Well September has arrived marking the official start of autumn. Now it starts getting colder and colder and we have to dig our winter clothes out of storage. However, the final week or so of summer was pretty eventful, culminating on the 30th (we'll ignore the grey skies and drizzle on the 31st) with a glorious, hot (for London) day. Here's a rundown of what we've been up to.
Notting Hill Carnival
The carnival runs on the Sunday and Monday of the August bank holiday weekend, incidentally the first long weekend that we haven't been away. We decided to go down and check it out on the Sunday, and had ourselves a great day walking around, eating Jamaican food and drinking Jamaican beer, and watching the colourful parades.
Day trip to Oxford
On the bank holiday Monday we took a train to Oxford (I got us really cheap tickets and was incredibly pleased with myself). We took a tour of the town, going in to some of the colleges of the University and learning some interesting history. A greyish morning turned into a lovely afternoon, so we headed down to a riverside pub to while away the time till we had to get the train back to London.
Pimms Summerfest
On a Wednesday night a week ago we made our way to Holland Park for this event. A whole area of the park was sectioned off, and there were a few bars, a BBQ serving hamburgers and sausages, and lots of space to sit, have a drink and relax. The main event was comedy in the outdoor theatre - we saw 4 comedians. It was a lovely evening - warm but with a nice cool breeze - and we were left regretting that we hadn't taken advantage of more of our summer evenings by picnicking in London's parks.
London Eye and Thames cruise
We had booked, through last minute, a 40 minute Thames cruise and flight on the iconic London Eye. Saturday was, as mentioned, absolutely glorious, and as a lot of August has been grey and overcast, we couldn't believe our luck. We started with the cruise, complete with commentary, followed by the Eye. The whole day was fantastic, I would highly recommend the cruise especially to any visitor to London. It was the kind of day that really makes you love London. Afterwards, we paid a quick visit to the second hand book market on the South Bank (where Dave even let me buy a couple of books), before meeting up with Jarratt and Bec in Clapham for a few quiet ones...well a few anyway.
We are now looking forward to our trip to Lisbon and Seville in a week, where we plan to relax and fill ourselves with tapas, paella, sangria, seafood, and Portuguese custard tarts. Hope everyone is well.
Notting Hill Carnival
The carnival runs on the Sunday and Monday of the August bank holiday weekend, incidentally the first long weekend that we haven't been away. We decided to go down and check it out on the Sunday, and had ourselves a great day walking around, eating Jamaican food and drinking Jamaican beer, and watching the colourful parades.
Day trip to Oxford
On the bank holiday Monday we took a train to Oxford (I got us really cheap tickets and was incredibly pleased with myself). We took a tour of the town, going in to some of the colleges of the University and learning some interesting history. A greyish morning turned into a lovely afternoon, so we headed down to a riverside pub to while away the time till we had to get the train back to London.
Pimms Summerfest
On a Wednesday night a week ago we made our way to Holland Park for this event. A whole area of the park was sectioned off, and there were a few bars, a BBQ serving hamburgers and sausages, and lots of space to sit, have a drink and relax. The main event was comedy in the outdoor theatre - we saw 4 comedians. It was a lovely evening - warm but with a nice cool breeze - and we were left regretting that we hadn't taken advantage of more of our summer evenings by picnicking in London's parks.
London Eye and Thames cruise
We had booked, through last minute, a 40 minute Thames cruise and flight on the iconic London Eye. Saturday was, as mentioned, absolutely glorious, and as a lot of August has been grey and overcast, we couldn't believe our luck. We started with the cruise, complete with commentary, followed by the Eye. The whole day was fantastic, I would highly recommend the cruise especially to any visitor to London. It was the kind of day that really makes you love London. Afterwards, we paid a quick visit to the second hand book market on the South Bank (where Dave even let me buy a couple of books), before meeting up with Jarratt and Bec in Clapham for a few quiet ones...well a few anyway.
We are now looking forward to our trip to Lisbon and Seville in a week, where we plan to relax and fill ourselves with tapas, paella, sangria, seafood, and Portuguese custard tarts. Hope everyone is well.
On the Thames cruise with Tower Bridge in the background
On the Eye
Notting Hill Carnival
Dave with the Jamaican beer
At Jesus College in Oxford
Oxford
One of the bars at the Summerfest
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