In the early hours of the morning, Michael suffered a major attack of diarrhoea. As we had both eaten salmon the night before, and I was clearly OK, he attributed his suffering to the blue cheese he had eaten on the train — cheese that he had bought in Switzerland...or possibly even in Austria...so long ago!!! He has been on a mission to finish eating all the food we buy, as so much energy goes into producing the food. However, even he admits that this was taking things to the extreme! That cheese had been unrefrigerated during our travelling time. Fortunately, he bounced back very quickly, as he was booked to work for an architecture firm in London for the day! After his morning run, we went downstairs for an early breakfast (7:30am) — the continental breakfast included a couple of different types of muesli with a wide variety of nuts and dried fruits which I added to the mix, as well as some delicious yoghurts, fruit and the usual array of breads, pastries, meats and cheeses, etc. Michael set off at about 8am, leaving me writing emails on my iPad whilst drinking cups of tea with soy milk. When I left the restaurant at about 10am, I was a little shaky — I may have just had a wee bit too much tea to drink!

After washing a few items of clothing, I headed off to explore London on my own. James had recommended I visit Camden Market, as I was looking for something different to do. Google Maps indicated that the walk there would take about an hour, and as it went past the Charles Dickens Museum, I thought it would be a good idea to break up my trip with a visit. Sunscreen on, I set off on my journey, stopping at the first bank I came across to exchange our ‘expired’ five and ten pound notes for current ones. (The staff were very welcoming, friendly and helpful, to the point of even asking what I had planned for the day.)

I spent about an hour at the museum (£9 well spent), visiting each level of the 5-storey house where Dickens had lived for about 2.5 years and where he’d written his novels Oliver Twist, The Pickwick Papers and Nicholas Nickleby. It’s where he first achieved international fame as one of the world’s greatest storytellers.  .  A pamphlet provided brief information about the purpose of each room, with additional information displayed along the way, elaborating on certain items within each room. What I hadn’t realised about Dickens was that he was well versed in science and medicine, and played an important roll in educating the public about the latest theories and approaches by including such information in his stories. He even learned how to mesmerise people, rejecting one of the theories at the time that the hypnotic trances produced were due to animal magnetism or invisible fluids. His view was that the effects were related to will power or psychological factors — he was on the right track there! Dickens also had a strong sense of social justice, themes that occur in many of his stories. He believed that society should take better care of the poor, and that better sanitation would reduce the spread of diseases among the poor. Children should be educated, rather than sent out to work at a young age. It only became widely known, two years after his death, that Dickens had spent two years working in a . ... from the age of 12 when his father was imprisoned for bankruptcy. Dickens also felt strongly that children should be treated in a seperate hospital from adults, and he campaigned hard for the establishment of the Ormond Road Children’s Hospital. If anyone is interested in learning more about Dickens, there is a YouTube video worth viewing: https://dickensmuseum.com/blogs/news/dickenss-scientific-interest. I learned a lot from the display of his scientific interests in the building next door to the museum, accessed from the second floor of the house.

One of Dicken’s letters to a friend extols the virtues of sitting on cane wicker chairs — he describes how his farts can dissipate more easily, although he didn’t exactly use those words! Apparently, he had some gut issues, and so suffered from flatulence.

I feel inspired to read a Dicken’s novel — I remember finding his writings challenging when I was at university, due to the number of uncommon words he frequently used — I was forever consulting my dictionary. Now, if I read his novels on my Kindle, I’ll be able to instantly look up the meaning of any words I don’t know!

After reading just about all the information on display, I continued on my way, wasting the first 15 minutes going around in circles, despite consulting my map frequently. The problem was that not all the street names seemed to be included on the map, and so I just had to randomly pick a direction and wait until the next intersection to verify my position. I couldn’t believe it when, 15 minutes after leaving, I walked past the other end of Doughty Street on which the Dicken’s museum is situated! It took me another 45 minutes, walking along a fairly boring main road with nothing intriguing to look at, to reach Camden Town and the market. Quite a number of the shops that lead up to the market (that was established in 1974 in the old buildings around the canal) had installed 3D facades above their shop fronts, the themes reflecting the items they sold. These were colourful and impressive. 

