Slept in till 7.00. Jenny is ill. Vomited during night. Clear blue skies again.
Blood Pressure 132/71 Pulse 64 Our cleaner turned up at 10,30 so we had to go out. Jenny still felt ill. On the way to Preston Road we met a Canadian Couple our age who are staying in one of the larger flats that are in the house we are staying in. We have the one roomed loft. They have the one bedroom flat. We might just knock on their door one night and invite ourselves in to see what we are missing. We first went to the Museum at the Bank of England. The Bank of England is a large triangle shaped building. It takes up all the area of the triangle and has main roads surrounding it. In the 19th Century a wall was built around the bank. It gives the appearance of a vault above ground. It is a grey undistinguished solid concrete building. But this is only the wall. There is a separate building inside. The wall only has two small doors. The one into the bank has very heavy security. The other door into the museum also has security. You have to pass your valuables through the usual scanner. The wall around the bank means you cannot see what goes on inside. They have rebuilt the bank twice inside the wall without the public being able to see what they were building. You can see the upper floors from a distance but this is all you can see. No one knows what it looks like unless you can get inside to see. The public cannot. Having said all that it is well worth visiting the museum. I recommend it to anyone. Lots of history. Lots of explanations about banking. Lots of explanations about economics. Lots of diagrams. Lots of historical photo's. Lots of previous pounds shillings and pence. Lots of old ledgers. Lots of historical bank statements. Handel was a customer and speculated in the South Sea Company. He sold out before the bubble burst. He put his profits into his current account. He also had an interest bearing account. It is stated that he was a good businessman. But then he also founded the Children's Foundling Home and he apparently convinced a number of wealthy men to also give money. And he made it fashionable for hip middle class women to visit the hospital on weekends. Amongst the memorabilia is the resignation letter of Kenneth Grahame. His handwriting was so good you can read and understand what he wrote. Also a typed explanation as to why he resigned by a work colleague. Also a written record of a medical examination of Grahame which you cannot decipher. He must have written The Wind in The Willows when he was an employee at the Bank. He was incidentally involved in one of the few attempted robberies at the bank. It is also noted that they cheated him on his superannuation payment. The hand written calculation proves it. There is an actual gold bar. They dare you to try and pick it up. You can but you cannot lift it very far. Its inside a plastic case and you have to put your hand in a hole to grasp it. You cannot take the gold bar out of its case. Not that you would get very far with it. You cannot believe its so heavy. The value of it today is 323,000 pounds. As per today's price of gold at the International gold exchange which shows by ticker tape that it is constantly changing. We then went and had lunch at one of the many Prets that inhabit the City. I had chicken and bean soup with a salad sandwich. Jenny had a sandwich and a cup of tea. When sitting eating lunch outside the Pret in the open air I could not help but muse about the lifestyle of the people who live in the apartments that surrounded the Pret. This is within walking distance of St Pauls and The Bank of England. There was a notice saying serviced apartments were available. It gave a mobile phone number. I am not tempted to ring the number. I might get sucked in. We then went to The Guild Hall to purchase our drawing of London but it was closed. Security everywhere. Helicopter overhead. Police everywhere. No explanation as to why it was closed. Nothing on TV tonight to explain. Very annoying as it means we have to come back next week, We then just walked about and it was most enjoyable. We found Bow Bells Church. Didn't hear the bells though. We found a new shopping mall that had a viewing garden on the 6th floor opposite St Paul's. Found it by accident. A bar in a roof garden. Very modern. Obviously not a lot of people know about it otherwise there would be more people taking advantage. Jenny did two Italian girls a favour and took their photo. She remarked at how other nationalities immediately pose when they have their photo taken. She says the Chinese do this too. The English are too reserved. These two Italian girls who did not speak English - surprise - immediately set up a pose when Jenny pointed the phone at them. No embarrassment whatever. We ambled about in the Cheapside area of the city - walking through alleyways and side streets. There is no grid system in the City of London. Lots of construction work going on. Tried to count the number of cranes in view - 25 were visible. We walked to Farrington Street. We passed through some old and slightly decrepit looking but nevertheless nice interesting areas. We commented that they were probably ready for restructuring. Then we came to the site for the new Crossrail Station and this more or less means the area will not be with us when we next visit. All will be changed to cater for Crossrail and the millions it will bring to the area. Millions in both money and people. We came home on the Metropolitan Line. Nothing much on TV. The Annual Caravaner of the Year Awards. I kid you not. Wednesday Night at The London Palladium. I kid you not. This show was on when I lived here. Absolute crap except for when Cindi Lauper sang Time After Time on her Appalachian Harp. When she stays simple she is wonderful. Michael Palins Around the World in 80 days repeated on The Travel Channel. He looked so young. Victoria Wood has died. This is one woman you had to admire. Some film showing how talented she was. She could sing and play piano as well. Blood Pressure 113/64 Pulse 100
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