London – Day 6 – Palace of Westminster to Gordon’s Wine Bar

Posted on December 14, 2018 by Mama Cormier

….day six continues along the River Thames

After leaving the Westminster Cathedral and Westminster Abbey we continued walking towards the River Thames. Right behind the Abbey lies the Palace of Westminster which holds both houses of Parliament for the United Kingdom. It was originally built in the eleventh century and rebuild in the 1800s after it burned down.

As you can see from the photos the structure was under quite a bit of construction. The one big disappointment was that Big Ben was also under construction but we knew this before we arrived in London. What I didn’t know was that the entire tower would be covered in scaffolding. The refurbishing is scheduled to take three years to complete and during the renovation the clock bells have been turned off.

From many parts of London one of the sites that stands out above many of the building is the giant Ferris wheel called the London Eye. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames in London and is Europe’s tallest Ferris wheel and the most popular paid tourist attraction in the United Kingdom with over 3.75 million visitors annually.

As we continued along the River Thames we came across the Golden Jubilee bridge built in 2000. It is a steel truss bridge located in Lambeth borough.

From here we headed over to Gordon’s Wine Bar but on the way we passed through the Courtauld Institute of Art. At the time we had no idea what we were looking at but we liked the sculptures and the architecture.

Gordon’s Wine Bar is located on the Strand. It is thought to be the oldest wine bar in London having been established in 1890. The bar is very much a family affair, owned by Wendy Gordon who is the wife of the late much loved Luis Gordon, and now overseen by Luis’ eldest son Simon. The building itself was a warehouse built in 1790 and in 1880 it was converted to accommodations.

We entered through the cellar doors. You need to stoop to get to your rickety candlelit table – anonymity is guaranteed! If the sun is out you can also sit outside in Watergate Walk and enjoy watching the world go by. The bar is loved by many and seems to be a place where time has stood still. It serves only wine, sherries and port and simple food, ranging from homemade pies to mature cheese. If you’re in London you should definitely check this place out. You can find more information here.

A word of warning. If you do go into the cellar watch your head because the ceilings are low and it takes awhile for your eyes to adjust to the dark. I hit my head three times in the space of a minute making my way to our table.

Happy Birthday Frances

Posted on December 13, 2018 by Mama Cormier

….December 13, 2018

I can’t believe that our dog, Frances is already 12 years old. We got her as a puppy from our daughter when she got a new job that made it impossible for her to properly train a new puppy. Frances immediately became my husband’s dog. It was love at first sight.

Over the years Frances has brought us a lot of joy. She’s a strange mix and whenever people ask about her breed they’re surprised by the answer. To the best of our knowledge she’s a cross between an Australian Sheppard and a Dachshund.

Here are a few photos of her over the last 12 years.

Bringing Home the Tree

Posted on December 13, 2018 by Mama Cormier

…..a tradition that happens sporadically

Is it a tradition if you don’t do it every year?

This year we decided as a family to cut down our Christmas trees. We’ve done it in the past and always get a lot of joy out of it. Two years ago there was a ton of snow on the ground and this year there was next to nothing. Nonetheless we had a lot of fun and I discovered a new landmark that I didn’t know existed.

The tree farm we used this year was a smaller place, owned by an older couple. There were no sleigh rides or wagons, hot cocoa or tree balers. It didn’t matter though because we were able to walk through the grounds at our own pace and not worry about hoards of people all eyeing the same tree. The dogs were also allowed to run freely. We just had to make sure that they didn’t wander off because there are coyotes in the area.

I don’t think the place even had a name. We just looked for the signs directing us to ‘Cut Your Own Christmas Tree’. From Toronto we drove westbound along the QEW and Hyw. 403 until we reached Hwy. 6 going north. From there we drove till we hit concession road #6 and went east. Luckily we had our daughter, Gaelan on the phone and she directed us onto the property.

In the next post I’ll describe the surprising landmark that we discovered while out ‘hunting’ for the perfect Christmas tree.

London Day 5 – Just the Two of Us

Posted on December 3, 2018 by Mama Cormier

….after 4 days with Mom and Papa we decided to give the girls a break

Today Kevin and I ventured out on our own while Andrea and Josie did their own thing. We got on the Tube and made our way to the Bloomsbury District of London. The Tube by the way is the name of London’s subway system because it is shaped like a tube.

The Underground is divided into nine zones: central London is covered by zone 1.
There are 11 Tube lines.
The Tube fare depends on how far you travel, time of day, and how you pay.

The Underground platforms lie anywhere from 41m to 58m below street level. The longest escalator at the Angel station is 60 m or 200 ft. long. All day long the PA system sends out PSAs warning people about the dangers on the escalators and advising commuters to keep to the right side.

