Prior to the pandemic I’d been to London every year for about eight years. Like a lot of people, having a two-year gap from seeing loved ones was hard, but it was a relief to finally be able to see (most) of our London family and friends again.
Our arrival on Thursday coincided with a day of rail strikes, which meant that our escape from Heathrow Airport to our Putney sanctuary took a bit longer. Not only did the strikes force more people to take to their cars, we also landed at rush hour. Thanks to Uber, we arrived safe and sound after an hour’s journey, both of us feeling a little ill from the cigarette smoke–infused car we’d been jostled around inside of.
Unfortunately, the rail strikes meant we couldn’t catch up with Nick that evening, but we rescheduled for the next day. Meanwhile, Glen and I opted for a quiet evening at home, popping off to Sainsbury’s for supplies and cooking up something homely. And of course, I bought a box of Shreddies, something I didn’t need but absolutely had to buy. So yum!
Friday
We took things easy on Friday morning. We got two more cancellations from people we were due to see (that day and on Monday) due to various illnesses, which was sad but unavoidable while there’s a pandemic going on. We caught the train into Central London, getting out at Hyde Park Corner and going to see the statue of Achilles’ which I’d never seen before. We posed in front of it, me mimicking the warrior pose, Glen mimicking injuring his Achille’s tendon.
We then walked up through the parks into Soho, bought another Starbucks mug (we’ve collected seven so far on this trip, all safely neatly in Glen’s suitcase) and did some other shopping, before catching the train out to see Nick for lunch at London Bridge, prior to his flight to Rome. It had been a good few years since we’d seen him so unfortunately an hour and a half really wasn’t long enough but it was great to see him.
With no one to see in the afternoon, we went home and had a nap, ate dinner at home, then went off to watch Moulin Rouge. We’d met one of the cast members at Sitges Pride and as we hadn’t seen the stage musical yet and didn’t have any other theatre productions on our wish list (Jennifer Saunders in Sister Act isn’t happening until July), we booked.
Glen encouraged us to buy two package tickets which came with great seats, as well as a glass of champagne, nibbles and ice cream. Not knowing quite what we bought, we arrived at the theatre about fifteen minutes before the show was due to start. After getting our tickets scanned, we were taken out of the line for the general rabble and shown to the side entrance. We had been blessed with access to the Ambassadors Lounge, which furnished us with our drinks and our own table and chairs to store our (small collection of) things on during the performance. Posh!
We were then taken to our seats with only a few minutes to spare, sitting in the Royal Circle in row 2, with a very good view of our newfound friend. The set and costumes were fantastic, over-the-top (in a good way) and sumptuous. The performers were excellent, with strong voices and great pitch. The songs were a lot of fun and provided plenty of familiarity with enough unexpected moments to stop you from tuning out. In my opinion, the story itself is the weakest part and almost completely falls apart in the second half. I could go on about it, but I won’t. Go for the performance, the sets, the songs. Don’t go for the story.
Feigning tiredness, we sped home after the show ended rather than push on and go out for drinks or to a club. London was shaping up to be the calmest and quietest part of our month-long journey.
Saturday
Saturday, I did sweet FA. I woke up not feeling 100% and in these Covid-times, I was anxious that I’d caught it again, though rapid tests came up negative. I was still not great though and spent all day on the couch or in bed, watching Physical (love it) and anything else until my eyes started to go funny. We cancelled dinner with a friend and I piked on tickets to go to a nightclub with Glen, instead opting to go to bed at 11pm. It was glorious.
Sunday
I felt better when I woke up on Sunday. Glen stayed in bed, while I went and explored around. Though I’ve been to Putney many many times, there were places that I haven’t been. One was Wandsworth Park, which was a short walk away. Being before 11am on Sunday, the streets were empty, the city was quiet and I was in heaven.
I walked but then also ran (for some reasons) around Wandsworth Park, which has a beautiful big tree-lined walk along the riverfront, and an oval in the middle. The small amount of running I did eventually resulted in my groin muscles killing me for a couple of days. I stopped and had a coffee, soaking in the atmosphere, before heading off for a walk along the Thames.
I crossed a couple of bridges and ended up at Fulham Palace and Bishops Park, places I’d heard of before but never been to. The walk was great, the surroundings were lovely, and Fulham Palace has a productive and well maintained walled garden. I also saw plenty of dogs. I head back to the accommodation after a couple of hours of being away, full of the joys of London in the summertime, to find Glen awake and eating cereal.
We went off to Jackie’s for lunch, seeing her and Amy and family. The weather was perfect to sit outside in the garden, and before we knew it, seven hours had passed. It was so wonderful to see them and catch up on everything, though to also feel like no time had passed and we slipped easily back into conversation.
