Summer has arrived with vengeance in London

We started our day with meeting Reb at Victoria Station and we headed off in the underground to her stomping ground in Clapham. With excellent coffee in hand (not always easy to get, but Reb knows the places to go) we headed across the road to sit in Clapham Common and enjoy the sunshine. The Common is apparently a favoured place for Kiwis living in this part of London. From there we walked through Clapham, stopping to see the flat Reb is moving into in a couple of weeks, then on to Brixton. The day was incredibly hot for walking, I found out later it was 28 degrees. In Brixton Michael had to buy himself a hat as he had left his behind, and that bald spot was burning......

After a drink in the Brixton market we caught the tube again and headed for Southbank. Here we caught up with Trish and Grant prior to our afternoon entertainment of attending Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. Following lunch we headed next door to watch a performance of Julius Caesar. We thought we were doing well with having purchased seats, as opposed to standing, however with their view to full authenticity the seating was just like long stools with no backing to them. After an hour it became back breaking and we were thinking that the people standing might have got it right. At intermission, which was about 1 1/2 hours after the start, we decided we had consumed enough culture for one day and called it quits. Reb was struggling with the theatre right from the word go. They did do a very good slaying of Julius Caesar.

On the way back to our apartment we stopped into Harrods, always a busy place, but exceptionally so when they have a sale on. We restricted ourselves to the food court area, and although it is exquisitely presented there is too much choice, you couldn't stay in there too long.

In the evening we walked to Piccadilly Circus, which isn't too far away, for dinner at Jamie Oliver's new Italian Restaurant. It had a lovely feel to the place, and too many choices for Trish to choose from. An enjoyable evening. Lisa and Kev arrive in London tomorrow having spent two more days in Italy than the rest of us.