The first stop we made on this day was at the British Museum. We were there in the middle of the week and so were hundreds of school children. This museum was built in 1753 and is a public institution dedicated to human history, art and culture.

Some of the objects that we saw included Japanese art forms from Manga cartoons to wood cut prints and sculptures made from clay, bronze and glass.

We also visited the Iraq display where we saw the Cyrus Cylinder.

We passed on seeing the Rosetta Stone because there was a class of children in the line ahead of us and my husband just wanted to leave at that point. We made our way across the street and decided to grab some lunch at a pub.

One of our biggest disappointments in London was the lack of independent pubs. Many of the pubs belong to a chain called Greene King and when you walk into one it is pretty obvious that it is part of the chain. It seems they all have the same menu and alcohol selection. The first one we ate in was situated across the street from the museum. The food was good but later during our trip we found it difficult to find a pub with a different menu.

Around the block from the pub we discovered this wonderful art gallery called the Contemporary Ceramic Centre. We were immediately drawn to the window by the display of Sophie Favre’s figurative sculptures. At the front and back of the gallery dozens of her animated sculptures greeted us with their human-like qualities.

These creatures certainly brought a smile to my face.

Tuesday Photo Challenge – Memories

Posted on November 22, 2018 by Mama Cormier

….thanks to Frank over at Dutch Goes the Photo for hosting Tuesday Photo Challenge

I know I’m a bit late for this week’s challenge but better late than never. I particularly liked this week’s theme because it’s so open ended. So I went back a year ago to see what memories I could stir up.

A year ago I spent quite a bit of time with my Dad (the oldest member of our family) and my granddaughter (the youngest member of our family). My Dad and the family attended a wonderful wedding together, the two of us went to the Royal Winter Fair and I accompanied Winnie to the park, lunch at a restaurant and the Hamilton Santa Claus Parade.

New Flower (November 4, 2019) – Happy Birthday Rose

Posted on November 4, 2018 by Mama Cormier

…..it’s my daughter’s 39th birthday today and I remember as I was leaving to go to the hospital to bring her into this world there was one lone rose left on my rosebush

The name of this rose is ‘Blessing’. How appropriate.

A Photo a Week Challenge: Through Glass

Posted on October 20, 2018 by Mama Cormier

….thanks to Nancy Merrill for hosting the Photo a Week Challenge

The first set of photos were taken through a window of a double decker bus and from the second story of our apartment in London.

The windows on the bus and from the apartment were not particularly clean so I was quite surprised that they turned out as well as they did.

London – Day 2 (Part 2)

Posted on October 19, 2018 by Mama Cormier

….Day 2 was jam packed with activity

We ended our site seeing day at Liberty London where we admired the beautiful fabrics that Liberty is so famous for and went upstairs to the Christmas Department. Yes, Christmas. October is the beginning of the Christmas season in England. I couldn’t help myself but I had to purchase a little Christmas gnome for our granddaughter’s Christmas tree. I wish I had taken a photo. Sorry about that.

One of my daughter-in-law’s must do items for this trip was to experience a Sunday roast. Our son booked a table at the pub where he and his wife celebrated their marriage after the civil ceremony over two years ago. Since none of us were at their party (we celebrated with a Persian wedding a month later with all the families in Italy) Brendan really wanted us to see the place and he pre-ordered a traditional Sunday roast for six.

London – Day 1

Posted on October 2, 2018 by Mama Cormier

……settling in

We arrived at Heathrow one hour earlier than expected. I actually managed to get some sleep on the plane so I wasn’t a complete zombie when our son picked us up. We had a quick coffee and then took an Uber drive to our accommodations. It took about an hour to get there but it was a wonderful introduction to the enormity of London.

After unpacking we walked to the corner convenience store and bought a few things to make a light lunch. Josie kindly made us eggs and toast. I had a quick power nap when I finished eating.

Our son, Brendan, came by later in the afternoon to walk us over to his flat so we we would know how to get to his place in the next few days. Both Azadeh and Brendan made us a wonderful meal to celebrate our arrival in London. A great way to start our vacation.

Thursday Doors – Sept.27, 2018

Posted on September 27, 2018 by Mama Cormier

….thanks to Jolene for hosting Thursday Doors this week

After dropping my father off at Union Station this morning I went outside the train station to snap a few shots. The doors are from Union Station and the Royal York Hotel which is right across the street (first place where my Dad took a job when he first arrived in Canada in 1954).

My dad loves to tell the story of how he got off the train at Union Station and asked someone where he could get a job as a waiter. It was his first day in Canada. They pointed across the street and told him that the Royal York Hotel was the largest hotel in Toronto. He walked over, introduced himself and they hired him on the spot.