Londinium

As the seasons change our lives do too. With the summer season upon us things have become so busy I struggle to recall what my sofa looks like. I miss it, it's comfy.



Starting at Fathers Day (a week past Sunday) Luca and I drove straight from our weekly early morning football training session in Culter to Banchory in order to take my Dad/Luca's Grandad out to lunch. Arriving too early, and buoyed by the unnaturally scorching weather, we took temporary sanctuary in Banchory's Bellfield Park. As you can see, Luca loves chocolate ice cream more than anything or anyone else. No woman will ever receive a gaze as adoring as the one Luca adorns upon that cone.



Eventually Dad came off the golf course, and we met him at our intended place of lunch - inventively the golf club. Above is one of the few times Luca sat still as his Granda took pictures of him.



Once finished, Dad lifted his groaning belly full of Sunday Roast and took Luca out to the putting green. Luca loved it, and even showed (a little) aptitude.

"Get in the hole!"

"This time"

"OK, what do I do now Granda?"

"How about I sit down and you clobber me with your golf club?"

Fast forward to Friday, and we're now in London. Carole, I and a couple of friends booked a few days in the UK's capital, flying down early on Friday and returning late on Sunday. Great fun, but of course Carole still doesn't pose for pictures as the above demonstrates

You have to catch her unaware, like above. I think she's holding her breath here to avoid inhaling the stench of stale, sweaty air that permeates around a London Underground carriageway.

We of course frequented many, many pubs during our visit. For Dad's benefit, here's the most interesting ales I discovered. The Doom Bar was off, but the Rev James was still flowing so I tried a pint. It was bloody awful.

On the London Eye, with Big Ben in the frame. This was the only photo I took due to my overwhelming fear of heights. My companions took great pity on my affliction, guffawing loudly as my skin colour fluctuated between white and green.

This was more my thing, a guided tour round Arsenal FC's stadium. Fascinating stuff (for a geek like me), with some mind blowing stats. Season ticket waiting lists vary between 9 and 11 years, with many packages costing £50,000 per annum upwards!

In the British Museum now, with the featured picture being of some Egyptian dude. I don't know who he was, but I liked his hat.

The trip was great fun overall, and utterly non-stop. The only time we spent at our hotel was to sleep, which was fully our intention. We did the proper tourist thing, visiting landmarks, features, museums, displays and shows, as well as spending a goodly amount of time in public houses naturally.

I even enjoyed the musical we saw too, "Blood Brothers". Good fun, but as with most musicals would be immeasurably improved with the removal of most of the songs. Yes, I am aware that's a bit of an oxymoron.

**Useless fact of the day - The London Eye weighs 2,100 tons**