More canals

Some new swans

and new Canada geese.

We might have seen some horses here, where a farmer had carved a point-to-point course through his crop. But we didn't.

We did see a gorilla, though, but he was just hanging about.

On one morning, we went under the M40 motorway, near Watling Street (the old Roman road) and beside the mainline railway at the same time. The trains were too fast for me to photograph properly. Most of the time, civilization was just a distant murmur ..........

.... as we sailed through places like this.

Through it all, the Eureka flag flew proudly, and many of the other boat people wanted to know what it was.

On the Canals

Somewhere in a marina, far, far away. Actually, just out of Rugby. Andy and I were dropped there, loaded the boat, and off we sailed ......

... straight into a 1000m long tunnel. I thought of you, Ann, although I didn't know what was to come!

Some of the steering presented difficulties .....

... but then we arrived at a little village with 7 locks in a row. Quite an introduction to the
joys of working locks!

Mooring on day 1. After nearly 9 hours of sailing and working lock gates, Andy then proceeded to cook a lamb barbque, with jacket potatoes and a salad. Followed by cheese, and the rest of the two bottles of red. Sleep soon followed.

Even after the red (and the bottle of white for lunch), Captain Varco had us sailing off at 8.oo a.m. the next day.

Into another tunnel, this one 3 km long.

Half-way through, we met another boat coming the other way - total clearance was measured in inches. Actually, they couldn't bring horses though these tunnels, so men hired themselves out to lie on their backs on the roof of the boat, and "walk" the barges through the tunnels.

Straight out of the tunnel and onto an aqueduct across a river .......

... after which we stopped for lunch. Actually, we didn't stop. Andy prepared and served lunch on deck while we pushed on. This little effort was Scotch eggs, pate, salad and pickles, with a bottle of white

A canal-side pub. We stopped for the occasional pint, but the food and drink was much better on board.

Our mooring on another night. We had barbqued pork belly, sausages, potatoes and spring greens, plus, plus. On other nights, he cooked (from scratch) roast lamb with all the trimmings, chicken and mushroom casserole, shepherd's pie, all with the mandatory two bottles of red, and cheese to follow.

As well as all this cooking and planning, Andy also did his share of working the locks.

After each lock, just near the tow-path, these grooves appeared in the walls. When the tow-horse was re-attached to the barge, the rope rubbed on the corner of the lock until the boat was pulled clear. 150 years of doing this produced quite an effect.

It didn't rain much, but when it did, Andy was ecstatic.

Another day in London

The original Roman London Wall.

Varied approaches to St. Paul's

and the Globe theatre.

We managed to get seats, although they sell over 100 tickets for each performance at £5 each. These are for the 'groundlings', and we saw several being carried out in the heat.

Performers

and it turned out that All's Well That Ends Well

Recrossing the Millenium footbridge

from which you can see Claire's work building. (It's the very pale one, 2nd from the left)

Loitering with intent, outside the Old Bailey

A place of interest for you, Bill C.

We went to the Albert Hall

to see the London Philharmonic.

Amazing place

Back in London

Sorry about the lack of news - I've been stranded on the canals, but more of that later.
We caught the bus into town, and Cathy was much taken by this plant covered building. It went up for many stories, but the bus went quicker.

Picadilly circus,

and Admiralty Arch,

and Trafalgar Square,

and St Martin in the Fields church.

Off to the national Portrait Gallery, then into Soho for a quiet beer

before a wander through part of chinatown, then off to the theatre.

Last Day in NY

Oscar: "do you want milk with that?" Morning tea at the Rockefeller Centre

Someones got to clean the windows, but I'm glad it isn't me

At museum of Modern Art. aka MOMA. The only gallery that allowed us to photograph the paintings. Here is Cathy with a little something by Monet.

.... and this is a big something by Jackson Pollock.

Top of the Rock. 70 stories up at the Rockefeller centre. Central Park.

.. and the Empire State Building in the clouds ...

.. and the Chrysler building (just) ..

.... and St Patrick's Cathedral (nearly a plan view)

and finally, Cathy, with Manhattan at her feet.