Our mission for the day was to introduce our friend to the pleasures of Kingston as she was only aware of The Bentall Centre and John Lewis (neither of which allow anything but guide dogs). So we took the long bus journey with Alfie - as usual - receiving lots of attention. We spent the journey talking to a lovely lady who told us about her late Westie's struggle with diabetes and blindness.
On arrival, we battled through the Saturday crowds - with old ladies and gangs of teens wanting to pet Alfie - to meet our friend who'd had the usual problems with the traffic. We walked through the wonderfully historic town square market (in addition to the regular fresh produce 'Ancient market' there was also an Italian market) and I fetched coffee from Costa (no dogs allowed inside).
We sat on one of the square's stone benches and the owner of Betsy (Pug and Shih Tzu cross) told us what was dog friendly - apparently Lush and Cath Kidston are both very pro dog whilst you have to hold them in Accessorize. I'd wandered around Russell & Bromley previously with Alfie in my arms and Radley didn't bat an eyelid when I took him in (which you'd expect when you have a Scottie dog as your logo).
Then we walked back to T K Maxx and took the passageway down to the riverside. First stop was to enquire at a favourite French bistro - Frere Jacques - if dogs were allowed. They seemed surprised that we asked and reassured us that they were welcome - we tucked this info away knowing that we had a fab fallback plan if all else failed.
The sun was shining as we walked along the promenade (Charter Quay) which has so many bars and restaurants it's almost as if you are at an overseas seaside resort. Almost everywhere has an outside area and many have upper decks looking out over the water. Dog paradise. There were numerous boats moored at the side and out travelling on the Thames.
There's a modern development here with lots of new apartments and a large square with amore eateries and bars - and a rather lovely flying duck sculpture as the new bridges go over a small river and a waterfowl conservation area - there were several swans here. Suspecting that Alfie might need a grass break we continued walking by the river - and there were several elevated areas with benches. Plenty of people were walking with dogs and kids. Finally we found some grass and started the walk back.
It was really warm and sunny so we decided to sit outside Brown's restaurant and nearby diners made a fuss of Alfie as he sat at his chair. My friend had the sea bass fillets on lentils with ginger (they held the chilli as she requested) and I tucked into a burger and fries with Alfie eating the bacon that came with it. We washed it down with a rather tasty bottle of Malbec and lots of water.
As the sun hid behind clouds it got chillier and we wanted to go inside so we moved on. As we walked back toward the bridge we met Angel - a three and a half year old fawn and white long haired chihuahua called Angel. Her owner said she had never barked - meanwhile Alfie barked his head off (he's only a pup you must remember and not quite aware of doggy social etiquette - Angel would have made a perfect mature girlfriend for him). But we were informed that Boater's Inn was dog friendly.
So we passed under the bridge and set off down the other side. There are lots of building works here but we reached Canbury Park. Lots of grassy open areas and great views of some rather grand riverside houses kept our attention as we strolled along. Cyclists are kept on a separate path but we had to dodge some of the kids on scooters and skateboards.
The Boaters Inn has a great outside area - plenty of space and lots of tables and chairs. Inside is huge too and has sofa areas - as well as an elevated area which looks out over the river and many were eating here. Dogs are allowed if kept on a lead so we settled down and had some tea which warmed us up. Then we walked back to the centre - it took us about 25 minutes.
PS Dogs in the news
Two items caught my eye this week - the first was about the Bakers dog food advert using high frequency noises to appeal direct to dogs. The other was about model Jodie Kidd in a campaign by Cesar pet food to allow small dogs in shops. The article said that while Britain remains a nation of dog lovers, 52% think we are the least dog friendly county in Europe towards smaller canines. That sounds like a campaign we should all support!
