22 Jan 06 The whale in the Thames died
The other day when I first heard that a whale had been spotted in the Thames river, I had a bad feeling the outcome would not be a good one. The river is so narrow and shallow for a whale and it seemed too far in to have any realistic chance of survival, especially after it was injured from a collision with a boat. Sadly last night it died while being towed back to the ocean. The riverbanks in the city were apparently crowded at times with people excited to get a look at the whale, which is understandable.
When we lived in Vancouver I saw a number of whales in my travels and we also saw some when we cruised to Alaska, so it wasn’t a priority to try to get a look at this one in the Thames. A few years ago a whale was successfully towed back out to the ocean after becoming disoriented in North Van. From watching that incident it was evident how delicate such an operation is.
Yesterday we were on the south bank of the Thames, but quite far from the Battersea Bridge, where the whale rescue attempt was underway.
We visited the awesome Borough Market under London Bridge and loaded up with a couple of bags of fresh goodies. There’s an incredible selection there, from sweets to savouries, breads, wines and of course meat, dairy and produce. Our favourite pick was two slices of ’savoury pie’ - that’s ‘quiche’ to those back home :) We also bought fresh pepper sausage, oak-smoked cheese, olives, croissants, baklava and plenty of yummy fruit. The grapes we’ve had here are especially juicy and sweet! This market will definitely be a regular destination for us on future weekends.
Such a sunny day! We enjoyed the walk from London Bridge back to the hotel to drop of the goodies, then returned to the south bank to Queen Elizabeth Hall to take in another Mime Fest show - this one was free! It was aimed at kids, but was goofy enough for adults to have a laugh too.
In other news, our reference checks for the apartment came back A-okay, so we’ll be moving in Feb 1 as planned. We also heard from the shipping company that our possessions should arrive by Feb 5, but they scheduled a tentative delivery for Feb 8. Now I’m feeling pretty anxious to get into the flat and out of the hotel, which is very comfortable but not home…
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GET FED:
Glad to hear you got your flat and it doesn’t sound like you will have to wait too long for your belongings. You both will start to settle in before long and remember home is where your pillow is.
It was sad to hear the poor whale died, we did get brought up to date, good old CNN. Talk to you soon.
Comment by Carolyn Jones — January 23, 2006 #
ya uncle matt told me over e mail gramma carolyn what is your e mail address ?
Comment by samantha — January 24, 2006 #
We were surprised to see the whale swimming up the Thames - went whale watching out of Tofino a couple of years ago and never saw one!
Congratulations on getting the flat - soon you will be relaxing in that wonderful deep tub! Brings back memories!
Comment by Lynda Bobinski — January 24, 2006 #