Pimlico to Chelsea

On Saturday we decided to go to the Farmers Market in Pimlico - just for something different to do.  It was a beautiful day, bright sunshine and we wanted to make the most of it.  The Farmers Market is a small local market with all organic products - it was very busy with all the people that live nearby buying their meat, veggies, fruit, cheese, eggs, and flowers.  There were also stalls with cooked food so we took advantage and bought something for lunch.  Ken was talking to one of the stall owners and she said that the market organisers are very strict about everything being organic, so they make sure even the cooked goods apply to this as well.

The area of Pimlico is really beautiful with lots of Georgian buildings that look very grand - if it wasn't for the cars you could almost imagine what it was like in this area a hundred years ago.



This is my arty photo that Ken wanted me to take - looking down through all the entry ways



Now I don't want anyone to get the impression that we spend our lives in tea rooms, but we did find a couple of really nice ones.  The first one, morning tea time, was a gorgeous patisserie and we both partook of some of the loveliness on display - Ken a strawberry cream cake and me a coconut macaroon.

We then wandered down to the Thames via the Royal Hospital where the Chelsea Pensioners live, and as you can see, Ken found a friend.

When we got down to the river we discovered that the great river boat race was on - it is a 21 mile course that attracts over 300 boats from all over the world.  It was a great sight, with serious crews, and others that were dressed up to enjoy the day.  There were lots of dragon boats with drummers on board to keep the rowers in time - though some of the drummers weren't showing much enthusiasm. 



Note the top hats

 



Vikings - someone in the crowd near us said 'what are they meant to be - refugees?'

 The bridge we stood on to take the photos was the Alfred bridge, which is one of the prettier bridges in London.

After the excitement of the race we went to Battersea park which is just over the bridge on the south side of the river to eat our lunch from the market.  The park covers 200 acres and includes a petting zoo, sports fields, fountains, cafes, and a beautiful peace pagoda.  There were logs of people out with their dogs in the park, and we met a gorgeous 12 week old French Bulldog who I had to pat - it was only the second time he'd been out and his owner was struggling to get him to walk.  He was so small our cats could beat him up - but oh so cute - I would love one.

We sat in the sun for ages and just enjoyed some lovely food in beautiful surroundings.

Next was a walk down the Thames path to Wandsworth bridge and along the way we always see things that make us not notice how far we're walking - also because of the weather there were lots of crazy people out exercising but we also saw people about to get married and lots of lovely house boats along the river side.



Cows on top of a pub




I took this photo because the lovely old houses in the front look very dwarfed by the modern flats next to them



Someone has tied lots of old pairs of shoes to a chain along one part of the river

 By now our feet were very sore - we'd walked slightly further than we intended, so up the Kings Road until we found a lovely tea shop that we'd been to before called the Chelsea Teapot and I finally got my red velvet cupcake.  The teashop is really lovely with mismatched furniture, old fashioned china, and lovely decorations.



 Great day out with my beloved.

Distance walked:  8.5 miles

Blisters:  Three

Love to all, stay safe and keep smiling

Pamela & Ken

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