I squeezed all my belongings back in to my case and checked out of the hotel for a wander round nearby streets before getting a taxi to Paddington station to meet Jane at 1pm.
While wandering i reached the Shard and decided to go up to the viewing deck. And i’m delighted I did! It’s the highest building in west Europe and has great views of London. i know lots of facts about it but i won’t bore you with them here.
I then went for a walk in the direction of tower bridge, but it started raining so hard i turned back
While i was up the Shard they mentioned that the red arrows would be flying by just after 1pm, and luckily (for me) jane’s train was a bit delayed so i stood on millenium bridge to stand on to get some video footage of planes passing.
After that i zoomed back to the hotel, grabbed our bags and got a taxi to Paddington Station. The taxi driver was hilarious, peppering his cockney banter with words like ‘mental’, ‘bonkers’ and ‘mad’.
A bored buggy driver scooped me out of the taxi and drove me like an old person through the platforms at Paddington station to reach the ticket hall.
Ten minutes later Jane arrived from France and we got our train to Twyford (which is the village we used to live in) and then a taxi to Jane’s parents. Chris and I sat out in the garden for ten minutes until it got too cold, and started raining. Good old English summers.
It’s been fun sitting watching the wildlife in their garden though, including a couple of deers who arrived in the garden during dinner.
