warmed up

Life Having not been away for quite some time, I'm back on the road (well train) again for the second time in almost as many months. One of the virtues of that is having some inclining of what's important in packing. This time I'm making do with just a backpack; I haven't had a chance to write about the bottom end of the previous week's holiday but dragging my suitcase on wheels about an ironically rainy Lemmington Spa was probably the low point of the week (same thing happened in Buxton -- I suspect fowl play from God for the complex relationship I have with him).

My latest backpack does indeed seem bigger on the inside, enough room for three t-shirts, enough underwear, a jumper, toiletries, alarm clock, radio, book, note book, camera(s), well everything. I took extra jumpers and pants and shoes to Stratford, but didn't need any of them. It's good to have some back-ups, I know, but in the end I could have bought clothes if I needed them and that's true here, one of the few benefits of town centres cloning from one another. The approach to belongings spies have, rings true for tourists too, I think.

I've only visited London twice before in this decade and since I seem to have picked up a few new readers recently (hello!), I thought you might be interested to read what happened. As you can see I do go for packed days. On one occasion it was a spare of the moment decision to go for a walk there; the other was a properly planned day. This time, I have everything just about planned out but with just enough wiggle room for any surprises. I won't really be content until I get Monday morning over with.

Thursday, August 25, 2005: "I went for a walk around London yesterday, mostly on the South Bank. So whilst Liverpool was apparently enjoying the loveliest day of the month, I was fighting my way across the Millenium Bridge, trying to hold my umbrella in such a way that the wind would pull it and my off the side into the Thames. It absolutely the worst weather, but that meant I wasn't getting the idealized version which appears in film and television."

Wednesday, September 13, 2006: "I love navigating the tube map - I know it must be a pain if you're a London resident, but finding where you are and where you want to go and then deciding the quickest route with the least number of changes is an exciting challenge - even if sometimes all you seem to be doing is following the arrows down stairs and escalators. The Jubilee line in particular seems close to hades."

(has it really been three years?)