To me, July is officially summer. And what a summer it was!
‘On 5 January 2023, the Met Office confirmed that 2022 was the UK’s warmest year since records began in 1884, with an average annual temperature above 10 °C (50 °F) for the first time.’ London’s sweltering summer temperatures certainly must have bumped up those averages!
You’ll remember I was staying with my Dad in Wing.
In early July, Dad drove me to London, Bermondsey to be precise, and the location of the first of three pet sits. This would be the shortest of our sits – just 10 days. It was perfect! We had one cute cat to care for, Mochi, in a comfortable home within walking distance of central London. Granted it was a long walk but it kept us fit and we found a whole new set of fascinating places along the way. Also, it was easy to get to from Heathrow, which was helpful as Olly was flying to the UK to join me.
Mochi was a shy cat but she loved to play, so with some patience she slowly warmed to us. Well, when when I say ‘warm’ it was maybe just tepid – cats! She had her routine and was happy to snooze most days in the wardrobe leaving her hours of crazy fun for the evenings.
Anyway, I settled in and had the first night alone before leaving early the next morning to meet Olly at the airport. Things didn’t go as planned so instead Paddington and I became best pals whilst waiting for Olly to find us at the station.
We were out every day (that’s me and Olly, not me and Paddington) and every day we walked …a lot. We did use the Underground on occasion but when we wanted to rest our legs we took the bus. The buses in London are excellent and surprisingly good value, with the added bonus of giving you the chance to see more of the local area than you would do from the Tube. Google Maps was especially helpful in providing bus numbers and bus stop locations, and thank goodness it updated in real-time. We missed our buses many times but knew another would be along soon. Getting around has never been so easy!
Bermondsey was quite a nice area with plenty of local grocery stores and tonnes of helpful bus routes. We also got to visit my favourite property on the Monopoly board, the Old Kent Road. An absolute steal at £60 and conveniently located just past GO!
But it was the surrounding areas where we found some gems!
Shad Thames was one of those gems and a total, wonderful surprise! How did I never know about this place?
And a little further along the river, we found a beach …on the Thames! Who knew!
We actually walked under the Thames too. It’s not a pretty walk and having done it I wouldn’t recommend it either. En route, we got heckled a few times by passing cars along the lines of ‘nutters’ but we made it!
If you’ve read my previous posts you’ll know I’m a London fan. There’s a lot to love about this city and there’s always something new!
And more green space than you’d expect.
We took advantage of having easy access to the arts and snagged tickets for three shows in our ten days.
We scored the most brilliant cheap seats for ‘Anything Goes’ at the Barbican Centre.
I can’t rate this show highly enough. It was an entertainment masterpiece with a foot-tapping score and breathtaking choreography. The cast was superb! Our first night at the theatre became the benchmark for everything else. Only one other show came anyway near as good but that was on our return visit to London later in the year so you’ll have to wait until the final part, UK 2022: Part 4, to hear about that.
We did have time to take a wander around the surrounding streets. The Barbican is a theatre, amongst many other things, and is located in the heart of the financial district. There’s certainly a clash of architectural eras and styles but somehow it all just blends together and the juxtaposition works!
I should also mention the two other shows we saw whilst staying in Bermondsey, both very different and good entertainment.
If you loved old Del Boy in ‘Only Fools and Horses’ you’ll love the theatre production. It’s packed with all the classic, super cheesy catchphrases, and the cast does a great job of reviving those comical scenes we all watched on the telly back in the day.
And ‘2:22 A Ghost Story’ will have you squirming in your seat as you try to not look just a little bit scared. Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy for all you HP fans out there) played a convincing lead.
We ate well, mostly cooking our own meals but eating out from time to time too!
The next stop and the location of pet sit number two, was Dover. An easy train ride down to the Kent coast where we’d reunite with a couple of old friends!