Flat Hunting

Ella was up early and off to the gym and then we walked to meet her and Samarah when they had finished.  Decided that it would be sensible to get out early as predicted to be hot later in the day.

Samarah left us as she had to get ready for work and we walked the length of the Portobello Road Market one of the most famous and historical street markets on the world.  It is best known for its antiques, fashion, food, crafts, books and music, along with some delicious looking street food.  As we were there earlier in the day, it wasn't too busy and so we could enjoy the sights, sounds and smells without having to dodge the crowds.  Also enjoyed the pretty coloured houses around the Portobello Road area.

Ella and I had a chocolate milkshake from Knoops - possibly the best I have ever had and was definitely perfect on such a hot day.

Following our market visit, we went with Ella to view a flat in Bayswater.  It was in the same building as one we had previously looked at and, thankfully, is perfect for what she is looking for.  The landlords are two sisters whose Grandmother bought the buildings after the Second World War.  They run it as a family business and were lovely to deal with.  Ella feels really positive about the move and we are just relieved that she will have somewhere nice to live, where she feels safe.  The move in date is the end of June which works perfectly, as the lease ends on the current flat around the same time.  I think we will all sleep better tonight.

Caught the bus back to the flat has it was starting to get really warm.  Apart from a walk to a quirky wee gift shop, we have spent the afternoon trying to avoid the heat.  Defrosting the freezer was a pleasurable task in this weather.  Probably a good chance to acclimatise before our Singapore stopover in a few days.

Exploring Interesting Places

 Monday (cont). Dinner was delicious - Pad Thai, and great company.  Very pleasant evening all round.

Tuesday

We travelled into the city to St Batholomew's Hospital.  The North Wing and Hogarth Stair were part of the original administration block and have recently been restored and repaired.  The North Wing was built in the 1730s and is open to the public on Monday and Tuesday, for free  The murals, painted by Hogarth, include the Pool of Bethesda and the Good Samaritan, and the ceiling of the Great Hall intricately gilded.  It was an absolute gem and well worth a visit.  We also had a quick look at the hospital museum but it was full of scary looking ancient medical devices!

From there we travelled to Bayswater to view a couple of potential flats for Ella.  The area is perfect, near Kensington Garden and close to Queensway, with restaurants, supermarkets and a range of really nice shops.  Neither of the flats were really options - they are so small and crazy expensive.

Back on the tube and a walk to the supermarket before heading 'home'.  We did a few more chores around the flat and had dinner ready for Ella when she got home from work.

Wednesday

Back on the tube and 'escorted' Ella into work.  The tube was crazy busy, apparently not normal but a reminder that we are in a huge city.

We were going to Sicilian Avenue a Grade 2 listed Edwardian avenue in Holborn. but unfortunately it was closed due to some extensive restoration work.  The buildings were started in the early 1900s, designed in a Baroque Revival style, using Italian marble and terracotta, with Italian and classical motifs.  Even though we could only see a small number of buildings, they were pretty impressive. 

Then on to the British Museum where we visited the clock and watch, and the money exhibitions.  Both really interesting.  We could have stayed there for hours, but even passing through the other exhibits was worth the time.

From there we walked to Covent Garden with a stop for a hot chocolate along the way.  I remembered Hotel Chocolate from when were here previously and it was just as good.  Seventy percent chocolate with chocolate whipped cream on the top.  The perfect injection of energy to keep us on the go.  Covent Garden is a lovely spot and we stopped to enjoy a string trio playing classical music.

We tubed to Waterloo and walked to Leake Street, also known as the Banksy Tunnel.  It is a road tunnel in Lambeth where graffiti is legal and promoted.  The street is about 300 metres long and runs under the platform and tracks of Waterloo Station.  The walls are decorated with graffiti, initially created during the Cans Festival organised by Banksey in 2008.  It is a riot of colour and different styles and a feast for the eyes.

In the afternoon we walked to Kilburn Road, about 15 minutes, to the closest Lloyds Bank, to close an account that we have had for about 35 years.  Funny, it was way easier to close the account than it had been to open it all those years ago.

I later caught the train into Oxford Circus to meet Ella and we had dinner at Bread Store - the biggest slices of pizza ever seen, and delicious.  We met her friend Samarah and went to the musical The Devil Wears Prada.  Lots of fun and the costumes were stunning - I love going to the theatre in London.