Monday
On our last full day in London I wanted to catch the month-old Elizabeth Line, even if only for a little bit. So, we caught the District up to Paddington then the Elizabeth Line, with its shining new stations, escalators, arrival halls, and trains, one stop to Tottenham Court Road. Tick!
We went to the British Museum as I had thought they had a LGBTQ+ exhibition in honour of Pride month, but turns out it was a self-directed trail through 15 objects that were explicitly or implicitly LGBTQ+. Instead, we bought tickets to the Stonehenge exhibition but had to fill a couple of hours until our timed entry.
The museum was absolutely heaving with people, particularly school children and we’d barely been in there thirty minutes before museum fatigue set in. And that was only after visiting the gift shop. Instead we left and went in search of lunch, settling for a three-course meal at Cote in Soho. Unfortunately, Glen ordered all the wrong things for him and didn’t enjoy him, but I liked mine. Though I’m sure it’s all mass-produced, it’s good value and usually pretty tasty. We’ve been before with Mum’s friend Joanna and her husband Roger on previous trips so I had a glass of Kir Royale in Joanna’s honour as we were unable to see them this trip.
After lunch, we waddled back to the museum, going the long way round. I finally saw the BT Tower after years of visiting London, then cut in through the back of the museum on Montague Place (there’s practically no queue compared to the main entrance on the other side) and went off to the exhibit.
We’ve seen Stonehenge on location, so it was fortunate that we weren’t coming to this exhibition to find out more about it. Unfortunately, in my opinion, the time slots were oversold, resulting in a great swelling of people (most of who wanted to see things in order and stuck to a line, which, for the impatient/fast readers among us, doesn’t work too well). There was also a general lack of flow. If an exhibition is forcing you to follow a timeline or to build on your understandings, then it must direct people in that way. If it’s about general concepts that you can pick and choose, then it should be more “organic” and self-directed. I’m not sure what this was, other than disappointing.
Generally it was supposed to be about Stonehenge’s context, prior, during and after, which provides fertile ground for an exhibition and gives you a greater range of supporting artefacts to display and interpret when you can’t use Stonehenge itself. Unfortunately, my attention span burned out after about fifteen minutes. The big thing for me was seeing the Nebula Disc and the interpretation about the Pleiades constellation and its relationship with farming practices. I then thought about the Seven Sisters Songline in Aboriginal cultures that stretches all across the Australian continent through cultures 12 times older than the culture that built Stonehenge. The Seven Sisters are the Pleiades so the link and the importance of this constellation struck me with awe.
I then got annoyed by all the people surrounding me so zoomed through the rest of the exhibition.
Glen was much the same. We regrouped and went off to look at a few more things, finding some of the objects on the LGBTQ+ trail. One of the objects was The Warren Cup, a Roman cup from 15BC–15AD, depicting two men having sex. It’s quite graphic and has been polished to a bright sheen like it was only made recently.
After the museum, we went to exchange some £20 paper notes that my aunt had given me as they were going to become worthless in December 2022. So we went to Halifax Bank, but because I don’t have an account with them (or any UK bank) I couldn’t change the notes over. I was directed to the post office down the street. They couldn’t help me but directed me to the big post office in Holborn.
When I enquired there, I got the same question about whether I had a bank account so when I said no, I was told I had to go to the Royal Exchange in Bank but being after 3:30pm it was closed and I’d have to go another day. Lord, give me strength! I walked away, but then returned and asked someone else whether it needed to be a UK account or if it could just be any bank account. She then very kindly swapped all my £20 notes over and wished me a happy vacation. Such a relief, but the fact that it took so many goes was incredibly frustrating.
After a peruse and a coffee at Foyle’s, we walked through Soho (getting spotted by friends from Perth who messaged us after we’d gone by) to have dinner with Noel at a very good ramen restaurant (Heddon Yokocho). Much chatting ensued. Glen and Noel compared hair colouring stories and medical stories and the time flew by. We then walked through a bit of Regent Street, seeing an Abercrombie & Fitch store that had somehow survived the mass closure of the brand, only to find that it’s style was much like that of Pottery Barn in clothing form. Very boring. We rushed into Uniqlo instead just before it closed and I bought new comfy pants (desperately needed as all my clothes seem to have shrunk).
And that brought our few days in London to a close. See? Much calmer and quieter than what went before either on this trip or another. Next time will contain a bit more oomph.
One thing just to make mention of was how everything looked “post”-Covid (it’s not “post” at all, it’s still very much here, it’s just the responses that have changed). Very few people were wearing masks but there were some around, including on the Tube. After our first return trip on the Tube, my anxiety jumped as the carriages are not well-ventilated and they’re crammed with people. After that trip, I took to wearing a mask again, just to help mitigate some of the risk. I found it much more preferable and comforting.
Travels with Dan 
What do you say, eh?