Wandering Around Westminster...

The following day we continued with exploring London by foot, stopping at various pubs for drinks while making our way to St James’ Park, which was in bloom...

…and covered in birds.

This lake offered nice views of Buckingham Palace...

…the London Eye...

…and reflections of fluffy clouds.

Eventually we made our way to Buckingham Palace...

...to see the iconic guards.

As this was Drake’s first time in London, we also swung by Parliament, Big Ben and Trafalgar Square. 
 

Reunited with Holly in London...

On April 29, Holly and Drake arrived from Sacramento to spend three nights with us, before continuing onto Wales and Scotland. I had last seen them 13 months earlier when we spent a day together exploring Amsterdam after they’d finished a cruise. Holly and I had last met up in London in 2010 during her first visit to Europe. 

After they took their mandated nap (I am a stickler that all visitors from the US must take a nap when they arrive after their overnight flight), we took a walk to Canary Wharf, which appears here like it’s across the river but actually isn’t. 

Along the way we stopped for a drink at The Grapes, a pub co-owned by Sir Ian McKellen (Gandalf from Lord of the Rings), where we spotted a sculpture of a man in the river called Another Time by Antony Gormley.

Rather than walking around Canary Wharf, we jumped on the ferry that crosses the river...

…which offered a great view of Canary Wharf.

Once on the other side, we headed to The Mayflower, where we posed with this sign outside...

…and enjoyed beers and lunch on the terrace. 
 

Random Bits of April...

I enjoyed how these cherry blossoms in Wapping added to the view of Canary Wharf in the distance...

…and how these reflective sculptures in  Canary Wharf also enhanced the view. 

We finally finished unpacking enough to sort between which empty boxes were good enough to give away and which needed to be recycled. Even offering something for free on FB Marketplace was complicated with many people only wanting a few boxes, but I held out until I found a young woman who wanted all of them. 

Imagine my surprise when she arrived in a Mini! She was relocating to start her medical residency and was clearly determined as she managed to squeeze in all but one extra long box.

We’re always thrilled when Veronica has a reason to pop into London. Here she is speaking at the Royal Geographic Society’s Postgraduate Forum on Advances in Food Geographies.

Considering the topic, it was fitting that we had dinner the following night at Yum Bug, Europe’s first insect-based restaurant. They specialized in serving crickets in everything, including cocktails and desserts. While that might not sound too appetizing, the food was delicious. And we enjoyed having a chat with Leo, a co-founder. Sadly, the restaurant has since closed.
 

April Fun in Moorea...

Ashlynn continued to work hard and play hard in Moorea in April .

Filming at Tower Bridge...

It was exciting to happen upon a filmset one Sunday afternoon late in April. Jimmy and I were originally told to wait as we prepared to walk down the stairs from Tower Bridge, but then were quickly cleared to go ahead. We saw that something was being filmed, so we stuck around to see what it was.

We saw a clapperboard nearby that said Qatar Airlines, but were confused why there would be so much production equipment for a commercial. We stayed around long enough to watch an actress run down the stairs multiple times.

Jimmy had a chat with a cameraman between shots who said that they expected to work through most of the night. On our way home, we were surprised to see a large assortment of trailers and security nearby, again hinting that this was a big production. 

After dinner, we decided to walk back to see what was happening. They were now filming the same actress getting into a taxi over and over again after a man exited the taxi. Between shoots, someone would rush over with a coat and fix her hair. 

The tourists had all cleared out and no one paid any attention to us, so we could get very close to the director. After a friend posted that she saw Mission Impossible being filmed in Trafalgar Square, I assumed that we had witnessed some scenes as well and the clapperboard was a distraction. Many months later, I finally did a search and learned that I was way off. We had indeed witnessed an ad being filmed for Qatar Airlines, which tells a sweet story.  

 

Random Hashes in April...

In early April, we ran with EELS (East End of London Something) H3 on their Jack the Ripper Trail. I missed much of the craziness because I was too slow, but Opee witnessed the reenactments of where various victims of the infamous serial killer had been found. 

Two days later, we posed at this lovely spot for a London H3 group photo in Gunnersbury Park.

Later I led the circle at The Globe in Brentford. It’s always nice when we have a private room in a pub for down-downs.

We hashed for the first time with Enfield H3 in mid-April on a lovely night.

Although London H3 started in Aldgate on April 20, much of the trail was in Wapping. I encouraged Sparerib and Mouthwash to follow me to check out the view along the Thames before passing our building just a few minutes later. 

After the trail, Carla joined us for lunch at Old Spitalfields Market. On the way to drop her at the station, we came across Together Forever on Wheels by Gillie and Marc featuring our favorites: Rabbitwoman and Dogman.

 

Azalea Hash in Richmond...

Jimmy was on a train back from Brussels that evening, but I was happy to be around to do Man Magnet’s spectacular annual Azalea Hash for West London H3 on April 25. It was an A-to-B trail starting in Richmond and ending in Kingston with the bulk of the trail in Richmond Park. 

The main goal of this particular trial was to see the azaleas in bloom in Isabella Plantation, a large Victoria garden from 1830. Man Magnet regularly volunteers at the gardens of Hampton Court, so she was the perfect hare to bring us through this beautiful garden when it was in full bloom. 

Glad I wore the correct colors.

The rest of the park seemed almost boring in comparison. It got dark while we were at the drink stop which was in the park, but we eventually found our way out to the city streets and on to the pub,