Up to London today to visit the Museum of London – Docklands.

We caught the train and tube to Canary Wharf, then a short walk through the docks to the museum:

The museum proved to be surprisingly interesting, with many displays and artefacts from the time London had actual docks. It’s housed in an old warehouse, one of the few remaining in the area:

Then time for lunch, and there was a lovely pub conveniently next door, also in a converted building:

West India Quay station was a short walk away, where we caught the DLR train to Tower Gateway.

From there, we walked over Tower Bridge and back to London Bridge station:

A bit cold in the wind, but a lovely day out.

Our day out this week was to the City of London. We caught the slow train to Cannon Street and used the new (to our lines) Class 707 train for the first time:

We had a quick look at a strange globe just opposite the station – there are a number of these around the city:

Then headed up Walbrook to the London Mithraeum:

We were a bit early for our visit, so explored some of the new entrances to Bank Underground station, and popped out by the Royal Exchange and The City of London Magistrates Court:

Back at the London Mithraeum, I looked at the e-ticket I’d booked the day before, and found that it was for the wrong day… But they let us in anyway and we looked at a collection of Roman artifacts that had been found during redevelopment of the area:

Then down underground to an expensive but pointless display about the god Mithras, then down even further to the temple itself. Again, it was dressed up in a light and sound show that didn’t achieve a lot, then finally we could look at the temple itself:

Afterwards, it was time for a coffee, then we popped in to visit the rebuilt St Stephen church in Walbrook. The church dome was originally designed by Christopher Wren, and it was lovely welcoming church, helped by the organist practising for a lunchtime recital:

Continuing the museum theme, we visited the Bank of England museum. Very heavy security including airport grade scanners, so it took a while to get in.

And then past, the bank itself:

Our next destination was further east, so we set off trying to find a pub. All we could see was coffee shop after coffee shop, then I peeked up an alleyway and saw one:

Nice beer & food, and it was warm (and quiet) enough to sit outside:

Suitably refreshed, we continued to St Dunstan in the East, which had a recommended garden. As you can see from the photos, not so much a garden as a “green ruin”. A lovely peaceful place despite being quite full of tourists:

It was a short walk to the Thames from there, so we followed the river back to London Bridge, then over the bridge to the station and a fast train home:

We finally managed to find a free day with reasonable weather, so, with our masks on, we took the train to Hastings. With an almost empty train, there was less of a problem keeping Rocco out of the way than last year. An uneventful journey brought us to St Leonards Warrior Square station, one stop before Hastings itself, but a shorter (and nicer) walk to  the sea.

There is a nearby park where Rocco could have a run around:

Then it was back on the lead while we walked along the seafront to the pier:

The clouds looked a bit dark, but it stayed dry with very little wind.

We then wandered into the old town searching for a dog friendly pub with good beer. Finally, we found the The Anchor and Pumphouse, a really nice pub. We were only going to stop for a beer, but liked the place so much, we had lunch (Homemade Fishermans Pie) there as well. Rocco was well behaved, and attracted a lot of attention from the female bar staff!

After lunch, we climbed up East Hill to give Rocco a run around off the lead.

Once I found him a stick, he was happy!

Then it was back down to sea level, and a walk back to the station along the seafront:

Unfortunately, the trains were in chaos following some earlier engineering work, so we had a bit of a wait at the station:

But eventually got home OK. Another nice day out!