Guildford (2) & Twickenham

The famous clock, Guildford

 Time spent in Guildford is always time well spent. This time I came across places I had not seen before when I stayed there a few years ago. Having taken Rue to the vet hospital just outside Guildford, we had hours to kill while we waited for his bloods and ultrasound to take place, plus recovery time from sedation. My son found the bus stops at the Royal Surrey Hospital, just down the road from the vet hospital, and we took a bus into Guildford. We stopped off at Nero for refreshments. However, we couldn't get a phone signal from there, so moved on quite quickly. I took my son around parts of the town I knew, and discovered some I didn't know.

Yvonne Arnauld Theatre

The Yvonne Arnaud Theatre was one the places new to me. I knew it existed, but obviously when I was in Guildford before, I never walked to the end of that particular street. 

My kind of shop! Second hand shop

This building belongs to the modern school opposite. I'm itching to take a look inside!

Lloyds Bank. While all the banks in my town have closed, Guildford has a glut of them.

The castle gardens were laid out for evening illumination with tickets prices of around £5.95, but free to visit during the day. Obviously, no lights were on, but it was nice to see what they had done. From the top by the castle itself you can see right across Guildford.

Guildford Castle

Whoops sorry about the finger over the lens!

We also walked along part of the river, the side I didn't go down when I stayed, but we were soon back inside another branch of Nero, which my son said would be better for getting a signal because it was a new building. He knows things like that! He was right. We lingered over a drink and then ordered lunch. We watched the buses coming out of the Friary Bus Garage, including two going to Kingston. They go hourly, so that tells you how long we were there!

By the river

River Wey

This is where I stayed a few years ago.

Looking down towards the river

My son wanted to look around Computer Exchange, so we headed over there, looking at second hand laptops, cameras, games, phones and consuls. It was here the call from the vet hospital came through. The long call made me worry, but my son gave a thumbs up, so I relaxed. When the call finished, he said we could go and pick Rue up. The diagnosis was pancreatitis. They hadn't gone ahead with the biopsy because they were confident of their findings, though tests were being sent to a lab. While the condition is serious, and can be fatal, Rue had come through it. No treatment was necessary but he was to have a low fat diet and less treats. We now look at the fat content of treats, which vary greatly.

Rue was bouncy and waggy tailed when we picked him up. You wouldn't think he'd been through a procedure. And then he suddenly had a fan club. A group of Japanese veterinary student nurses were just leaving and swooned over him. Rue wasn't sure what to make of this, and became shy. A member of staff said the students were here for five days and would be taking their finals next year. The students were upbeat, giggly, and went outside to take selfies and group photos. Their coach passed us as we were walking to the bus stop.

We had tried to book an Uber home (as we had come that way), but couldn't find one. Instead, we had to embark on a bus and two trains, the journey taking us two hours. Poor Rue was still tired from sedation, but would not give in and sleep. His head fell lower and lower, but then the train stopped, and he wanted to know what was going on. Back home we gave him dinner and then he crashed for a while. It is good to know Rue is doing so well and seems none the worse for his ordeals over the last three weeks.

Rue on the train home. You can just about see where he was shaved.

A couple of days later, I met a friend in Twickenham and after lunch we took a slow walk down to the River Thames. The river looked great in the sunshine. We discovered a tiny theatre there. Twickenham is a bit of a sprawling town, but I think we found the best of it.

River Thames at Twickenham

Church Street, Twickenham