I've been a bit slow updating the blog and so I'll make it brief.

After the early break of Easter, April shaped up nicely and we had some excellent weather. That was good news for my little Horticultural Enterprise and the vegetables grew quickly. The early sales at the markets went well and that's always good news. I don't think we made any trips besides West Wales and some of these were "working" trips as time was running short to get the boat into the harbour. The first trip was spent trying to get the boat ship shape, so to speak. The winter had put paid to the battery and so that was replaced. The engine wasn't too clever either and so it was decided that a service was in order, which would take a couple of weeks as the Cambrian Marina was busy with other idiots like us who all wanted to get in the sea but had neglected their boats over the winter. So Grant and myself spent the time cleaning the small deck and got the Karscher Spray Machine on the go to get rid of all the winter greenery that grows all over. I went back a couple of weeks later and managed to get the boat back in the harbour after renewing some of the mooring chains. If the boat isn't in the harbour by a certain time, you'll lose the mooring...and there's something like a three year waiting list. Anyway, job done, finally.

May wasn't so good on the weather front and so efforts were concentrated with the plants and trees, more potting up. It's something I really enjoy doing so is no problem for me. I'd had an email from my old friend Richard Briggs from Melbourne, Australia, he was visiting Blighty and so arrangements were made to catch up in London. Richard couldn't make it down to Wales as was on business and time was tight. No problem, we'd catch up in The Smoke. Normally I'd have got the National Express as it's usually the beginning of any journey but for convenience sake I booked the Inter City Train. It proved later to be inconvenient and neither Inter City. We decided to meet up on Monday the 18th May. Richard was working during the day so I took the 2.30pm train to London, the weather was nice and the train fairly empty. It's always good to see Blighty by train and the old place was looking green and lush as we flashed past the flatlands of England. Church Spires and meadows still exist and they're nice to see. I like the bustle of London and soon arrived. I then got swallowed by the London Underground and made my way to Green Park Station. Richard's company had done him proud and he was holed up in Fleming's Hotel in Mayfair. http://www.flemings-mayfair.co.uk/ . I hadn't seen Rich in about 10 years, but he hasn't changed and so was instantly recognisable when I saw him waiting for me in the hotel foyer. It was then decided we'd take in the boozers of Mayfair. I had brought some spare Kidneys and other body parts. Mayfair, London isn't the cheapest place to go drinking. In typical Aussie Fashion Rich stuck to Ice Cold lager although I did make him drink a pint of traditional British Ale...nice and warm...the way it should be. That had him gagging. He said it was like drinking from a spittoon. I'd had my fun so let him go back to the ice cold lagers. We had a good time catching up, got some grub and had a few beers. Despite Mayfair being an exclusive area, this didn't stop the beggars of Eastern Europe from being a pain in the **** and approaching you outside the boozers. Quite a sight really amongst the Uniformed Chauffeurs and Rolls Royce carriages picking up the well heeled from their Multi million pound apartments. The evening ended quite early around 9.45pm, we said our farewells, hopefully it wont be another 10 years until we catch up. I then once again descended into the Tube.

I'd booked the last train from Paddington to Cardiff which left at 11.45pm and then wouldn't get into Cardiff until 2.30am, this train doesn't go directly to Cardiff. But I managed to get to Paddington a bit earlier than expected and saw that there was a 10.35pm about to leave. So I made a dash for it. Great, this train would get into Cardiff at about 12.30am.....that would save some time. The train was empty with only a few bods on board. I headed to the Buffet Carriage and had a beer, thinking how lucky I was to get on this train. What could go wrong? I was then asked by a conductor to see my ticket. I showed him and he then told me my ticket wasn't valid for this train. "What are my options?" I asked "You can pay the full fare of £100.00 or get off in Reading and wait for the last train". Well that was nice of him. He made sure I had to get off in Reading and had to wait an hour on the empty station for that last train. God knows where that train goes, it heads south, then stops and reverses back for an hour before shunting back onto the main line to Wales. That train was empty as well, so somebody hasn't worked out their logistics too cleverly. Cardiff has a reputation as a party town and even at 2.30am there were still party going remnants wandering about. Well they were more like Zombies in the City of the Dead really as they'd had it and were barely capable of walking. I checked into The Sandringham Hotel as it would be cheaper and easier than getting one of Cardiff's Taleban Taxis' home. The Hotel was okay. It was old but clean enough and the staff were friendly. Thus ended my London Adventure.