Reunion in London

Brothers from another Mother, reunited with Bruce after 4 years.

The Cutty Sark was the fastest tea clipper of its time, now a museum.

Old Royal Navy College.

Memorial to Sir John Franklin, lost in the Arctic.

Bruce and Pam treated me for my birthday (yesterday) to a delicious meal.

Friday, April 14^th.

I landed at Heathrow at 10:30 and was met by Bruce. I originally met Bruce on the Antarctic trip in 2019 when he was lucky enough to share a room with John and I, and we adopted him. He'd probably say we were lucky enough to be in his room because rightly said he actually was in the room first and had claimed the best bed of the three available. I wound up in the upper bunk above John. Either way, the three of got along so well that our happy room environment was the envy of others on the ship who had room mates that caused them stress. In fact we planned to visit the Arctic together the following year. Well, that was cancelled a few times due to COVID but, happily we are going to go together this September.

As most of you know, I met John in 2010 when we shared a tent for 54 days through 7 African countries. We became fast friends and he visited me twice in Canada and I visited him twice in the UK. Then he joined me on my second sabbatical year in 2017-2018 and traveled with me to Ethiopia, the Maldives, Sri Lanka and Southern India. Then we agreed to go to Antarctica in 2019 and Bruce became the third member of our traveling comedy show.

We took the Elizabeth Line train into London and got off at the Canary Wharf and the huge Canada Place complex. Bruce’s partner Pam met us there for a coffee. It was nice to meet her after hearing so much about her. Then we took another train back to his condo in Greenich. We got settled and then went for a walk around the neighbourhood. It was cool and windy and not nearly as nice as Toronto today. We walked along the Thames to the Old Royal Navy College, past the Cutty Sark, the fastest sailing ship of its era, and through a local market with all sorts of crafts on display. We also saw a memorial to Sir John Franklin and one of his sailors who were lost in the Arctic in 1848, and who will be a part of the history of the Arctic we will learn about in September. We wound up at a pub where we enjoyed a couple of pints while catching up and discussing our upcoming adventures. We headed back to the condo to meet Pam before we all went to the Oyster Restaurant where they bought me a delicious birthday dinner topped off with a sticky toffee pudding gratis from the restaurant. Then back to settle in for the night as we are all tired.

Please note: in an effort avoid the exorbitant roaming charges from Rogers, I have removed the SIM card from my phone. Therefore, you cannot phone me or text me; but you can message or call me using WhatsApp, provided I have access to WIFI.