On the road again!: West Wickham October 19

October 19 Motspur Park to West Wickham

Tram

Maura took us to the station; it was quite rainy as we stood on the platform. Mark and I took the train to Wimbledon and caught the tram to Elmer's End - 20 stops! Ken picked us up and we went to a sports place where Connor was celebrating his 11th birthday playing soccer with some of his friends. Walshie and Katrina were also there.

Connor, age 11, at Bromley football match

Ewan, age 17, at Bromley match

Then we went to West Wickham and settled into their newly reconfigured guest room and beautiful new shower room. Mark left with Ken, Ewan, Connor to see Bromley Football Club in a match, which they lost.

Christine, Katrina, Annette and me sat in the garden as the weather became sunny and gorgeous. We had tea and homemade cookies.

We all met up at the Fish and Chips restaurant in West Wickham. (13 of us)

Then we came back to Goodhart Way and had cake and presents. Connor's big hits- a cell phone of his own and a keyboard. Many had a rollicking game of Uno to end the day.

Compilation of October 20 - 23

I am writing this a few days after we left West Wickham and am going to write a summary of our days there.

Katrina, Annette, Christine at High Elms

Every night we were in West Wickham, we had a big family dinner in the dining room. Sometimes it was made by Christine; one day it was made by Annie and Katrina and one day it was made by Katrina. It was amazing to see 11-13 around the table every night with lots of delicious food and also a huge selection of desserts. We had Indian Shepherd's Pie, Coq-au-Vin, salmon en croute, macaroni & cheese etc. Every night, Will handled most of the clean up which was a lot of work.

Ewan and Connor

Adam and Annie reflection on the underground

Another nightly activity involved noisy and fun games - a variety of UNO games, "Mind the Gap" "Piece of Pizza" etc. So much fun.

Mark and Annie

High Elms walk

One day a group of us went to Greenwich via public transport. (Chris, Ken, Katrina, Annie, Connor, Adam, Ewan and his girlfriend, Connie.)

Brothers, Ewan and Adam

Cutty Sark, Greenwich

We walked around the Cutty Sark and down to the river and then to the Greenwich Market which was a big hit with everyone. Everyone ate something (sausage rolls, waffles etc). Fudge was bought. Ken bought a print of an old map of their part of London.

We went to the cable car across the Thames and back - a big hit. Then, a visit to the O2 center where some shopped and the four "oldsters" had coffee.

Another day, most of the family went to "High Elms" Park where we walked and then had a lovely lunch at the cafe there.

Another day, we went with Chris and Ken to see a matinee of The Real Thing by Tom Stoppard at the Old Vic.

It is a play about relationships and was excellent. The main character, played by James McArdle, is a playwright whose two wives were serial marital cheaters. Words are so important, especially to a playwright. It's impossible to summarize, but the actors were fantastic, especially Bel Powley, who played his second wife.