Mike and I decided to head into the city as he had found a fishing shop that he wanted to check out. It sells (amongst other things) a range of bags that would enable Mike to get his rods, fishing gear and clothes all in one piece. From my observations the range of other items didn’t seem to be as great as in NZ fishing shops but this was clearly catering for the wealthy outdoorsy set. Having said that, they had a lot of Sage rods which are a top brand. The address was 9 Pall Mall which says it all really.

Farlows has a gentleman’s club next door and 2 others across the road. I dare say their members do a bit of fishing!
We bought the bag, though not the one Mike had his eye on from an online review. We also each got a pair of photochromic sunglasses that will be great for cycling when you go in and out of shadows. At £36 and £44 they were cheaper than polarised, photochromic glasses at home, even with the fancy location!

The man in the shop suggested an Italian cafe just along the street when I asked for a ‘normal’ cafe close by. It was great and did a selection of paninis and sandwiches and salads where you could select from a an assortment of dishes a bit like a deli. Most of the eating places in that area are very fancy hotels.
Having left our purchases at the shop, we took the opportunity to have a good walk around.

We headed down to what we thought was Nelson’s Column even though it was clearly not Trafalgar Square, but it turned out to be the Duke of York monument or something.

It’s pretty big all the same and leads down to St James Park which had lots of people in it and was looking leafy and colourful.

Some of the grassy areas near the roads have not yet recovered from the coronation but mostly it was very green.

We wandered along past Buckingham Palace. Didn’t see their majesties.

Then up to Piccadilly and along Regent Street. There are quite a number of empty shops in the whole area.