Croydon Summer Festival, 1-2 Aug

This weekend, I went to Croydon [another suburb of London on the South side] to participate in a summer festival.

To get there I just needed to take the tram from Wimbledon to Croydon. Of course, I didn't do that. I took the overland train from Wimbledon to Croydon and what I didn't realise is that Wimbledon ... zone 3 ... to Croydon ... drops you in zone 6, so when I got to Croydon, my train ticket wouldn't let me out of the turnstiles. I went over to the window to buy a zone 6 ticket and instead, I GOT a ticket!!! 20 pounds for a 3 pound ride. Rats!

http://www.croydonsummerfestival.org/

They had a nice line-up of music. I heard Candi Lane, R&B artist. She sang "Young Hearts Run Free" in the 70's. She has a great voice.

On a side stage, I say Latin Dub Sound System. They were good. Hadn't it not been for the rain, there would have been lots of room to salsa. And it was quite obvious that a LOT of people at the festival do NOT know how to Salsa.

But the main reason I was there was to see The Proclaimers! I love these guys. They are Scottish brothers, Craig and Charlie Reid formed. Their first big hit was "Letter From America". My favourite is "I’m Gonna Be (500 miles)" and "I’m On My Way". These guys still have it!

The Proclaimers - (I'm gonna be) 500 miles! Live Acoustic

Now of course by the time The Proclaimers were on stage, it was raining ... sideways. It was raining so hard that the umbrella was leaking! I had my Goretex jacket on, but really needed my Goretex pants! Yow-za!

Most people were just happy [drunk], soaked, and dancing in the rain in their Wellington's! This is literally, a favourite English past time in the summer. To be wet, drunk, and dancing in boots.

Visiting Teri, Guest Blogger, Heidi

Teri is making lunch and put me in charge of her blog for the day - Heidi Danielson, a Looney friend from Minnesota. I arrived on Monday and have spent the week exploring London. Teri had to travel for work on Monday, so a car met me at the airport when I arrived and drove me to her place in Wimbledon. I reacquainted myself to the dogs and then walked up the hill to the village. As the British say, it was lovely. Teri arrived home later that night.

The rest of the week I traveled in to London with Teri each morning and explored whilest (I've adopted several new phrases here) she worked. Shopping, Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, St. Paul's Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, Parliament & Big Ben (not to be confused with my son) and a day spent at the Victoria & Albert Museum on a day of rain and grey skies. Teri was able to take some time off work and we explored the Spittlefield Market one morning. Fun antiques and one of a kind wares.

Friday we headed to Brighton, a beach town on the southern coast of the UK. It was a day of typical British weather - cold and grey when we arrived. We found a place to stop for fish and chips for lunch while it sprinkled, but when the sun came out we saw our chance to walk down the pier and along the beach. After we turned around and began walking back we stopped to take pictures of the dark black cloud approaching. We were not able to outrun the cloud and the wind and rain hit us full force - sideways rain. We decided all we needed was a canoe and it would have been like a fall trip to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area from many years ago that lives on in infamy. We attempted to dry off in a pub and explored a little more of Brighton before heading back on the train.

Today we are planning to take Teri's car out and see some sights as several Tube lines are closed for the weekend. Then tomorrow I head home and Teri can get back to "normal" here.