As I crossed the bridge near the main market area, I noticed a couple of long boats queued up at the lock, waiting to transfer to the higher water level. I found a better vantage point and watched the whole procedure before moving on to explore the old market area. I might have enjoyed myself more, had there been less people and if I’d had a companion with me. It was very crowded, and being about 2pm, people were still frequenting the food stalls and restaurants. I was feeling a little peckish myself, but not hungry enough to invest £7 or more in a substantial meal, and so I finished my discovery tour and headed back in the direction from which I had come. As luck would have it, there was a small Tesco supermarket not far down the street with a chicken wrap on sale for just over £2. It was here that the checkout guy informed me that my one pound coins that I had left over from our last visit were outdated and that I would need to visit another bank to get them updated. I only had 4 or 5 coins to exchange, but given that they were worth the equivalent of about AU$9, it was worth the effort, especially given that there was a bank right next door. The woman at the bank noted that they would not normally exchange coins for people who weren’t bank customers, but that as I only wanted a few coins, she would see what she could do. With valid money in my purse at last, I continued on my journey, catching the Underground back into the heart of the city, as I could not face walking back down the long, boring street again! 

I changed trains after two stops, and then when I disembarked at Covent Garden, I decided I’d overshot the mark, and so I crossed to the adjacent platform and took the next train back one stop. (I only had to wait for one minute.) My mission was to find the Marks and Spencer’s store, and I wasn’t sure whether it was in New Oxford Street or Oxford Street, and so my walk took me along both. I had to stop to reapply my sunscreen — whilst the day had started cool and overcast, the afternoon was more sunny than cloudy — a pleasantly warm 26C. I bought a few items for the grandchildren in Marks and Spencer’s and then walked down to the Strand to check out the clothing in Mountain Warehouse (I have shopped at this store before, including in Hereford last year and online from their Australian outlet). I wanted to check the sizing of their shorts so that I would know for future online buying. Just before finding the store, I stopped to login to the city’s free wifi so that I could check for messages from Michael — he’d left one to let me know he’d be back at the hotel by 5:30pm. I messaged back that I was expecting to be back by about 5pm. However, the sale at Mountain Warehouse tempted me into trying on some shorts (I bought 2 pairs), and I also bought some lovely inexpensive T-shirts (about 70% off) for Oaki. I took a little longer than anticipated, and then overshot the lane that I should have taken to get back to our hotel (it was not straightforward to get to, being situated off 2 lanes that run off the Strand, rather than being located directly off any proper street).  

It was just after 5:30pm by the time I arrived back in our room. Michael was already there, ready to go out for dinner, and so I flew in to the shower, and then sipped some champagne as I hurriedly dressed. My makeup was a bit haphazard, but then I didn’t expect to run into anyone I know, so it didn’t really matter! ;-) 

Halfway to the theatre, we found a Thai restaurant with a 3-course meal deal for only £15.95. We emphasised the need to eat quickly, and were willingly accommodated. The food was delicious, although the desert was a bit odd — 3 or 4 lychees in a bowl of icy water! We made it to the theatre with 5 minutes to spare, inconveniencing the poor people in Row B who were already seated — our seats were in the middle! The gay guys behind us were all revved up for the performance — it was the 10th time for one of them and the 24th for the other! There won’t be a second time for me — it was energetic and fun, but there were no outstanding songs. Michael stayed awake, and even smiled throughout the show (unusual for him to sort of enjoy a musical!), but we both agreed that the jokes about child sexual abuse were inappropriate, given the seriousness of this problem in our society. 

I do love the atmosphere of the West End on a mild summer’s night, whereas Michael hates the crowds. We enjoyed the walk home, finishing the night with some cheesecake we’d bought on sale the night before (something more substantial than the lychees!).