SV Ostinato: A Week of Firsts

First, let me say yes, I know I wasn't going to write any more on the Blog until we begin cruising again in the Spring. The thing is, if I don't write, I won't have anything to remind me of some of our more "interesting" times. Yes, yes, ...all in the eyes of the beholder. So this is a warning, reader beware, the following is about our land based adventures in London. Please feel free to skip these and pick up when we cast off again in early April.

A little background:
First, a bit about our location. The marina is on the Thames, next to the London Tower Bridge and the Tower of London, famous for the losing of ones head and the Crown Jewels. There are approximately 100 slips divided up into 3 basins; East, Central, and West. The East borders a line of restaurants that will make you never want to cook. The West is residential. It has the one and only washing machine...to be discussed at a later date. And then the Central, where Ostinato lives, which has the sunshine and Starbucks. Ostinato has the best of neighbours; Lazy tern and Thorang La. Liz and David are Brits, Merv and Judy are Aussies. We all speak English...although at times no one can understand what the heck the other is saying! There are about 17 live board cruising boats that are here for the winter representing Great Britain, US, Canada, Australia and France. The majority being from the US. We meet every Wednesday for coffee to share information about upcoming free concerts, good restaurants, plays, along with the more mundane
Infor like the location of the grocery, hardware and marine store. Those that have spent several winters here at St Katharine Dock are a wonderful resource to us newbies.

Happy Halloween!

October was a rush. We were barely tied to the dock when our good friend Catharine arrived and we took off for Scotland in a brand spankin new Mercedes. Yes, we did say we would never drive a car in this part of the world again..we lied. Let me just say, our departure from the London Bridge area was, how do I put this, Breathtaking! King whizzed across several lanes of traffic to everyone's amazement (especially me) going the wrong way. The taxi behind us is probably still talking about it! How we made it out of the city is still a blur. Another 5 cities in 5 day extravaganza beginning in Edinburgh Scotland and ending at Stonehenge. The good news is that I didn't need to hide in the bathroom when we returned the car. Not a scratch on her! Frank and Patty Hankins join the merry group a few days later. We had the pleasure of standing on the Prime Meridian with them, exploring the Cutty Sark, as well as racing up the Thames in a flying roach (translate - a hydrofoil ferry). I believe we also put a substantial dent in our new neighbours wine cellar (translate - bilge).

November
One of the bits of info shared during our weekly meetings was that Flu shots were available at the local Pharmacy. So............ I joined the big girl club that week. I got my first flu shot ever......I didn't pass out, cry, or make a last minute break for the door. King was amazed. He offered to take me to TK Maxx to shop afterward as a reward. If your wondering if that is another of Sue's typos, it's not. Same store, different initials. Who knows.

St Kat's tree

Christmas is now in high gear in London. We had the official tree lighting ceremony at St Kat's on Friday, November 15. Kids sang carols and danced in front of a 2 story tree covered in white lights. Vendors were selling mulled wine and roasted chestnuts. Dick on Alchemy bought a bag of chestnuts and generously shared them among the group. My first roasted chestnut. Yum. We skipped the pricy mulled wine and relocated back to our neighbour's boat, Lazy Tern, and enjoyed some Liz and David's fine wine.

I decided going to Westminster Abby for Christmas Eve services would be a memorable event for the holidays. I realise that I'm still a tourist but how hard can this be to arrange. You get dressed up on Christmas Eve and catch the tube to the Cathedral and enjoy a service in spectacular surroundings and return home to open your Christmas presents. Obviously, I had no clue. First, apparently half of London also thinks this is a good thing to do on Christmas Eve. So to keep the Abby from looking like the night before the launching of a new IPad, you must get tickets to the service you wish to attend. I really wanted to go to the midnight service...which always begins at 11:30 for some unexplained reason, but I digress. That particular service does not require tickets...odd, I thought. My bubble was burst when boat neighbours advised that London tubes and buses shut down before midnight on Christmas Eve. Hence, the only people descending on the Abby will be those up for a brisk 1:00 a.m. stroll home. Wear your woollies! Ok. I can roll with the punches. Not to be deterred, the next best option is 4:30. Of course you need tickets for that one. So King reluctantly agrees to drop by Westminster with me to see if we can snag a couple. He dutifully puts the address in the GPS and off we go. We walk for days. It begins to turn dark, we haven't seen a tube station for miles. I'm beginning to wonder if we have crossed into another country. With Big Ben right beside of it, the place would be hard to miss so we know we haven't walked by it. Just before the last rays of light descended, we discovered the difference between Westminster Abby and Westminster Cathedral. 2 buses and 2 changes on the tube returned us home....without tickets. The next morning I checked the Westminster web site and low and behold, there was a link to order them online. We have 4 tickets waiting for pick up. If we can just find the place. Yes, King is still speaking to me.

Turkey Day at
the Mayflower

Thanksgiving was our first major holiday in London. Of course, the Brits don't celebrate Thanksgiving so no cardboard turkeys in the grocery and canned pumpkin was a bit scarce. Gus on Wings organised an American Thanksgiving dinner for the cruising community at St Kat's. We began the day at St. Paul's Cathedral where an American Thanksgiving Service is held annually. Following the service, the American Ambassador to Great Britain gave a brief speech. The place was packed. Obviously a lot of Yanks are running around London. From there we made our way to the Mayflower Pub. No, I'm not making this up. History says that the pub was where the Mayflower began it's journey. Sources admit that while the pub was there, it has only been call the Mayflower for the last 50 years or so. All in all an admirable job on the dinner. The only complaint ...or should I say comment was the pumpkin pie. It looked more like a thin crust pumpkin pizza... What did they do with the rest of the pumpkin?.......was that pumpkin soup I saw go by?