Golf and staying in town.

Golf  and staying in town.

I was finally able to get a game of golf in this week.  I have Plantar fasciitis in both my feet and  i really wasn't ready to carry my golf bag to and from the golf course. The feet have been feeling better so i thought i would give it a try. And they had a scooter i would be able to use. To say it felt silly to ride would be an understatement. It was electric and had a motorcycle style throttle to make it go forward. To make it go backwards you had to flip a switch. To make it stop---well there is the problem, there are no brakes on this thing. When you let up on the throttle it stops. I did real well and did not run anyone over or drive it into a tree. it doesn't have a cup holder which was OK because there wasn't a beverage cart.

The course was short, 6,600 yards from the back tees but the greens were very fast. It did have a few odd holes, two of them crossed each other. So you had to watch when you were teeing off because someone may be walking in front of you. Another one the tee box was next to the green and you hit over top of the green. The other funny thing about that hole was the women's tee was behind the men's tee. At first i thought it was a mistake or that maybe it was a par 5 for the women and a par 4 for the men. But that is the way the hole was laid out. It was a par 4 for both men and women, the men's tees were at 334 yards and the women was at 337. 

  I had golfed with a group of 12 guys, 10 Brits, me and another american. So after 18 holes (i shot an 85) i got a tour of the club house from an american member and we moved into the pub area of the club. Every one puts in 3 pounds (about $4.50) and instead of having a beer they have tea and tea cakes.   I don't care for tea or tea cakes so i had some hard cider.

On Fridays at noon i meet up with an american group of guys for lunch and a few pints. We go to a different pub each week and there always trying something different. The one last Friday was supposed to have good food and a wide variety of beer on tap. I got there at a little before noon and the place was not open and no one else was there. I had thought i made a mistake but after checking my email i was at the right spot. The owner finally showed up unlocked the door and started to take the order from the delivery truck. He opened a door in the sidewalk and the driver started dropping the beer kegs thru the openings. By then another american showed up and we watched the entertainment. When all was unloaded the  owner came up and asked us what we wanted. We were having our first pint when we found out the the place doesn't open till 2:00 and they didn't have food.

By about the time we found out they weren't really open the rest of the Americans showed up and he flipped the closed sign to open. 

 On Saturday Leanne and Coach went on a 4 mile walk thru Kensington gardens and Hyde park. It was a beautiful day and Coach was getting some running in. I was able to meet up with her for breakfast at a restaurant we found when we were here on our house hunting trip. The have great soft boiled eggs, or dipping eggs as Leanne calls them. It brought back great memories of when her mom use to make them. 

After a short break at home we did some exploring in London. A short ride on the tube along with a 20 minute walk and we were at Chiswick House and Gardens. 

http://www.chgt.org.uk/index.asp

 The house was built by the third Earl of Burlington in 1729 to showoff what he had and other did not. The house was not open but the gardens were so we were able to walk around and see it. The house and gardens are 65 acres and include an artificial river. If you have a river you have to have a bridge so they built this one. 

We would call it a green house over here the call it a conservatory. This was built in 1813 and at the time was the largest. It also has the oldest collection of camellias in England.

There were lots of paths and we tried to find them all

 Another nice thing was in some areas dogs did not have to be on a leash.

But he is fine either way

and he does like to climb.

Sunday Leanne got up early took Coach on a 4 mile walk. After a great breakfast (that was my job) we decided to rent some bikes and see the places near us. They have bike rental

  pods all over London for 2 pounds you can rent it all day. You just have to doc them back up every 30 minutes. It sounds like a pain but its really easy once you get the hang of it. 

Our trip took us down to the Thames river and the tide was out. These were house boats tied up and sitting on the banks. There were people living in them as we saw smoke from a grill. 

We ended up doing a little over 10 miles and ended up at a pub (imagine that) on one of our stops.