ENGLAND: LONDON
AND THE COTSWOLDS
12 - 27 May 2016
MUSSWELL HILL
Wednesday, May 25.
We had
finished all the sightseeing we
planned to do. We had set aside
our remaining time in the UK to
spend with my cousin Robert Peck
and to get acquainted with his
wife. Robert had long before
invited us to stay with them the
entire time we were in the UK and
had offered to pick us up at
Heathrow Airport. As our plans
solidified, we suggested that we
would like to spend our last day
and a half with them and would
appreciate a ride to Heathrow on our
departure.
Somewhat to our
surprise, Robert had called to say
that he would pick us up at 17:30
this evening. That unexpectedly
left us with the day free, but not
with enough time for a long
excursion into the city. Andy
suggested we visit nearby Muswell
Hill, an attractive little town
long since swallowed up by London.
We said our goodbyes to Andy and
Liz as they left for work. Then
spent most of the morning packing.
About 11:30 we caught the bus
to Muswell Hill, about 20 minutes
away and not far from Alexandra
Palace that we had briefly visited
our first evening in London. On
arriving, we walked south down
Broadway for a few blocks to St.
James Church. We turned back and
went into O'Neill's pub, situated
in a deconsecrated church. Jane
did not care for their "everything
fried" menu, so we moved on. On
the upper part of Broadway we
found the Sable d'Or cafe' and had
lunch there. By then it was 15:00
and we decided to head back to
Andy's and finish packing.
Broadway in
Musswell hill |
O'Neill's
Pub |
Jane in
the Sable
d'Or |
Robert got tied up in heavy
traffic and did not pick us up
until 18:10. Explaining that his
guest room was being remodeled, he
had arranged to have us stay at
the Grim's Dyke Hotel (1872). This
beautiful, but very
expensive hotel was the
former home of W.S. Gilbert
(of Gilbert & Sullivan). We arrived
at Grim's Dyke about 19:00.
Robert insisted on paying for our
stay, and in fact had prepaid. We
never would have suggested
staying with Robert if we
had known that he would then
feel obliged to put us up in
a hotel. The whole point had
been to spend quality time
with Robert and his wife.
|
The Grim's Dyke
Hotel
|
After putting out luggage in
our room, we immediately headed to
the dining room. Robert's wife,
Havila, was just arriving, and we
all went in together. She was a
charming woman and we greatly
enjoyed our dinner. But we were
also disappointed that this was
the only time we would have to
spend with her. Robert informed us
during dinner that he would have
to take us to Heathrow early
tomorrow because of an unexpected
medical appointment. Robert tried
to pay for the entire dinner, but
I finally managed to pay our
share. We said good night about
22:00.
