Day 7 of my Fisher Family Experience (FFE) - Specialists, Seeds, Shopping and Salsa

This morning started at a more leisurely pace, we didn't have to leave the house until 10:25, at which time we strapped Tiggah in the car and headed out on our way to pick up Liz from her job in Kingston to take her to the hospital for an appointment.  Now it's not like me to disclose personal medical details, but since this isn't about me, it's probably okay, right?  So I won't actually tell you what the appointment was about, I'll just drop some well-placed shiny sparkly gappy toothy hints.  Here she is with her pearly whites on display as we arrive at the hospital.

While she was waiting in the dental wing, we went upstairs so that Sis could have a blood test, for another undisclosed medical matter, regarding her creaky fingers.

After our medical excursion, we dropped Liz back at work and drove to a place called Esher where we visited Garson's Farm on my quest for mustard and cress seeds.  I did managed to find something that sort of looked like it might be the right thing, and we got some tomato plants for Martz, and by then we really needed sustenance so we stopped at the cafe for jacket potatoes and sparkly water.

If only I was going to be in town on June 5th I could have popped in for the Jubilee Lunch special.

And I could have planted a festive Jubilee garden too.

We saw many dogs.



Afterwards we went to the other building, called the Farm Shop to look at what was there.

Then I saw the world's most expensive box of Froot Loops, and worked out that if I could get a cheap deal on a flight I could bring over a hundred boxes, sell them and break even.

Next we drove back into Kingston to do some shopping.  First stop the iconic Marks and Spencer.

I was pleased to see Tiggy's influence in many of the shops.

Shopping was very tiring but fortunately I did find a place to have a nap.

And then we did some more walking and looking.

And then finally we went home to prepare our mexican fiesta meal.

And then Matt came over to polish things off.

By then Jon and Liz had eaten so many tomatoes that their eyes turned red.

And that was our day.  See you tomorrow.



















Day 6 of my FFE - Gems, Gents, and Ginormous Shopping Centre

We were up and out of the house, down the hill, up the stairs and on to the platform to await the 10:04am train leaving Berrylands.  Today's escorts were sponsored by North Face as you can see from their coordinated outfits.

We journeyed into Waterloo where disembarked and ventured off to the Waterloo City Line to Bank Station.  From there we travelled on foot, taking in the sights on our way to the Tower of London. 

We arrived just in time to join the Yeoman Warder's tour.  He was a jovial fellow who filled us in on all the hot spots and need to know info at the Tower. 

Afterwards, we ventured off on our own, saw the crown jewels and ventured up to the top of the stairs to take in the sights from the elevated perimeter.  The clouds were looming but the rain managed to hold off.

This is a dog who works as a Yeoman at the Tower which means he needs to have had at least 22years of military service.  Nice that the pup can live out his sunset years in such a stately place.



We left the Tower and had a quick look in the gift shops were I found a stuffed Maltass! Just like my Tiggy back home in Canada.  I had to have him and promptly named him Tiggah, which is basically the British pronunciation of Tigger. 

and then he did a wee on a statue..oops.

We stopped for a latte at the world's largest Starbucks. 

Then we proceeded to meander along the river to the London Bridge which we strolled across en route to Borough Market passing Southwark Church. 

Although not an 'official' open day at Borough Market there were still many vendors and interesting shops/stalls to look in.  There were many great photo ops as you can see.

From there we walked down to the corner to experience lunch at an authentic British pub.  Southwark Tavern fit the bill, and we enjoyed a nice meal, I had the six minute steak with chips, Grace (North Face 1) had Gloucester bangers and pea mash, and Martyn (North Face 2) had a burger and chips. 



After lunch we headed off, with Tiggah riding in Grace's purse, to our next destination which I was eagerly anticipating.  We were going to see an authentic Olympic venue!



 We got on the subway and headed out on the Jubilee Line, a short time later we arrived at our destination, Stratford.  As we departed the train we saw many large red and white signs pointing towards the Olympic Park.  I was so excited!  Having recently experienced the Vancouver 2010 Olympics I was very eager to see what majestic structures had been put in place for London 2012, after all, the world was coming and they'd best be ready!



 We left the station, and well, the signs stopped.  There were NO more signs, none at all...We persevered, wandering up the road look lost and a tad bit fore lorn.  We happened upon a man in a hardhat and safety vest and he sensed our confusion.  We asked where the Olympic Park was and he explained that the area we were heading towards was the unfinished athlete's village (don't know why he was so bloody relaxed, they have only 72 days to get things finished!).  He directed us back to where we'd come from, told us to enter the shopping mall and from there we could find a viewing platform to look at the somewhat unfinished Olympic Park.

Fortunately our disappointment was short lived as we realized that the 'shopping centre' was not just any old shopping centre, but instead was the LARGEST shopping mecca in all of Europe, and it in itself was the 'official shopping centre of the London 2012 Olympic Games'!  We headed in and up to the 3rd floor of the John Lewis department store where we walked through all things Olympic to get to a small viewing area, not a platform, not outdoors, but simply a room with some windows looking out on the site.  Somewhat anti-climactic if you ask me. 



I did manage to buy a souvenir in the shop and then we managed to squeeze in a bit of shopping time, with a stop at the luscious heavenly place that is Pinkberry.



After some success in the shops, we were nearing the nine hour mark of our day so we decided to head home, and hopped back on the train, back to Waterloo, and then finally back to our beloved Berrylands.