Visiting Cousins Dot and Tim

It was an easy train ride to Orpington to see Dot and Tim. They live in Biggin Hill which is close by and came to the station to meet us.

We went to Tim's house for coffee and said hello to his son. Joe had been celebrating his 18th birthday (the legal drinking age) the previous night and was in good shape considering it was 11 a.m. and he had arrived home at 5 a.m.

We had lunch at the Old Jail, which was probably not a long-term prison, but a small lock-up where prisoners were held in custody for the night on their way to a London prison. The pub is near Biggin Hill aerodrome, which achieved world fame in 1940 in WWII when it was a vital R.A.F. fighter station in the defence of London.

Getting ready to enjoy our lunch. I had pork medallions with black pudding, much to Dot's dismay! Tim is Dot's only child and we are the same age...

Dot will celebrate her 80th birthday (sorry Dot, I had to say it!) next month and looks marvelous.

We had a wonderful meal and a chance to catch up from our last visit two years ago. We were heading back to London early as we had theatre tickets. On our way to the train station, Tim drove by the home of Charles Darwin where he lived when he wrote "On the Origin of Species."

They are celebrating the bicentenary of his birth this year. This is Down House...

Lovely visit...Dot and Tim are great!

Back on the train, I snapped a picture of the London Eye as we zipped by...

We had tickets for Wicked. Hmmmm....what to say about Wicked? Maybe a little bit too long...we had good seats. The actress playing the Wicked Witch was obviously not feeling well. We noticed her voice cracking and her trying to suppress a cough several times. She was replaced at the intermission by the understudy. I actually liked the play if it had been a bit shorter, but the true acid test...would I say "you have to see this play?" Probably not...

The animated dragon above the stage which spewed smoke during the play...

Tomorrow...no plans...