Day 55 - where do those brollies come from

I awoke this morning with the alarm going off and having had a really good sleep, I have to put that down to being totally shattered when I went to bed, in fact I cannot remember waking up at all through the night.

I also expected to have stiff legs this morning but as I swung my trunks out of bed there was no pain and I felt quite refreshed, so much so that as breakfast was included in my rate this week I decided to hit the restaurant and fest on the good fare.

After going back to my room and getting ready for work, I noticed it had not started raining yet, which the local news was promising so I donned by back pack and set off for the 25 minute walk to the office and I just arrived as the first few spots started to fall and by the time I had got to my desk, got a freebie coffee the rain was coming down and it was suddenly brolly town outside the office.  People must hide their unopened brollies in some strange places as you cannot see them when it is not raining but then when the rain comes, they all have them waving about in the air.  We shall now leave that subject.

Work got fairly busy again so just the one very quick stroll around the stations and done underground as the weather has been quite miserable.  But at least with work been busy it meant that i got into very productive mode and got everything done by just after 5.00 p.m. or everything that I needed to right now.

So at 5.10 p.m. I hot footed it out of the office and the 25 minute walk to the hotel.  Once there I quickly surveyed by emails and did a few replies and got ready for the evening ahead.  

Tonight I was on a mission, I have decided to get a 360 degree camera and have been doing some research on line, you have to admit buying a product now a days does create an awful lot of internet searching.  But I seem to have steadied myself on a Ricoh Theta camera and as Jessops have the same item at the same price as a shop on Amazon I decided to go for the high street approach.  I checked the closing time and on Oxford Street the shop closed at 9.00 p.m.  Perfect I thought as I dragged my Selby and Wigan colleague from their hotels on Euston Road down the Tottenham Court Road and along Oxford Street in the pouring rain to arrive at the shop by 8.00 p.m.  I was then in full retail mode talking with the shop assistant who was a great guy but unfortunately the item I wanted was not in stock and the next arrival would be in 28 days time, he gave me the option of paying 10% and securing one when they came in but I refused as I am like a little kid and want it now now now.  But without a tantrum I left the store empty handed and much to the derision of my colleagues.

Outside in the dry weather as it had stopped raining by now we discussed and agreed we would head to the Grenadier pub in Belgravia Square which was about a 30 to 45 minute walk from our present location.  It was like a Monopoly excursion of the posh bits as we meandered down Oxford Street, near Bond Street, quite close to Piccadilly before going passed a Bentley Car Shop and a shop call Park Lane, before being in Mayfair.  We did not stop as we could not afford the rent, get it, it was a Monopoly referenced gag.

We finally found the Grenadier and settled in for some food.  My Selby colleague had the burger, Wigan had the lamb pie and I opted for the Sausage platter which was basically lots of different sausages with a small portion of chips, no argument on the sausages as there were so many that I ended up sharing them with the guys.  The pub is a fair walk from the hotel and my hotel in particular, a fair few miles but it is a lovely local pub and as it is situated in the back of a mews and not on any thoroughfare, it is frequented by mainly locals.  It was now gone 10.00 p.m. so we opted to get the tube from Hyde Park Corner and get back to Kings Cross the easy way.  It was here I said goodnight to my colleagues as I swapped for the Northern Line and continued my journey to Angel as it is the closest to my hotel this week.

Getting back after another night of long walks and interesting sights I decided to hit the hay and leave any late work until tomorrow morning.  Out of interest I checked my steps and over the past two days I have done 42,344 steps which is the most i have walked since starting to count my steps on my gadget and over twice what I set out as my target.  I don't want to sound smug but happy that my little legs are doing so well.

So from a tired amateur walker I bid you all goodnight.