A few weeks ago, Elayne had a day booked in London to meet up with friends. I decided that I would go to London with her, my first visit to the city since pre-covid times, probably around 2019. I decided that I was going to do a few things that I hadn’t done before.
We had pre-booked trained tickets that were quite cheap but it meant that we were committed to specific trains that we couldn’t change unless we paid a fair bit extra. So, we were on the 0815 out, arriving at around 0950. Elayne headed in to town, I got on the jubilee line, and headed for Canary Wharf. Now, I am not used to using the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) so my first frustration was realising that the DLR do not install a lot of pay points at stations. Twice I had to retrace steps to find the one pay point, but it did get me down to the Cutty Sark Station.
I didn’t visit the Cutty Sark today, that’s a future visit. Instead, I headed for the Royal Greenwich Observatory, mainly because I wanted to see the exhibition of the Astronomy Photographer of the year. When I arrived at the RGO, I was told that the exhibition had moved but since I was there I decided to have a look around the observatory.
I did the usual thing of straddling the Greenwich meridian, which meant that I was in both the East and West hemispheres at the same time. it was a fascinating place where a lot of science was done, and history made. After walking away I even managed to see the 1PM (1300hrs) time ball fall. I didn’t know they still did that.
From there I went to that astrophotography exhibition, which was nothing short of amazing many of the pictures were taken by amateurs using basic equipment. Every picture was extremely. High quality and stunning imagery. Well worth a visit.
From there I made my way back to The Tate Modern for a bit of art appreciation. Trouble was my feet were aching and I needed a cup of tea, so my viewing of art was somewhat limited. It did make me wonder though; how much time do you need to decide whether you like a piece of art? And then analyse why you like it, or otherwise of course. I need another visit to Tate Modern, and I need to go there first.
The time to think about the train home was coming but not quite here. I had enough time to get to Foyles and do some browsing. Of course, I bought a couple of books.
On the 1930 out of Waterloo, behind us were a group of five or six young ladies. Let’s just say their antics (hand stands in the aisle and pull-ups on the luggage rack along with lots of shouting and laughing and very ripe language) certainly gave us some entertainment, but I think a few of us were relieved when they de-trained.
It was an extremely pleasant if a bit tiring time.
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