A cool lunch

Thursday 20th October 2022

I woke up to a cool, wet morning which seems appropriate as a setting for the latest resignation of the British Prime Minister.  I had the radio on while waking up and the airwaves were abuzz with the speculations and drama of the latest political soap opera.  I thought I would head out early despite the rain because I wanted to cross the river and explore a bit more.

I was surprised when I stepped outside the hotel at the strangeness of the light. It felt like it was late in the day instead of 10am. I made my way to the small museum that is housed in the old town hall. It had a lot of written posters which explained the Poppy factory and the 'Star and Garter' building which was for soldiers injured in the war. There were some interesting videos on the towns different architecture styles which was fascinating. There was a Royal Palace here and there are two theaters and many different styles of buildings.

I then made my way across the bridge to the 'Twickenham' side and I was surprised by how busy it seemed.  From the riverbank it had looked like the other side was less inhabited.  But it was just hidden by great foliage.

One of my running friends made his way from his side of London to visit me and I took him across the park area to the old Palace gates and walked along the riverbank before we made our way to lunch. It's lovely hearing from South Africans who are living in Britain,  although he's desperate to move to his Portugal home. He had a grumble about Brexit ruining his retirement plans and then he got the message that 'Truss has resigned'. I'm by no means a political person but it was interesting hearing him express some sympathy for the latest PM's fate. All too soon it was time for him to journey home and I walked back to my hotel and had to turn the heating on!