I did a little cooking this week. First was a couple of Kringle's, an apple and a raspberry. The nice thing about making them is Leanne can take some of it to work.
Later on in the week i took a French bread making class. A was different than the Sourdough and Italian bread class's that i took.
Friday Leanne bought me to a shave at a local barber near where she works. I got the works, hot towels and fancy shave lotions and the shave with a strait razor.
After that i met Leanne for lunch and after we walked around a bit. We passed what was left of this church. I forgot the date of when it was built, but did read why this is all that is left of it. The church yard was also the cemetery and as they buried more people they got closer to the building. Eventually they foundation gave way and the building fell down. This is all that was left of it.
Saturday we went to Wimbledon commons for a walk. This is one of our favorite places to walk, lots of open fields.
Leanne did a 180 degree picture to give you and idea of what we see.
As you can see by the frost it was a cold morning.
Farther on during the walk we were walking on the golf course.
Unlike the U.S. dogs are allowed to walk on the public golf courses. This course also had horses and bikes on it.
Lee and Coach waiting to cross the fairway.
We walked for a while on it but decided it would be better to keep clear of the golf balls.
Then we found this little guy carrying a tree branch. He must be thinking to himself "i am a big dog, I am a big dog"
After a good walk, Lee and I treated ourselves to lunch. We each had a beer and shared a burger, Coach took a much needed break.
It was a good walk, we did around six miles. You can see on the map we walk thru the golf course.
Sunday would be another walk, even though the sky's are blue it was a cold day.
We started our walk at the Royal Hospital Chelsea, built in 1692.
This is a retirement home for people in the service.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Hospital_Chelsea
http://www.chelsea-pensioners.co.uk/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelsea_Pensioner
A view of the main building built in 1692. Leanne kept mentioning the size of the property, it would be hard to find and area this big for retired soldiers in the U.S.
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Coach and I walking on the lawn, this was the only area dogs were allowed.
After leaving the the hospital grounds we headed west along the Thames.
Farther up the road we passed the Chelsea Physic Garden founded in 1673
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelsea_Physic_Garden
It was not open when we walked by. The gate did have a rather interesting emblem on it. They must have had a thing for Rhino's.
Across the Thames we could see the Peace Pagoda in Battersea park
A lot of famous people lived in this section, Oscar Wilde, James Whistler, Mark Twain and Keith Richards to name a few. Every place we walk there are sculptures, this one looks like a boy and a dolphin.
Crossing the Thames on the Albert Bridge
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Bridge,_London
The bridge was built in 1873 and was nicknamed "The Trembling Lady" because of its tendency to vibrate when large numbers of people walked over it. Soldiers could not march in rhythm when crossing. They don't cross it anymore but the sign is still there.
A new way to park the boat.
Heading into Battersea park, opened in 1858.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battersea_Park
Back in the day it was a famous spot for dueling.
This is a more open park with a lot of soccer fields.
This section had zip lines and walkways between the trees. Both kids and adults were up there and although there were safety lines i would never go up there.
This is the tropical gardens. We found it funny to have frost in the tropical garden.
Coach is still enjoying his walk
As you can see it is a cold day with ice on the pond.
From the frozen tropical garden we walked to the Peace Pagoda. I walked up to it while Leanne and Coach stayed below.
A good view of it, it was built in 1985
https://batterseapark.org/history/peace-pagoda/
My turn on the lower level, that's me on the bench.
Time to walk again, a few views along the Thames.
Lee getting a picture of a boat i the water. I wasn't sure what she wanted a picture of.
It wasn't the boat, but the bird on the boat.
Another bridge to cross, this one is the Chelsea Bridge.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelsea_Bridge
The original bridge was built in 1858 and was to be name the Victoria bridge after the queen. The bridge was narrow and structurally unsound, leading the authorities to rename it Chelsea Bridge to avoid the Royal Family's association with a potential collapse.
That bridge was eventually torn down in the 1930's and this one was built in 1937 to replace it.
A view of where we had walked. The Chelsea Pension hospital is on the right and Battersea park is on the right.
As we walked home i noticed a dragon on one of the houses. There big into dragons here and you will see them all over the place.
Another good day of walking and it looks like Coach has had enough of it.
