look and added a comment now and then. Till next time, G&S.

London Town II

We are in a great location for buses and tube travel. So, Sheelagh, who is the best at finding points of interest on our travels, found us a couple of really interesting places to see. You must understand that the weather is working against us this visit. It's cold, and rains off and on. So, the best places this time are inside. Her Sunday find was the Museum Of London. After a service at the St Pancras Old Church, a bus took us to a point close to the museum and we hustled over to be greeted by a large display about the Westley brothers. John and Charles had their conversion experiences here, and there is a huge display, outside the museum which details their feelings during the process.

Inside, there are thoughtfully arranged displays that detail the history this great city. You can learn everything from the geology of the area, to the human stories from the very beginning. The war years are done in detail, of course, and other changing displays pick out interesting cultural events. For example, they had a large area telling about the iconic rock band, The Clash.

We had a wonderful afternoon just wandering and learning.




On Monday, we bussed off in a different direction to the Design Museum.

Situated on the edge of Holland Park, this museum had been set in the interesting structure that had been the Commonwealth Institute. It has a roof that is reminiscent of the Saddle Dome in Calgary.

It swoops gracefully above a huge interior. We were amused to see that so many of the common items, with which we had both grown up, are now considered landmark inventions. The old red hot water bottle that came with us to help my back, was on the wall of fame as a life changer.

We saw furniture, electronics, travel and environmental innovations that have, or may, change the way we live.









A stroll through Holland Park, and a lunch completed our outing. Interestingly enough, across from our lunch spot, was Bill Wyman's Sticky Fingers Cafe . This was the spot where the Rolling Stones hung out. Bill played bass for the Stones for many years.

,That is a brief summary of that part of our visit to London Town.

London Town

We are very happy to be back in London. The flight from CapeTown, via Zurich, went smoothly, but took forever. Approaching 14 hours before we touched down at Heathrow. One night at the good, old Ibis Hotel Heathrow. Then, at about noon, we took the London tube to King's Cross and it was raining. Sheelagh's knees have been better of late, but the job of her dragging two suitcases over uneven sidewalks in the rain defeated us, so we dodged into the very up market St Pancras Hotel for a bowl of soup and a bun and a cup of tea. Also, to catch a cab to our digs.

We're in a tiny flat in Camden Town. Every ethnic restaurant you can imagine is within a couple of blocks. A tube station and lots of bus routes are outside the door. And, the famous Camden Market is within walking distance.

This is a rabbit warren of local clothes designers, leather merchants, a watch designer, jewellery makers, hat shops and more food than you can conceive.

We had a good look around before catching a canal boat from Camden Lock to Little Venice. This is another neighbourhood about 2 miles from Camden along the Regent canal. The poet, Robert Browning, declared that it reminded him of Venice with its canals. 

The long narrow boats had been fitted with seats.

We puttered along at about 3 miles per hour.

Past many other canal boats. Some, better than this one, were dwellings for people.

Lots of mansions. One was the home of the US ambassador.

Through tunnels. The boats used to be pulled along by horses. There was a tow path along one side of the canal. When they came to a tunnel such as this, people lay on planks out from the sides and used their feet to push the boats through.

In Little Venice, we found the Warwick Castle Pub for our lunch.

Then we tottered off home by dark.

Sore Knees And Soul Searching

On our flight from Port Elizabeth back to Cape Town, we had to carry our bags out to the plane and climb stairs to board. Then in Cape Town we climbed down the stairs at the back of the plane, walked a few yards, and then climbed back up to use the passage into the airport. All this to say, Sheelagh's knees have completely given in since our return to CT. In fact, she spent our days there in the hotel. So, what you will see are my efforts on a hop on hop off bus tour in which the driver does not slow down and the vehicle rocks. Not in a good way.

This was a typical street scene in our neighbourhood. It was fine to walk here during the day if there were other people around. Quieter streets were not advised. And definitely not at night. 

I boarded the bus here and we left the city on a large circular route that took us south from the down town, past the university, and the large hospital where Christian Barnard performed the world's first heart transplant.

Then looping around to the east and the sea side area called Hout Bay, we passed through some of the few remaining areas of natural forest around CT. There are efforts under way to bring the native growth back.

This was the location of the last racial conflicts before the time of apartheid and Nelson Mandela. The indigenous residents tried to negotiate, but were told either give up their land or face a bloody battle. They gave up their land. 

In the town of Hout Bay, there have been for decades, large, wealthy family homes with horse barns and jumping arenas. The black residents were moved to 4 areas to live so that they could work in the homes and barns of the wealthy. They were given next to no rights, aside from working there. The horses lived in much better conditions than the people. The horse barns are still there. 

I got off in Hout Bay and had a look around. There were rather run down fish and chip shops, trinkets galore, (that could be a name of a floozy) and fish cleaning plants.

                     This is the dock for the fishing fleet.
 The seals say, "Hello".

 

This fellow crawled ashore for a snooze.

As we moved back up along the coast toward CT again, we passed glorious white sand beaches and hugely expensive hotels. Most were well over $1000. CAD a night. 

Continuing north along the coast, you pass mega houses, all gated and fenced in a manner that scream, "KEEP OUT". 

The economic disparity that we speak of today, is starkly evident here. There are these places here, and out toward the airport, there are miles of shack communities that are tied together bits of corrugated iron and bits of wood. 

Nelson Mandela is much revered here by the progressive community. 

This is Robben Island where Mandela spent 18 years in prison. It is a short boat ride away from down town CT.

He was the first black head of state here. There are fridge magnets with the Mandela quote, " Here, we go the prison first, and then become President." 

It is not easy to understand this place. The whites came here and took it over and subjugated the blacks to generations of horrible treatment. Mandela lead the blacks out of that and into a state of democratically elected black control. And now you hear stories of corruption and violence that make most people wonder how it will all end. The country is economically on its back.

The tour circled Table Mountain, the world famous landmark of Cape Town.

 


Our first glimpse of the Mountain on our drive into Cape Town on Sunday.

What it looked like on our second day, Monday.

Completely clear on our third day as I rode the bus.

The bus tour left me wondering how I felt about Cape Town. It's a beautiful place, a dangerous place, and mostly a puzzling place. 

On Wednesday the 19th, we flew the 11+ hours to Zurich, and then over to London, where we are comfortably ensconced in our little, studio flat. 

South Africa was a wonderful, moving, and confusing trip which neither of us will ever forget.