Shopping and Postman Pat

Today was always scheduled to be a slow day. Tomorrow we are off with Mike and Jo to Croatia for a few days and our Uber is picking us up at 4-00am so not planning anything big.

Janet and RB decided today was to be a shopping day. After Janet had a haircut they set off to Harrods. A good explore was had and some shopping for Janet’s sister, Anna was achieved. They also spent time in some areas of the shop without prices. Nice to look but suggests some people have more money than sense.

From there they braved Oxford St on the last day of the school holidays. Absolutely crazy and RB has declared that yet another item has been added to the ‘been there, done that’ list. This part of the trip was noticeable however for some firsts. RB went shopping and used his debit card and it was contactless. Getting to grips with this new technology.

I always try to look out for unusual things to learn while we are travelling. Today I decided to

go to the Postal Museum. On first look one would assume this would be pretty boring - wrong. I had a great couple of hours.

The first part of the visit takes you through the history of the Royal Mail. This included things you don’t immediateley think of like managing pirates who were trying to steal the mail, why and how the stamps started, what happened to the mail on the Titanic and how the post got its name (our old mate Henry VIII involved again).

The development of technology to handle the mail along with the intergration of the new technologies (telegraph, phone, internet, transport logistics etc) was not something I had considered but turned out to be really interesting.

There was a good section on Postman Pat and how they were using the show to promote the business. Very relevant to my kids growing up!

The surprise for me however came next. The Royal Mail had their own underground train system (called Mail Rail) which used to move 4 million bits of mail a day under London for sorting and distribution. They have now turned this into a working museum so off I went underground on this tiny train for a tour of the underground business they had. They present this really well and the experience was outstanding. Highly recommend if you are looking for something unusual.

From there I did my once a trip visit to the Hard Rock Cafe in London. Lunch there and then home to pack for tomorrow.

Dinner tonight was another UK tradition - Fish and Chips with pickled onions and mushy peas. Early to bed