Birthday Bear Bus Adventures with Beanie

Beanie arrived!!! Yay!!! And we're off...

Our first adventure of the day was... mud-larking. Huh?? Well... apparently the Thames River experiences tides (cause its so close to the ocean) so... at low tide, people go down on the mud banks and look for interesting bits and bobs on the surface. (NO digging... that requires a Mud-Larking License).

There were all sorts of cool things: old nails, pottery, pipe bits, and lots and lots of old bones... You can see a bone below... (the the thing with the hole).

After a while, we had a good collection of cool artifacts... more on that in another blog post once they have been through a 10-point cleansing cycle. (Beanie brought rubber gloves for us - yay!)

Then we were off to the Tate Modern (of course!) which used to be an old hydro-electric generating thing. This was the turbine room... those turbines must have been massive!

We had lunch here...

But first, Beanie presented me with a present! It was my birthday after all!!

Oh wow!!! all sorts of cool Beanie envelopes and postcards!!! The one with the hairbands looks a bit like the London Tube map.

Our lunches finally arrived - fish and chips for me... yum!!!

When we came out... the tide was in and... the mud flats were gone!!! That happened awfully quickly!

Beanie had a couple of great adventures planned. One was a mystery bus tour. And the other was to follow the Paddington Bear Trail!! Since Nov 4, 50 bears have been put up around London!! Cool!! We found one right outside the Tate Modern. 

That's across the river from St. Paul's Cathedral.

But we aren't going that way yet...

We also found a cool small version of the London double-decker buses. This was an unexpected find and not part of Beanie's tour... but it fit in nicely!

Next up... A Shakesbear near the Globe Theatre - how cool is that?

That's the Globe Theatre - but not the original one from Shakesbear's time...

Back to the RV1 bus... while we were waiting...

Beanie noticed those two houses across the street and said "There's something funny about them!" Do you see it?? Beanie said "They are upside down!!"

Yup... This is what they look like if you stand on your head!

Then it was onto the bus... wonder where we're going?

Of course there were a number of weathergrams tied onto bus seats during our various journies!

Oh wow!! We are going across the Tower Bridge!! Cool...

And got off at the other end where the Tower was. Beanie squished through to the railing and got some pictures of the poppies in the moat, along with a gazillion other people. No way were we getting any closer!

That was OK, we caught another bus - don't ask me which one and got spit out at Liverpool Train Station. There was an antique police telephone booth there... I think it was from the time of Sherlock Holmes!

This is Liverpool Station... I wonder what is here? Maybe another Paddington Bear??

Nope, but there is a station to commemorate the Kinder Transport, when Jewish children from Germany and Poland were brought to England to escape the Nazis.

Beanie introduced me to a relative of Bob T. Bear!!! His great great great... something... I'll let Beanie tell you! So cool!

Another bus (this was a mystery bus tour after all) whipped us off to St. Paul's Cathedral. It was ridiculous expensive to get in there... so we passed...

But did find another Paddington Bear!! This one is called Bear in the Wood...

Hitched a ride on another double-decker bus and...

Ended up at Covent Garden where... we found a Guards Bus!!!

Plus a Rainbow Bear!!! He was beary popular with the kids and we had to stand in line to get our photos taken with him...

Whew... there was a huge Christmas tree here and a rumour that there was another bear somewhere...

Another bus!!! Where there are buses, there must be bears somewhere...

This bus had ladybugs hitching a ride on the back... just for you, Hammie!!

Covent Gardens was beary crowded but...

Eventually we found another bear!!!

And a bonus Highlands Piper!

A little bear expends quite a bit of energy in a quest to find Paddington Bears... Luckily, there was a Laduree shop here...

With Beanie's favourite treats! I had my first one ever and...

Oh my God - it was super scrumptious!!! These are mini ones... so delicious!!! Thanks Beanie!! I had a great bearthday in London!!!

Bearthday Adventures!

Hullo! Today is my Bearthday! I am... hmmm... a few years old. Today is a great day - I'm going to meet Beanie at Blackfriar's Train Station and then we are off on a few adventures! Stay tuned and see how the day developed!

I'm hoping my day involves a bearthday drink... Starbucks has a Honey & Almond Hot Chocolate for their Christmas season!! Finally, real drink! None of these PSL's (Pumpkin Spice Lattes) or Mochas or whatever... This is a drink a little bear can sink his mouth into!

So, yes... I did get a hot chocolate!! Beary yummy...

In one of the largest Starbucks I've seen!! This was just the upstairs!! This one was at Tottenham Court Road and comes highly recommended from a little bear - lots of eating and electrical outlets!

Then it was off to find the RV1 bus near Covent Garden. Beanie had asked me to suss out where it went near Blackfriars.... so...

This is where it starts at Catherine Street near Covent Garden...

And it spit me out near Blackfriars Station. It was enroute to Tower Hill... Blackfriars is a beary interesting train station because the platforms are on the bridge, not at the north end or the south end. Beary cool.

So... where's Beanie??? Well... what with not knowing how long the bus would take, we were a tad early...

But Beanie's train was listed! So that was good... just have to be patient and wait...

More later!!

London Bound Bear!

Today is the day!! I am off to London and am I excited or what?? First off... we have to catch and early ferry... the 6:30 am one. Ugh...

The sun came up while we were out on the water... cool!

Then I parked my little bear butt at the Starbucks at the ferry terminal to wait for my Auntie to come and get us via the car. Much easier than trying to maneuver the bus with a big backpack and stuff!

We eventually ended up a the International Terminal at YVR. Of course we were super early....

But that's OK... cause it means we get a primo spot in the waiting lounge and...

Can enjoy another hot chocolate!! Which is beary good...

After that, it was a beary long, beary full flight to Hamsterdam where we had a 3 hour layover and then a short hop flight to London. Then a long Tube ride to Westminster... This is kind of how we both felt at the end of that!

But at least we were in London!!

And got to ride a double-decker bus!! You can tell it's London cause the bus is on the "wrong" side of the road!! And guess what... in a few days we are meeting Beanie Mouse!!! Yes we are... beary excited about that!

Triad Gang Activity

Well... it seems that while I was away, some invaders have moved into our back shed.

Do you see that stuff... it is rat poop!!! I checked with Beanie Mouse, cause rats and mice are cousins, and he said that these rats belong to the Chinese Triad Gang and are beary bad! That's what happens when you live along the West Coast, close to the ocean. Sigh...

Alright... with Beanie's stamp of approval, we are moving into full combat mode. First... we have some peanut butter...

Which we use to bait a rat snap trap. Then you set them in a high-poop area and come back the next day...

Uh-huh.... Rat #1

And down there is Rat #2...

These rogue rats can carry disease so I need to get dressed up to handle them... a dust mask and some rubber gloves will do the trick...

I won't show you any pictures of the deceased gang members... it can be a bit messy. I hope I don't need to go into a witness-protection program!