Friday….It was John’s agenda. He knew exactly what he wanted to do. Pimlico/Hamstead Heath bus 24 would take us where we would begin our day.

Firstly a coffee and pastry at Ole & Steen on Haymarket. It’s a Danish bakery chain and the coffee is superb!

Next the National Portrait Gallery where we saw The Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait Prize exhibition.

I decided to make a couple of portraits of my own. The women who wanted us to take their photo agreed to let me take one of them on my phone and the homeless man escaping the cold wet Friday afternoon.

From Saint Martin’s Place we passed the Odeon theatre and stumbled upon the Graduate Ceremony of the British Film Institute- the future celebrities…  Never a dull moment in the city.

Ciccheitti on Piccadilly was booked for lunch. It was delightful.

Next, staying on Piccadilly, Maison Assouline. This bookstore is housed in a Grade 2 listed building built in 1922 and designed by English architect Sir Edwin Lutyens. It was used as a high security bank. Very traditional. They sell coffee table books and their travel section has done remarkably well. John is proud of his small collection of some of the places we have been.

Waterstones is an institution so we had to spend some time looking at books in there until I began to complain- sore feet, sore back….enough…I need a nanna nap. Arriving at the flat it was probably about four. We were exhausted. Too tired to make ourselves a bite to eat, I was asleep by 6:30.

Saturday…My turn. I wanted to share with John, how much Camden had changed. Parts had actually gentrified! We were back on the 24 and were surprised that it took almost an hour to go around seven kilometres. According to INRIX a transport analyser company London has the worst traffic in the world. It was pretty awful. We could have walked but where is the fun in that?

We arrived and headed for the Hawley Markets. Very nice. Then into the fray. Any day is busy but the weekends are a bit manic. It was a crush. Still we managed to find a Costa and have a coffee out of the cold and despite the epic size of the cups we managed to enjoy it.

I spotted some street art across the road and ventured out to discover Hawley Street had quite a bit of wonderful street art.

So I have wanted a pair of Docs forever. Well for a while but being a pragmatist I worked out that where I lived and my lifestyle it would be just silly. The time has come. Silly is on the agenda much more seriously since I can almost see the Grim Reaper’s shadow lurking not too far into the future.

Into the Stable Markets to seek out the Doc Martin’s store and we stumbled across Cyber Dog a crazy fashion house for Ravers and Festival Goers…like us  ha ha ha. We had actually been into the store soon after it was founded and bought Jenna a crazy T-shirt that she hated. Oh well…we tried. It was just fun roaming around in the dark, music pumping and UV black lights making everything glow. Immediately next door was the Doc Martin shop. Raffa, from Brazil was the sales assistant and I got my Docs and we were on our way again. I was quite chuffed. Totally silly but hey?

So many interesting people.

PS I can’t believe what I found in the software that I use…an AI Assistant…. this was the generated feedbac for this blog….The content depicts a lively and engaging day in London, filled with activities and interesting experiences. The use of descriptive language and personal anecdotes adds depth to the storytelling. Consider organizing the content into shorter paragraphs to improve readability. Additionally, including subheadings for each activity or location would help structure the post and make it easier for readers to follow the itinerary. Furthermore, it would be beneficial to add personal reflections or insights about the places visited to provide a more comprehensive perspective for the readers.