Thursday

Up early, which was a bit of a struggle after a late night, and Ella and I headed to Slone Square and the Chelsea Flower Show.  There were lots of people wearing floral dresses, comfortable shoes and flower fascinators.  When we arrived at the show it wasn't too busy but, within a couple of hours it was a heaving mass.  We visited the Grand Pavilion first, which was a good move, and saw amazing small gardens and floral arrangements.  It was interesting seeing the different varieties of flowers and the ways in which they were combined.  It was a bucket list moment for me and I was in my happy place.  It was hard to get a decent look at the gardens outside, due to the crowds, but we did enjoy seeing what we could.  Lots of stalls selling an array of flower and gardening related goods.  I did treat myself to three metal poppies for my garden - getting them home might be interesting.

The shops and businesses around the Slone Square area had interesting floral and garden related displays that we enjoyed on our walk to and from the station.

Getting back to the tube was crazing.  The crowds heading to the show created a massive jam and we had to battle our way through, trying to go in the opposite direction.  So glad that we had gone early.  On the way back we went to Ikea where Ella got lots of ideas for things for her (potential) new flat.  We also went to Goldhawk Road, where there are numerous fabric stores.  Again I had to be reserved, but Ella found some lovely black suiting to make herself a new blazer. 

David had been out for a bike ride and managed to get back just before us as he had the key.  Weather is warming up ahead of the predicted heatwave.

We have extended our time here for an additional two days, felt that we wanted to support Ella for as long as possible, so now fly out Monday morning.  Means we will have two less days in Singapore, but we're happy with the plan change and we get to have the weekend together.

London Stuff

 Sunday

We went back to the Queen's Park Sunday market which was just as interesting the second time.  Lots of delicious fresh produce on display.  David had a 'gourmet farm sausage' with fried red onion and a couple of sauces.  Have to say, it was absolutely delicious.  Bought a bunch of peonies for Ella (loving getting to enjoy spring flowers twice in a year) and a loaf of ciabatta bread, good enough to have for lunch with just butter on it.

Ella went off to the gym and we went to Poundland (full of cheap stuff) and the local hardware store, to get some more tools for David's DIY repairs.  Ella's supply of tools continues to grow.  Weather has been much cooler and it's been nice just having time to potter close to home.

Walked to the 'big Sainsbury' supermarket in the afternoon to get supplies for dinner.  It is rather nice being able to walk or use public transport to get around, not something we can do at home.  Ella cooked a lovely meal - getting quite used to this life!

Monday 

We were organised early and joined Ella for part of her commute to work.  We left her at Paddington Station and made our way toward Southwark, near London Bridge.  There is a identified area for flying drones and David was keen to have a try.  It was a really interesting area with ruins, older style housing and just down the road, a number of ultra modern commercial buildings.

We hired a couple of Santanda Bikes (Boris Bikes) and cycled along the bike lanes, in the area.  It felt a bit weird riding without a helmet, but the cycle lane kept us away from the double decker buses.  If there wasn't so much traffic, cycling would be a great way to explore the city.

Decided that we needed to do a couple of touristy things, so a visit to Harrods and Hamleys toy store.  Not quite as much fun as when you have small people to buy for, but always worth the visit.  From there we went underground to Leister Square where we met up with our Dunedin friend Elva and her friend Carol.  They have been travelling through Europe and have a few days in London, before exploring more of the UK.  Was so lovely to see Elva and to hear of their adventures to date.

Back to Queens Park to finish off the DIY jobs and clean the oven -isn't that what visiting parents are for!  Having a bit of down time before we catch the tube back into the city.  We are meeting up with three of Ella's school friends and the parents of two of them, for a Thai meal.  Will be a great catch up I'm sure.

Just heard that that planned tube strikes have been cancelled this week which should make getting around much less complicated and time consuming.  The public transport system is so efficient, when it is working well.

Back to London

 Friday

Woke up to rain, the first significant wet weather during all of our travels to date.  Thankfully we only had to travel about 15 minutes to Podgorica airport.  We were both so relieved to return the rental car unscathed - a miracle after driving amongst such crazy drivers.

Airport procedures were just as relaxed leaving as it was when we arrived.  Reminiscent of how things used to be!  Our flight back was fine once we cleared the bumps and it was a great to fly over the lovely green countryside on the way into Gatwick Airport.

We trained directly to Victoria Station where Ella met us and we got to see the office building that she works in.  Back to the flat, unpacked and washing done at 'our' friendly local laundromat.  Was nice to have dinner ready for her when she arrived home last night.

