Ireland day 0906. Friday 22 March 2024- London Day 6 *

Ireland day 0906. Friday 22 March 2024- London Day 6

Today’s summary	Met up with another friend and we headed over to a restaurant in the Middle Temple for lunch. After walking with him back to Waterloo for his train, I went to the Apple Store (again) to get a replacement case for my iPhone Mini. Then in the evening, I went to stay with family in Oxfordshire while Val stayed in London for a bit longer
Today’s weather	Overcast and drizzly at times. No sun. Light southwesterly wind. Appx 12c

Today’s overview location (The blue mark shows the location of my route)		Close-up location (The blue line shows where we walked) (No GPX today)

Commentary

(Summary blog only. Last full blog was Day 0368).

Today I felt quite lucky. I had planned to go down to Guildford to visit a friend of mine who was supposed to be recovering in hospital after a hip replacement operation on Wednesday. But much to his annoyance, the operation was cancelled on Tuesday evening. So instead, he hobbled up to London and we went out for lunch. I felt fortunate becuase neither of my recent surgical episodes have been cancelled so I didn’t have to suffer the frustration and protracted delay that he is going through. Hopefully a new slot will come up soon.

Anyway, we made the most of it and once he had made it up here, we went off together to the Temple – a legal area in the centre of London – and found a good restaurant for lunch. It was very enjoyable to catch up but, as seems to be the case so often these days, the restaurant was very noisy and you had to shout to make yourself heard. Maybe I am just getting old and grumpy.

After lunch we took a gentle walk to the station over Waterloo Bridge and he caught his train home. I returned to the north bank over Hungerford Bridge and headed – yet again – to the Apple Store. Today I was having my iPhone Mini 12 case replaced – and because the old one failed while it was still covered by consumer protection legislation, I got it free, So now, after three interventions, my phone is as good as new!

I’m leaving London this evening and staying with family in Oxfordshire tonight, then returning to Dublin tomorrow. Val has a friend staying with her in London for a couple of days then she will be following me across the Irish Sea on Wednesday. It’s all go in the Dawson household at the moment!

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


Middle Temple Lane	In the Temple – a bit of an oasis of Legal calm

The “new” platforms at Waterloo station – built in the station extension where the Eurostar used to leave from, before they moved to St Pancras	In Embankment Gardens



The Apple Store in Covent Garden – where I seem to have spent much of the past week