Balham

Saturday 23 December

Have you heard Peter Sellers’ funny sketch called “Balham - Gateway to the South”? If not, I suggest you find it on YouTube and have a listen. Our address is Balham, even though we are closer to Streatham Hill. Today we caught the 255 bus to Balham, a quick and easy trip.

Balham is much better than we were led to believe and a lot more salubrious than Streatham Hill. We found a lovely French cafe for coffee, which later became our lunch spot.

Lunch at “Gazette”

There is a fantastic card shop with a tiny frontage of 9 feet. I could spend a fortune in there. Also a number of inviting cafes, a French (I think) deli, bakery and more Christmas market stalls.

The Waitrose supermarket was packed with people stocking up for Christmas, as were we. Phillip and Melinda’s big shopping bag was put to good use.

Here are a couple of photos of our Balham home. It’s compact but comfortable and, most important, has excellent heating. A one bedroom flat in Balham is more than £400,000 these days and a 3 bedroom house will set you back more than a million pounds, so Balham has come a long way since Peter Sellers recorded his sketch.

Kingston

Friday 22 December

When we were coming home on the train yesterday a lady we were talking to suggested that Kingston would be a good place to visit for a bit of shopping and a look around, so that’s what we did today. We had planned to go by train, but as we came out of the coffee place there was a bus that said “Kingston”, so we hopped on.

Streatham Hill Station

Up we went to the front of the top deck, where we had a great view .... of traffic! We were on main roads most of the time but they were very narrow and bumper to bumper practically the whole way. Cars were bluffing their way out of side streets and one guy who had parked on the wrong side of the road pulled out just in front of the oncoming traffic and whizzed around a corner. We are full of admiration for the bus driver, his patience and his ability to manoeuvre around all sorts of obstacles. I don’t know whether it’s always like this or it was just the pre-Christmas rush.

Traffic

The journey took us more than an hour and a half and I’m not sure how far we travelled but it was very slow going. Coming home by train was much quicker despite missing one and waiting for delays at Clapham Junction.

Yes, but is it the real one?

By the time we arrived in Kingston we were happy to find an Italian restaurant with a very nice lunch deal. Our starters were big enough to be the whole meal.

Just for starters

Kingston is a lovely town and really bustling. There are lots of half timbered buildings, as well as modern shops. We also found Christmas markets, a big tree and lovely Christmas lights.

Kingston

It is situated on the Thames (Kingston upon Thames) and we enjoyed a look at the river, boats and swans.

The Thames

We asked a man to take our photo and he did it from a strange angle. Thought it was going to be right up our noses.

Stopped at our local Coop supermarket when we got off the train but we’re still so full of our late lunch that we can’t be bothered cooking tonight.

The pudding

Thursday 21 December

Our mission today was to collect a Christmas pudding. Here’s how it went ... When Rob and Judy were staying in Hadstock they decided to continue their long Christmas pudding-making tradition. Judy’s recipe makes two puddings so there was one for the friends whose house they were staying in and one for them.

The problem was that they were going to Norway and didn’t want to carry a pudding there. So it was left in Hadstock with a plan that someone would bring it into London on Rob and Judy’s return.
I don’t know how many emails and texts went back and forth.

It was finally arranged that a friend of David and Lucy’s, who Rob and Judy had met in Hadstock, would bring it in to work today. He works just near St Paul’s Cathedral so we caught the train to London Bridge, crossed the Millenium Bridge and met him at a cafe next to the cathedral.

Millenium Bridge

The pudding was duly handed over, coffee was drunk and the friend returned to work, relieved to be able to cross one more errand off his pre-Christmas list.

The pudding is handed over

The pudding then accompanied us on our wandering for the rest of the day.

Beside the Thames

We walked beside the Thames to Somerset House and had a lovely time watching people ice skating. There was a special area for children, with little polar bears that the children could push along to help them balance. The bigger rink had people of all ages and abilities. One woman that Rob spoke to said she had ice skated 30 years ago but was a bit rusty now. Rob commented that we all get a bit more cautious as we get older and she agreed, saying she couldn’t afford to hurt herself because she had to cook the Christmas dinner.

Polar bears waiting for children

Somerset House

Then it was home again both under and over the ground. This time we beat the rush hour, had an uneventful train trip and got the famous pudding home in good condition. We keep thinking about the “magic pudding”. It might keep us going until we go home!