Saturday

Ella met her friend Nina for a gym class and we caught the bus to catch up with them for a coffee.  Nina's two sister's, and her three year old nephew, are visiting and we joined them for a walk in Kensington Gardens.  It was so lovely to hear Jayden's delight in seeing the squirrels - mind you, we love to see them too.

The three of us went to the Westfield Mall at Shepard's Bush, close to where Ella lived when she first came to London.  We have the most delicious Chinese food for lunch.  Ella and I did a bit of retail therapy, just cause we could.

Later this afternoon, David and I walked to Poundland - a bargain shop - to get screwdrivers to add to Ella's tool kit and, hopefully, fix a door for her.  It was amazing the bargains we found!

Loving just hanging out with our girl.

Snakes

 Managed to 'escape' Kotor unscathed, though there were some challenging moments on the way down the hill from our apartment.  At one point the road was blocked by a police car and there wasn't enough room for us to squeeze past.  Instead of waiting patiently until we could move, the people behind us just kept blasting their horns and gesticulating wildly.  Not quite sure what we were expected to do!

Our route to Podgorica took us along the coast past lots of smaller seaside towns.  Had planned to stop at Budva to look at the old town, but the town was busy and the thought of negotiating more narrow roads was just too hard.  More glorious views across the bay.

Just to ensure that we got plenty of exercise for the day, we stopped off near Sutomore Beach to climb to the Haj Nehaj fortress.  It sits 231 m above sea level, the path is stoney and steep.  We surprised ourselves by managing the climb in about 20 minutes, but it took equally long to climb back down due to the slippery stones.  The ruins of the fort were amazing and well worth the climb.  Now that I know that there are snakes in Montenegro. I was on the lookout the whole time, especially as the path was narrow with long grass and weeds alongside.  It was a relief to get back down to the road without any unwanted surprises, only to see a snake slithering across the tarmac in front of us!  We did see another one on the road, but sadly it met an untimely death.

Even though we haven't seen any bears, we have heard cuckoo in the forest, such a cool bird call and they sound just like the clocks!

We had a very pleasant picnic at Sutomore Beach, after Google Maps took us down a number of one way roads the wrong way.  Funnily enough no-one seemed to notice and we even saw some locals doing the same thing.  It was a lovely quiet spot with only a few tourists, but they were clearly preparing for the summer trade.

Onward to Podgorica with a stop of at Niagara Waterfall on the Cijevna River which originates in Albania.    There are differing views about whether or not the waterfall has been formed by nature, or from a man-made dam, but it was pretty impressive either way.  The strange thing was that there is a restaurant on the bank of the river where diners sit outside watching the river, and you had to walk through it to get to the falls.  Guess it's one way to get potential customers to notice you.

We found our apartment for tonight, again it's in a large building.  We have spent some of the evening standing on the balcony just watching every day life play out.   We walked to the Millennium Bridge over the Moraca River and then along the river bank to the stone bridge spanning the Ribnica River.  Just because we need more steps, we climbed up to another ruin, before heading back to the apartment.

Thoughts about Montenegro:  beautiful country with incredible contrasts from snowy mountains to beautiful coastlines, crazy drivers and impossible roads, on the cusp of becoming over-run by tourists.  I think we have had the pleasure of visiting before it potentially looses some of its magic.

Car Free Day

After our stressful drive yesterday we decided that we would spend the day exploring Kotor on foot.  It felt like we were on holiday, rather than travelling, which was a nice change.

Set off early to climb the track up to the San Giovanni Fortress, built on the mountain 280 m above above the old town.  The climb is over 1,300 steps and you have to pay for the privilege, but many people (like us) use an alternative path that zig zags up the mountain.  The path was pretty stoney and uneven in places, but it was gradual an not too challenging.  Definitely preferable to climbing all those steps.  Near the top of the fortress, the is the ruin of an old church where the incredible ceiling paintings are still slightly visible.  Apparently there used to be a way to  get into the fortress from the alternative path but that has recently been blocked off.  We were happy to have seen what we did and the views looking down to the bay were amazing.  There is even a cheese shop further up from where we climbed - go figure!

There was a fascinatingly diverse group of people climbing the path, including runners, an old lady carrying shopping bags, quite a few Americans and a couple from Tauranga.  Always nice to hear a Kiwi accent when visiting far flung places.

