Our time is about up.

Monday 9^th November to Sunday 15^th November 2015

We are still moored up in the general Paddington Basin area, having started the week around in the basin proper and after moving out of there and now find ourselves outside the entrance to Paddington tube station for the completion of the filming for the film.

Today (Sunday) is the final day and we will be free to move as necessary tomorrow but haven’t decided that we will be moving – simply based on the weather outlook at present.

So what have we been up to in this last week – well quite a bit actually, making good use of where we are moored.

 

Diane was convinced that the guy in the centre was Matt Damon -
but he was only the stunt double

We’ve been off to see the National Gallery; continued to do our walking down to Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park; been down along Oxford Street; up along Edgeware Road; continue to discover more about the Paddington area and surrounds – feel like we are almost locals with the knowledge we have of the locations around here.

 

The Assumption of the Virgin - Francesco Botticini
at the National Gallery

saw this old barrow at one of the local markets off  Edgeware Road -
that would be the one with the wheels

Managed to see the “concertina” bridge open and roll-up in Paddington Basin; we met up with Gary and Carolyn from nb Inca; we had Caroline from nb Sonia-Louise drop by on her way home (their boat hasn’t been built yet but at least it is named).

Nicely moored up at Rembrandt Gardens - a truly top spot

Diane has loved being able to get a morning coffee direct from Costa – it being barely 50 metres from the boat.

 

Assuming the position for her morning coffee

The weather has, on-the-whole, been fairly good but as anyone who has been to the basin will know, the buildings create a wind-tunnel effect and that has been quite strong at times. Mostly it has been dry but a few days of rain have appeared (and gone).

Where and when we head next we will make a final decision about tomorrow. All we know is that we will be heading west and then north through Uxbridge at some time over the next couple of weeks.

One last thing that I very much need to advise about – anyone interested in buying a really top boat should look here -  nb Balmaha  - she is a great boat and worth a look. Having been on her a couple of times and enjoyed the company of Mo and Vanessa, we can recommend it very highly.

Hardly back long and she leaves me – stranded!!

Friday 30^th October to Sunday 8^th November 2015

It has been a “funny” 10 days since the last blog and the delay hasn’t been due to nothing to write about.

The most important thing to happen is the Diane made it back to the boat, all the way from LA.

She even had to catch the express from Heathrow to Paddington all by herself.

There have been a few times whilst she was away that we have both said that we will not be doing this travelling alone thing again for so long – 2 months has just been too long – well that’s what we are saying now but who knows what circumstances may arise in the future.

Anyway she is glad to be back and I am glad that she is back – I can now save some money on the cleaning, not to mention the cooking.

But mostly I have missed her gentle persuasive ways – some may call it nagging – I myself would never mention that word – especially anyway near where she could whack me.

We are currently moored in Paddington Basin after a week directly outside the Paddington tube entrance; we will be moving back to there sometime during this coming week for another week - it is all to do with the filming schedule.

The basin at night - so brightly lit that we have had to put
up "black-out"curtains in the bedroom

Have not seen this before - the pedestrian bridge
at the end of the basin open.

Every Thursday - a small international food market - we will
be back next Thursday

By arrangement with CRT we have some priority moorings allocated to us for this period of time and making full use of them as well.

 

Our moorings had something to do with filming taking place
around here - the boat is in the film - we are not - the big guy
in the centre is the director Paul Greengrass

Just a small part of the crew and equipment

There has been plenty of chance for us to do a lot of walking and a bit more exploring around this part of London and also seeing sights that we have previously discovered.

We have “endured” Halloween and wandered around to see the decorated houses and strange people walking around like living dead.

 

Wisely, to avoid any confusion, she left her broom back on the boat

Saturday mornings have taken on a new adventure as we seem to have ended up down in Kensington Gardens each time, but we have really enjoyed the feel and the lack of too many people – that can easily be destroyed if we venture too far near to Oxford Street.

The Italian Gardens in Kensngton Gardens

 

Xmas decorations have gone up in Oxford Street

Outside the British Museum...

...and inside too

The Sunday roasts have been variable to say the least – the first at The Sawyers Arms just near Paddington Station left a lot to be desired – quality-wise and price-wise; whereas the Weatherspoons (The Tyburn) at Marble Arch was incredibly good and at about half the price.

We found ourselves with some time on our hands so off on the tube we went to Kings Cross, a bit of a walk to The London Canal Museum – for Diane to buy a pen to replace the one that she liked a lot but gave to her Dad when she saw him.

After this we took a walk along the towpath to Camden Markets where, despite the rain, we had a good look around.

On our way to Camden Town tube station, we spotted these in a shop

 

Star Wars boots...

...and shoes

a tribute to Star Wars – not sure that they would be used as intended – at least not at £195-£250 per pair.

Further on we boarded the train to return us to Kings Cross; Diane noticed it was going the wrong way (Northern line heading south) so quickly said to get off – which I did – well trained that I am.

I turned around to see this figure still inside the train with doors closed and train moving, waving goodbye – only back a few days and she was deserting me – it must have been something more than what I said.

Anyway at Euston I got off the train and found her immediately so we could get back on and with no more problems we made it back to the boat.