Man with pudding

Borough Market

Wednesday 20 December

Let me tell you about London’s public transport system, which is proving interesting and challenging. I think we’ve only had one trip so far where the train has gone according to schedule. When we arrived we were detoured because someone had been hit, so three trains instead of two. Yesterday our train to Clapham Junction was delayed which meant we missed our connection to Guildford and then we had to wait for the next one. We were also told the wrong platform at first too.Then coming home we had a good run from Guildford but the train from Clapham Junction was so full we couldn’t get on it so we had to wait for the next one. Today we went to London Bridge Station with no problems. Yay! Coming home we stood at the departures board for about half an hour waiting for them to tell us which platform to go to. Then it was a case of push and shove through the crowd to get to the train. Halfway through the journey they announced that we all had to get off at Crystal Palace because the train was very late and they wanted to go fast with no stops to the end destination, Victoria. So we all piled off at Crystal Palace and waited for the next train, which came in about ten minutes. It’s fortunate that we’re on holiday and not in a rush.

Pies at the Borough Market

Anyway, today’s outing was to the Borough Market, which is close to London Bridge and the Thames, and is beneath a raised railway with trains rumbling overhead. It’s a great market with all sorts of interesting food stalls and lots of people lunching or shopping for their Christmas delicacies. I particularly liked a display of many kinds of mushrooms and another featuring Brussels sprouts, of all things!

Mushrooms

Brussels sprouts

We had lunch there at a Spanish cafe that Rob and Judy had visited a few weeks ago.

Anyone for paella?

Then we walked along the south bank of the river to the Bankside Gallery, where Judy’s brother-in-law Doug had had a print exhibited. There was an exhibition from the Royal Watercolour Society and there is now one less picture on their wall!

We also saw a replica of Sir Francis Drake’s ship, the Golden Hind.

The Golden Hind

A longer than expected trip home, as I’ve already described, then feet up and a relaxed evening.

Forgot to mention the Globe Theatre!

Guildford and Polesden Lacey

Tuesday 19 December

Today we caught the train to Guildford where Rob and Judy had arranged to catch up with friends of theirs. David and Gina met us at the station and drove us to a National Trust home nearby called Polesden Lacey. This was the country retreat of Maggie Grenville, “one of the most successful socialites of the Edwardian era.” It was her weekend party house and she entertained royalty, maharajahs, diplomats and entertainers.

It has extensive gardens and is lavishly decorated for Christmas in the style of a 1930s house party. There was a Christmas tree in nearly every room and one room had three!

From there we were taken to the village of Shere. We wandered up the very narrow main street of half timbered houses and saw a church built around 1200. There were ducks on the little steam and lots of pretty Christmas lights.

David and Gina took us back to their lovely home for mulled wine and a delicious dinner before dropping us back at the station for the return trip to London.

Streatham

Tuesday 18 December

Woke up (eventually) to a sunny London winter’s day. Rob went out to buy breakfast supplies. No dining room with dozens of breakfast choices any more! We have to fend for ourselves.

The view from my bedroom window

We loaded the washing machine and left it to do its thing while we went to explore the Streatham High St. It’s very multicultural and typical London. Had coffee at “Perfect Blend”, a very pleasant coffee shop. There are lots of cafes to choose from and a bakery with some sensational looking doughnuts and other goodies. There’s a cinema quite close by too.

I wanted to get a Local SIM card for my phone but after two shops and a lot of time discovered that my phone is locked to Telstra and I can’t do anything with it over here. So I went a few shops down and bought a second hand phone, which means I’ll just have to keep coming back to England to make buying it worthwhile. Not a bad plan!

Our house

Kirkenes to London

Sunday 17 December

Today was a travel day. We said a sad goodbye to “ Kong Harald” and caught the bus to the Kirkenes airport.

I’m glad the Norwegian airlines know how to do ice and snow because that was a pretty frosty looking airport!

We got to Gatwick about 5pm and after catching 3 trains reached our destination, Streatham Hill Station, where the owner of the house we are renting met us and guided us to our home for the next 4 weeks. It all seems very comfortable and cosy.

Walked back to Streatham for an Italian meal and then home to bed. I was exhausted after two flights and three trains. There were problems with the train we were supposed to catch as someone had been hit by a train, so we were put on another one and told to change at East Croydon. The lift wasn’t working so we had to lug our cases up and down stairs - memories of Europe in 2011. Fortunately no problems at the other stations.