September 26, 2022 (Happy Birthday Sophie!)

Yesterday I said goodbye to the North York coast and travelled by train from Scarborough to York and then on to London, Kings Cross station,

and first thing this morning I visited the Vauxhall region of London near the Pleasure Gardens which are often the setting of much naughtiness in the historical romance novels that I sometimes read. (No, the fact that I like to read romance novels is not my dirty little secret!)

My dirty little secret, which is likely not a secret at all to most if not all of my readers, is that my lovely photos have been filled with spots. I have not wanted to mention it before, in case some of you hadn’t noticed them, but they are awful! Before I left Vancouver I had brought my camera in to have the sensor cleaned, but (long, and frustrating story short) I was left with an unserviced camera.

I tried to fix the problem in Saltburn by using my blower and the Sensor Cleaning mode on my camera but that created more spots! I tried again in Whitby and then there were even more spots! Aaaargh! The usual deep pleasure that I feel while taking photos has been blunted this whole beautiful time (oh, the vistas, the blue skies, the sea!) by those darn spots!

So, my stop this morning in Vauxhall was at an official Sony camera repair shop to have my sensor cleaned before I fly, in two days’ time, to the Amalfi coast of Italy (oh, the vistas, the blue skies, the sea!). I hope you will join me there, and my camera stays spot free!

In the meantime, I have a few sites to see in London and I do not plan to write any posts from here other than this one. Also, due to time constraints, I will sadly just have to wait until I return to Canada to create my posts about the first half of my Cleveland Way walk through the glorious North York moors.

Now, back to the naughtiness. The “Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens” was a popular outdoor evening and nighttime entertainment venue in the 18th and 19th centuries with music, dining, operas, theatricals, balloon rides, fireworks, and other amusements, and it was reputedly often the site of trysts and other goings-on in the more secluded corners of the garden. Today, all that remains is a rather pleasant, family-friendly park surrounded by the busy city, though the silhouettes of a gentleman and a lady atop tall columns at the entrance to the park allude to its earlier life as a centre of amusement and dalliances.

When I first arrived in London yesterday afternoon I felt rather overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of people at Kings Cross and in the metro stations and on the streets and, well, everywhere! I successfully negotiated the metro and found my way to my accommodation, but then I basically hid out for the rest of the day except for taking an evening walk in the relatively peaceful and nearby Hyde Park. Today though, after a good night’s sleep, I decided to embrace the busyness and crowds of the city and really enjoy my few days here. (Granted, though, I did spend most of my afternoon at the British Library which could very well be the quietest “attraction” in London!)

Enough chit chat! Here are just a few pictures from the busy and vibrant streets of London.

And in this collage, the grand Saint Pancras Renaissance Hotel London is made even swankier by a hot pink McLaren.

Well, that’s it from London. I’ll see you soon in Naples and on the beautiful Amalfi coast.