"Tote that cabin bag (and umbrella)!"

Go for it girls!

November has been eventful  to say the least for Greyrocks! After a non-event of Halloween (staying in for a quiet night but armed with cheap chocolate bars for t-and-treaters who didn't show now that the demographics of the complex have changed) we were up earlyish to wave off the intrepid ladies walking for a cancer charity. There had been talk of Greyrocks participating (with Ruth on the bike) but Bob`s new knee troubles, and reluctance to seek sponsors meant it was just a donation and good wishes. They did very well, though, despite our absence raising over 2K euros and with only one casualty!

In the early hours of the next morning Ruth was awakened by ominous noises outside, and that was the start of some pretty horrible weather that has been around on-and-off for much of the month! The Canarian tourism authorities wouldn´t want publicity for this, but holidaymakers have been looking dejected! On the Sunday in question there were gale force winds and the rain was frequently near-horizontal. A couple of days later things started to improve. Serious consideration was given to going to the Big Beach on the sunny Tuesday, but tasks got in the way, and instead we went on a much less satisfactory day. It was touch-and-go and we didn´t get in the sea (very frisky!) or even sunbathe (evil wind). The man we know at our chiringuito was battening down his hatches when we got there! Still, by getting there at all before February Greyrocks had broken an emerging pattern for the winter season! All one could say was "Well this will seem like good weather by the weekend!"

That was because Greyrocks made a five-day pilgrimage to UK in recognition of Ruth´s Dad - Vic - celebrating his 90th birthday. This presented some logistical challenges as we have only sufficient warm clothes to cover a quick overnight before and after Heathrow-Goa trips, and we had only paid for cabin bags, but it all turned out well and the weather was only marginally worse than we had suffered here on Fraggle Rock!

We stayed at the Premier Inn in Croydon, and this was one of several pleasant surprises. On the Easyjet plane we had bought reduced-price rail tickets and then jumped straight on to a qualifying and very fast train. When we got to East Croydon we saw that there had been major  station re-fit and we could leave by a new bridge that took us straight to the hotel. Gatwick to check-in in 25 minutes! A nearly new hotel, too, and distinctly better that Travelodge!

On Saturday we bought Travelcards and went to visit the Balham house and our old neighbour, on to the local to meet our gardener-decorator and then on a tortuous but nostalgic bus trip up to Waterloo. It was cold, raining intermittently and Remembrance Weekend. Sitting space undercover was in short supply on the South Bank but we met Chloe in the Festival Hall where she wanted to see an exhibition by offenders, and we then walked over a very crowded Hungerford Bridge to the Cafe Rouge in Villiers Street where we managed to negotiate a table and stay for many hours as dripping tourists sought refuge from a storm. Not a bad meal, and great fun seeing the offspring!

The Sunday family "do" also worked well thanks to some tight planning. Neither Vic nor Viv was really up  to going to a restaurant so we cut down the guest list to cover just the two generations and arranged for party food to be delivered by Waitrose and Tesco for a buffet lunch at their house. Lois also ordered a magnificent cake iced in Air Force blue and with a skillfully moulded Lancaster atop. Greyrocks got a cheap but slow train to Havant and was collected at the station. It was a day enjoyed by all, but especially Birthday Boy!

A Turner reminiscent of the Lanzarote ferry!

Now Greyrocks had two full days to play with. Task 1 was to buy a Kindle and set it up, then, after a bit more shopping we went to the flicks. There was all of a dozen in the audience for Mr Turner but rather more comfort than at our (now) most frequent venue of the Palolem outdoor cinema, and it was warm! We greatly enjoyed the film and it gave us a mission for the next day.

We took the bus again, this time passing through Brixton where Greyrocks had not been for many years. We hissed at Bob´s former place of work, at Stockwell station, at County Hall and at the Houses of Parliament and Downing Street for a range of reasons and then went to a pub near Trafalgar Square to shelter from the rain. We paused to look at the strange statue on the fourth plinth and the Great War installation in the centre of the square.

The main focus of the afternoon was to see the supposed nine Turner paintings in the National Gallery. With some help from staff we discovered that two were out on loan, five were located in two different rooms and the rest eluded us! Making the link with the knowledge gained from the film the previous day made for a rich experience. On our way out we stopped for viewings of Canaletto and Hogarth - on the themes of water and London. And on the subject of links Bob then went to the National Portrait Gallery to see the collection of Turner prize-winning Grayson Perry:-  a little rushed, given the hour, but admired! It was then another bus  - this time down through Walworth Road and Camberwell to frighteningly trendy East Dulwich to meet Chloe for dinner until thrown out and a late bus back to Croydon.

And that was that:- easy journey home to Fuerte and preparation for the next event!