Travelog for: Dottie Grace

In Greenwich, which lies a few miles east of central London along the river Thames, I visited the Old Royal Naval College: established in 1694 for the relief and support of seamen and their dependents.

Today I took the train into central London again before going for a walk along the Victoria Embankment on the north bank of the River Thames.

I wandered through the beautiful nineteenth-century gardens, saw that big wheel again, and visited the Battle of Britain war memorial. I walked and walked until I reached Westminster, where I saw I could have taken an underground train and saved my hooves. I wouldn't have seen so many interesting things that way though.

In Westminster I had my photo taken in front of 'Big Ben' - the famous clock next to the Houses of Parliament. I walked through Parliament Square where many flags were flying so I think there must have been something important happening. I went to take a look at Westminster Abbey, and St. Margaret's Church which stands in its grounds. Nearby I saw the Methodist Central Hall, which was another big impressive church, although not nearly as historic.

I continued my tour with a walk along Horse Guards' Road. There I saw some more impressive buildings including the Cabinet War Rooms. I also visited further memorials, including one for the victims of the Bali bombings in 2002, which is carved with 202 doves - one for each person who died that day.

As I was leaving I even saw a member of the Queen's Household Cavalry standing guard over what was once the main entrance to Buckingham Palace. He seemed to have forgotten his horse, though, which confused me a little.

Today I walked along the Thames again. I find this river very interesting because it holds an important place in the history of Australia where I live. In the eighteenth century, London did not have enough prisons to hold all its convicted criminals so many of them were imprisoned in ships called 'hulks' which were moored on the River Thames. Thousands of these prisoners were later transported to penal colonies in Australia, and many modern Australians are descended from these English ancestors.

For today's walk I began at Greenwich and walked west along the southern bank where I saw boats moored in Deptford.

A little further along I was surprsised to come across the Surrey Docks Farm, which offers city-dwellers the chance to learn about farming and food production. The animals who lived there seemed very friendly.

As I continued my walk I was able to look across the river to Canary Wharf, where London's tallest building stands amidst an every-growing group of skyscrapers. I examined an old ship's anchor and a cannon, which were just two of the intersting things that made the riverside walk like an outdoor museum.

In Rotherhithe I saw the Mayflower pub, which stands near the landing steps where the Pilgrim Fathers set sail aboard The Mayflower Ship to the New World. Originally on that site was The Shippe pub that dates back to around 1550 and where the ship was fitted out for the long trans-atlantic voyage.

At Cherry Garden Pier in Bermondsey were some unusual bronze statues of social reformer Dr Alfred Salter, his daughter and cat. I think the daughter liked me.

At last I reached the end of my walk, just as the light started to fail. Tower Bridge impressed me greatly. Over on the other side of the river stands the Tower of London - can you see it in the twilight?

Dottie Grace watched with great interest as the Easter egg emerged from its packaging until – with the smell of chocolate in the air – things started to get vicious!

I am here in the United States!! Wow!!
I am still a bit tired and too excited to be snapping pictures yet, but I will tell more of my stay here in a few days.

As I just arrived I want to take it easy, but as our host is going out to the backyard, I decide a mini trip is a nice idea.

Look, there are some papayas on the tree.  The yellow one is almost ripe!



Here's a green one that has fallen.  Maybe we can make green papaya salad with it.



This is a curious fruit I haven't seen before.  My host tells me it's called Surinam cherry. 



A lot are still green but we pick the red, plump ones.  They are delicious, a bit tangy and sweet, but as they bruise and wrinkle very easily it's not available in the stores.



Well, look what we have got!

Today we help our host cook an Indian dish, stir fried green beans with coconut.

First, we put the coconut shreds on a pan to toast in the toaster oven.



Now we wash the beans.



I chop off the ends and cut the bean into 1" long sticks.



Now we prepare the spices.  We put in chili pepper, tumeric power, garlic, coriander seeds, and more.



We ground the spices with a mortar and pestle.



Now we stir fry the beans with the spices.



We add in the coconut shreds and the dish is ready!  It's spicy but very delicious.

We go to a dragon boat race today at the Miami Rowing Club.

This is how the boat looks like.  It is about 45 feet long and seats 20 paddlers in 10 rows. 

 



Well, good luck, Puff team! 



The team gets into the boat and is now leaving the dock to head to the start line.



It's nice weather today at the beach and people are coming out to watch the races.



I can't tell who is winning!  They are so close.



We wander around and watch the taiko drummers as they perform on stage.  I really like the powerful drum beats.



We spot the lion and drum for the lion dance.



Look there are a lot of tents over there.  Let's see what they have.



Starbucks is out here giving samples.  I want one!



And at this tent they are cooking paella, Spanish fried rice, on a big paella pan.



Hmmm this hammock hand made in Nicaragua looks very pretty an I am sure is comfy too.



We also see some skateboarders.



The dragon dance is here!



Kyaa!  These are scary!



Some monkeys made from coconut.



We are happy that the Puff team did very good.  Look at all the awards!

Today is Free Comic Day so we go to the comic store to pick up our free comics.

We line up here so we can pick from the comics that are hanging on the wall.



They have a lot of posters and DVDs too.



Beware, Batman is here!



They have a lot of cute toys.  We invite them to join us to travel.



Wow a lot of mushrooms!



Oh looks like we wander into Star Wars zone!  I don't think they welcome us.



There are a lot of beautiful artbooks too.



Erm, the dogs here don't look too friendly either.



These Japanese snacks sure looks yummy!  Lavender chocolate?  I want to try that!



We thought they are just cute plush toys, but turn out they are giant microbes!  We meet chicken pox, mad cow disease, algae, flu and more.  Yuck, they may look cute but I sure am staying away.



The store is also having an exhibition of self portraits by artists.  They are all very beautiful.

We visit Tampa today, on the west coast of Florida.

We can see a cruise ship near downtown.  It's dawn so the rising sun gives the sky a beautiful glow.



Here we can see the buildings in downtown Tampa.



They are trying to set up the outrigger canoe.



Oh we see this guy stand-up paddling.  Looks so cool as he drifts by!