Edinburgh

Monday 22 September 2025

I had a work event in Edinburgh as, as my sciatica was so bad, my office agreed I could fly rather than sit on the train for 7+ hours.  Exeter International airport is small and beautifully formed.  This was just as well as I only realised, when preparing for security checks, that I'd left my lithium battery pack in my main luggage. I back-tracked to check in and, within 5 minutes, my hold luggage was retrieved and I extracted said battery pack.  Lesson #1 - always check your hand luggage before relinquishing your hold luggage.  My little Scottish plane...

I had great views up the Severn Estuary of Flat/Steep Holm and Cardiff. I waved at Riona.

Tuesday 23 September 2025

Edinburgh in the sun is amazing!  I took the tram down town to Dynamic Earth which I sadly didn't get any time to explore.

The conference went well and I had lots of people to catch up with.  It over ran so, with only a few minutes to spare, I hoofed it up to National Museum to see Dolly. 

I then headed to the sea and, briefly passing the Royal Yacht Britannia, strolled around Newhaven.

A lovely unwind to a busy day.

Wednesday 24 September 2025

I took the tram to the airport, checked in, got my boarding pass, went through security and headed for the gate.  They called my gate and I went through onto the bus to the plane.  During this I tuned into a work call (via bluetooth to my hearing aids) so was totally zoned out to everything around me.  After 20 minutes of standing on the bus I saw an agitated ground staff lady appear and disappear. I came off the call and asked the guy what she said "oh, she's after a random lady", he explained. I checked who and he said "name Adams I think."  So I made myself known to ground crew thinking they were chasing me as I'd declared I needed assistance as I was hard of hearing.  It turned out that my hearing was fine, but I was actually on the wrong bus to the wrong flight! I'd gone through gate 29, heading for Southampton, instead of gate 28, despite having a boarding pass that said Exeter.  Lesson #2 - always check when you board a plane you're on the right one.

Of course, they extracted me off the Southampton bound plane and put me back with the Exeter bound passengers, but I am deeply confused about how a passenger like me (who I class as reasonably sensible) can be processed through the wrong gate onto the wrong flight.

Anyway, once on the Exeter flight the journey back was fine and JC only had to collect me from Exeter not Southampton airport.  End of the Scottish adventures for now.

  

 

London - Hertford and Bethnal Green

Saturday 30 August 2025

I hadn't seen Keith since we did the final clear out of Dad's house in April, so we were overdue a catch up. I came down from Hertfordshire and Keith and I met at Liverpool Street. Hadn't spotted this old police box before.  I wonder how many tourists surmise that we used to have really thin police officers in those days?

We pottered off eastwards for a coffee at Spitalfields.  Quite liked the graffiti along the way, and I'm sure JC would have loved this photography shop.

I had fun in a park.

We then continued easterly popping into the Museum of Childhood (now Young V&A).  I understand calling the children's museum young, but does that now mean one should rebrand the V&A in Kensington "Middle Aged and/or Old V&A"?  Anyway, it was a trip down memory lane for me when I found the Zimbabwe dollar collection, once the weakest currency in the world with inflation at over 1000%.

Once we'd done our kid stuff, we headed to Victoria Park where we stumbled across a street food market and had the most amazing Ethiopian lunch. They served injera breads, made from gluten free teff flour - so scrumptious.  Then it was farewells and I headed back to Stanstead Abbotts, along with a bevy of merry Spurs supporters heading for a home game in Tottenham. 

Back at Stanstead Abbotts/St Margarets  I clocked my famous aunt at the station, and went and found a benchmark on the local church for Rob.  

It's very pretty, but I admit it's slightly bothering me that there is no apostrophe in St Margarets.

My return chez Gifford coincided with Linda just heading out for a walk, so I joined her.  

Once we'd done our loop, we wandered back to the centre of Stanstead Abbotts to see the meridian obelisks.  I quite liked it until I realised that the cuts through the rock were not aligned in any which way with the cardinal points, although I do believe it's on the Greenwich meridian.

Sunday 31 August 2025

Home today.  Despite the odd bus rail replacement (thanks for the lift Giffords) I made it across London to my Waterloo train. I hopped off at Basingstoke and joined JC as he drove back from Luxembourg.  Nice to catch up with him and share the driving home.  Holiday is over :-(

London - V&A heaven (x2) and a mini exhibition on maps

Wednesday 27 August 2025

Maggie is a V&A volunteer and was keen to show me the new V&A Storehouse, V&A East, out at Stratford.  Oh my word - what an amazing place! It's a treasure trove all some of the 'spares' of the V&A collection.  Some are too big for the South Kensington museum, such as the columns from Agra, whilst others are duplicates/triplicates.

A giraffe piano and a row of busts that look as if they are in straitjackets from trying to escape. 

There is a display showcasing an ornate ceiling from a palace in Torrijos, an example of Islamic art in medieval Spain (circa 1490).  It is all the more interesting as you can see both the interior and exterior, showing the construction of the room.

Another large item was the front cloth, 10 m x 11 m, that Prince Alexander Schervashidze painted in just 24 hours for the travelling dance company Ballets Russes. 'Two women running along the beach", 1922, set the scene for the musical comedy Le Train bleu.  Apparently Picasso was so impressed that he signed the work himself.

We sauntered back through the lovely Stratford area, which greatly benefitted from the 2012 Olympics development.  I've re-visited other post-Olympic parks which have certainly become white elephants.  Apparently Arcelor Mittal Orbit, the red twisted sculpture, now has the world's largest tunnel slide on it: now that I want to do!

I'd mistakenly left a few things at Caitlin's and, as her new office wasn't too far away, we swung down to meet her to collect my stuff.  8 Bishopsgate is pretty fancy and has a bar on Level 26 which we popped up for a drink and to admire the view.  

Thursday 28 August 2025

I went free range today leaving Maggie and Keith to their own devices (or was it the other way around)?  I started at the Textile and Design Museum, just east of Guys Hospital.  It was the first time I'd been there since Mum's cochlear implant so it was nice to explore the area outside of the hospital canteen and wards.

It's not a huge museum, and I wasn't quite sure of the flow of it, but I enjoyed a slow meander.

This is a sampler of 3! (3 factorial) - I didn't quite get this one but I do know that numbers certainly make patterns.

I was quite taken by Lynn Setterington who uses running stitches to create some beautiful memories.

I then walked across the Thames to Maughan Library, part of King's College London. Maughan Library held the Public Records Office until 1998, when it moved to Kew, but I was drawn there because of their map exhibition, 'From streets to stars, 500 years of maps'.   You can see by the security bars over the doors how secure the records used to be kept.

Being a free and small exhibition, it didn't take too long to go around, but I can never tire of seeing any sort of map (or two).   This is a Ptolemy map copy from around 13/14th century (?) and a revised map of a John Stow 1598 map released in 1633.

I was particularly interested in the Gertrude Bell letter they had as she was influential in the definition of the Middle East after the partition to the Ottoman Empire.  Sorry, no map accompanied the letter.

 

I then happily meandered back westwards down Oxford Street towards the Marble Arch

and the Joy of Life foundain in Hyde Park, and Hyde Park corner.  According to Strava, I walked over 11 km today pottering around London - happy days :-)

Friday 29 August 2025

Maggie treated me to the Cartier exhibition at V&A South Kensington today - she's a member so can take a willing accomplice in for free.  Blimey, what a load of bling!  

Some really beautiful stuff there, although I'm far more of a classic necklace/tiara woman (hark at me) than some of the broaches and necklaces based on animal designs.

Then it was up to Liverpool Street for a train to St Margaret's - Linda and Rob time now.