My stories of my UK stay

[John Pruden]

keep them coming lou most enjoyable life stories and thanks for wrighting them mate.jp

[Lou Barron]

So off we went leaving Fullwel station then on to Kings Cross station after a bit of delay for some unknowed reason we we boarded the train about 11.30am i think it took abouut 5 hours stopping at a few stations on the way .We arrived at the Waverly railway station we got a taxi to the apartment we had booked for our cannot remember the name but it was a very nice placenot that far from the centre of town .We decided to find a restaurant for dinner .The restaurant was not that far away after a couple of beers we had a lovely dinner with a bottle of NZ Marlborough wine Dave bought some beer and bought a small bottle of gin plus some tonic water at Tesco this was for night cap better than hot choc or milo the weather was just lovely .I had a lovely bed (no bed mate )and slept very well

[Lou Barron]

Our first day in Edingburgh we decided to do a bit of sight seeing so we got one of those sight seeing buses by the Waverly bridge and we sat on the top deck we we muwooden house or st have been on and off a the bus a few times and saw a lot of the city and suburbs what amazed me i never saw a wooden house or building mostly built in stone nothing strange about that what i did notice was the amount of monuments they seemed to be every where .The weather was keeping just fine and we did some walking when we got off the bus .Stopped and had lunch then we went down Princes St , that is another thing i saw that a lot of of the street names we have the same names in Dunedin maybe thats why they call Dunedin Edingburgh of the south .With the time getting on we decided to head back to the apartment and freshing up and go for dinner to a pub not far away .My daughter had rang these people we knew and the said they would come and see us so after dinner we went back to the apartment and waited for these people to arrive

[Lou Barron]

These people arrived at about 7.30 pm so after a few greetings we all sat down .There John , Jean and their Daughter Deborah( She had stayed in NZ for about a year that was only a couple of years agoand she stayed with my wife and i just fora few days )John then produced a bottle whisky so that was going to make this get together very enjoyable so we did a lot off talking and the whisky got a bit lower and with time getting on Deborah was to drive mum and dad home as she did not drink so John made arrangements for going to their home for dinner the next day .Dave said how about a night cap i said just a snall one as i could feel the effects of the drink i had had so off to bed .Next day we went to the Castle it was a lovely day after we payed our entrance fee we spent a few hours looking around i was amazed at what you could see .At the highest point you got a lovely sight of Edingburgh and suburbs.There was also a small musuem that even had a part relating to the Merchant Navy which i thought was great.Ithink we had Coffee and cake while we was there .After leaving the Castle wewalked down the Royal Mile where all the souvenir shops where bought a couple of things to take home then it was back to the apartment to wait to picked up to go to dinner for our friends

[Lou Barron]

We was picked up by John his self as he saidvto leave the femalesto do the cooking so after we bought a couple of bottles of wine we arrived at their home in a lovely area of Edingburgh it was a very nice evening .The first thing John said would like a beer or a whisky we went for a beer .Wnen dinner was ready we went into the dinning room we Jean and Deborah had the table all set well anyhow after a lovely meal and the wine was finished we sat and talked for avwhile and as time went on John said have one whisky to say goodbye as we had one day to go so that was that and Deborah droves us back to the apartment Both John and Jean intend to come out to NZ next year for a few weeks I will look forward to that as they lovely people Well next day we went to Queensfeery by the very impressive railway bridge ( i had been there with my wife a few years ago and also went over the road bridge)but the weather changed it got cold and very wet as we wanted to for a cruise on the Firthof Forth so we had to go it was a nice trip bar for the weather it took abot two hours so when we got back to bridge we went to the pub just over the road and had a few drinks and lunch Back to the apartment we thought we would go to the pub we had been before and have a meal so off we went As i went to the bar to order some drinks i was standing next to a man and his wife he said to he was a ex MN seaman and he recognised my MN badge so we got talking and he said he had been at seafor a couple of years then went on the fishing trawlers butwas now retired so after a few beers and a meal we went back to the apartment feeling very happy night caps was the order then of to bed

[Lou Barron]

On our last day in Edingburgh we got a taxi to the Waverly railway station and as luck would have it we got good seats it seemed to take along time getting to Kings Cross than the trip up but never mind we enjoyed the scenery as we had plenty of time i had developed a cold and the cough stayed with me for along even with good cough medicine G&T i could not get rid of it ( as regards to the booze i drank while i was in the UKit would be more than i drink at home)Anyhow we arrived at Kings Cross got the Tube to Waterloo station then the train to Twickenham i was not feeling that good so after a small meal i took a couple of pills and of to bed Next day i had a very quiet day the others went shopping in Kingston

[Lou Barron]

The weather was very warm in fact it got to hot thats in London anyway we have similar heat in NZ in our summer time but it does not seem to get to you like it did in London anyhow we did not mind as we could have our BBQ and sit outside and have a few beers .The next thing we did was to go to Greenwichfor a few hours we took the train to get there went into the museum and had a good look around i was more interested in the MN part i was a little bit disappionted maybe i was expecting to much ,having been there a few times a few years ago i think it had been changed maybe some of our members who have been there could enlighten me .I also found a lot of changes around the Cutty Sark area the glass around the hull .We had lunch in a pub forgot the name.then we took a trip on the river from Greenwich to the Thames Barrier then back to Westminster Bridge back to Waterloo station to go back home after a very nice day
That night we went to the Old Goat Pub for a meal and few drinks .At this stage i think i was starting to feel the strain of to getting around to much but i did not mention this as i did not want to spoil our small family get together so i said i would watch the Ashes cricket on the tv while they went and done things without me

[Lou Barron]

After resting for a couple of days i got sick of watching the tv so on the Saturday Brian ,Dave and i went to a pub that i had never been to called the Red Lion ( they say there is more pubs in the British Isle called that than any other pub names is that right???) did enjoy a few pints then back home .As it was the last day for my daughter Susan and Dave they said they would take us all out for dinner that night so they booked a table at the Loch Fyne restaurant .The waiter who got to know us as he generally served us went away and came back with a bottle of champagne and said it was a parting gift to Susan and Dave .(i think Dave had told him they were going back to Aussie the next day) .We had a lovely meal and it was late when we left the restaurant in a very happy mood .So the next they took off ,Brian took them to Heathrow in is car its not that far away .Well things would be a lot quieter now .It got me thinking about my flight back home and i thought i might be a bit easier if i flew business class i knew it would cost me a fair bit more (3500NZ dollars )but overall it was worth it so i got my daughter Tina to up grade my flight .I still had a few weeks left

[Colin Hawken]

My local Pub is the Red Lion Lou. Glad to know you are still taking sustenance.

[Lou Barron]

Nice to be back i forgot to mention before Susan and Dave left to go back to Aussie we went to the Hampton Court flower show and i must say it was well worth the money to get in I have been to a number of flower shows but this one would have to be the best one yet .I have always wanted to go to the Chelsea flower show but never made it .Getting back to Hampton Court (I have been there a couple of times )It was a lovely sunny day unfortunely i have lost the photos i took but i was really taken in by the exhibitions of of the things we saw we must have spent over four hours and then i think we missed some of the things they had .Now back to Twickenham i decided to go to Richmond for the day catching the bus it took only a short time i ambled down to the river having been there a couple of times before i saw there had been a few changes .It again was a lovely day so i went into a pub i think the name was The White Horse had pint then took of again intending to go on a cruise up the river but missed the boat and it was a coupleof hours for the next there were others but not the one i wanted so back to the pub were i had lunch and a pint .As the time was going on i went and got on the boat for the cruise to Teddington Locks and return and i really enjoyed the pleasant trip .So back home after a very nice day