By the time we had returned to the bay, the temperature was staring to increase, so our early start was a wise decision.  We wandered the old town, climbing more steps and walking along the wall which is long - we didn't walk all of it!  Couldn't believe the cats that were sunning themselves while tourists and workers walked around them.  There are bowls of food all over the town and you can get food by returning two recyclable bottles, so that you can also feed them.  The town is full of narrow street, squares with restaurants and cafes, and cats.  The is an interesting range of small shops, mainly full of cat themed items.  There was a cruise ship in so the town started to become pretty crowded, time for us to leave.

Back to the apartment for lunch - very civilised sitting in the sun rather than on the go.  On the away back, David discovered a turtle wandering along the path.  It was initially being stalked by a cat, but the cat decided that it wasn't that keen on getting too close.  Apparently it was a Hermann's turtle that are quite common in Montenegro, but it seemed odd to find one on a concrete path some distance from the water.  The other thing we were wondering about, while climbing up the mountain path, was whether or not there are snakes here.  The answer is yes, there are about 14 different species, including the highly venomous Nose-horned Viper.  Glad I didn't know that when we were walking through the grass!  After our climb, we decided that we would go for a swim. Hard to turn down the opportunity to swim in the Adriatic Sea.  It was a bit chilly initially, but was so nice to cool off.  We walked along the water front road that was the scene of the mega traffic jam yesterday and it was hard to believe that it was the same place.  There were hardly any cars and people were walking along the road enjoying the sunshine.

We had one more visit to the old town, before heading back up the hill for dinner, washing and preparation for moving on tomorrow.  If you lived here you would certainly be fit from the constant climbing up and down the hills.  Have loved our visit, just have to negotiate our way back out again tomorrow.

The switch back track we climbed

From the Mountains to the Sea

 We've had some adventures during the trip but I think today probably set the gold standard.

It was pretty much a road trip day as we travelled from Berane to Kotor, on the South coast.  Instead of driving directly here, we took the alternative R18 route which was originally built as part of the Yugoslav highway network, spanning Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia.  The construction was never completed on the Montenegrin section so it remains a region road and is recognised as a scenic route.  At varies from smooth with two lanes, rough, full of potholes and crumbling away at the edges, to seriously narrow with limited places to pass oncoming traffic.  Thankfully it is not well used so no real issues.  At one point we were so hight that we drove up out of the clouds, a bit like being on an airplane.  The views were stunningly beautiful with the rugged mountains and the lime green spring growth on the trees.  The rock formations created by tectonic and erosion, just seem to tower over everything.  There a warnings to be aware of potential rock falls, on all of the roads.  It was is amazing to see the size of some of the rocks that had already fallen - thankfully none of them onto us.

We have been amazed by the amount of tourism development that is happening, especially in the north of the country.  Climbing up through a mountain pass this morning we drove through a 2,800 m tunnel and on the other side were massive hotels and accommodation in the process of being built, to attract people to the area for skiing. 

For about an hour of the journey we had rain, the first time we had driven on wet roads.  There were lots of touring motor cyclists and some of their riding was almost as crazy as car drivers.  Once we returned to the main highway south the weather improved and it was decidedly warmer.

Kotor is our 'home' for the next few days and the drive down to the bay was nothing short spectacular.  It is a UNESCO listed coastal town and is surrounded by steep limestone cliffs.  The road winds down the steep mountain, toward the bay giving glimpses of the bay, through the trees.  It is also known as the 'city of cats' - I'm looking forward to meeting as many local felines as I can.

Our biggest challenge of the trip was once we had arrived in Kotor.  There had been an accident on the main road into the town and traffic was completely stationary.  GPS provided an alternative route which involved us driving along a narrow (and I mean seriously narrow) road right on the edge of the bay.  The resulting traffic jam was like nothing we have ever experience before.  Cars trying to drive in both directions, others parked, blocking the already skinny road, and others trying to turn around.  Everyone was impatient and trying to squeeze past each other.  It took us an hour to travel less than two km.  We were pleased to avoid scratches or damage to the car and with the wing mirrors still intact.

That was part one of the challenge.  The second part involved trying to find our accommodation.  We followed Google maps which got completely confused and ended up in some pretty precarious situations.  Once again squeezing past cars, concrete walls and steep roads.  In the end I got out and used GPS to walk the alleys, until we found the apartment and David was able to follow me.  We are still talking to each other, the car is undamaged and the apartment is lovely, so the final outcome was positive.

Tomorrow we are seriously considering doing all of our sightseeing by walking so that we only have to negotiate our way out of here when we leave on Thursday.