Friday 14th July 2023
Today I travelled to London on the 8am train from Poole. I've not travelled during 'peak hours' before so it was quite interesting watching the different types of travellers. Business people and tourists jostling for seats, on a train that got busier as we approached the city. I also spotted the Queen Mary Cruise liner in the docks at Southampton.
It was raining most of the day but fortunately dry when I got off my bus connection. As I opened my phone to check which direction to walk, a nervous passenger anxiously told me to 'put dat away, just thiefed now'. I smiled thinking that I'm from Johannesburg but my phone stayed in my pocket as I started to walk in what turned out to be the wrong direction. I decided to ask a passer-by who told me to turn around. I sped off forgetting that the rain leaves big puddles next to the pavement. A big bastard bus seemed to speed up as it drove by, christening me in true Brixton celebration and I was soaked. The helpful lady said to me to rather follow her as she'd caught up with me and she probably sniggered as I got soaked. After a brief chat, I practiced my 3 sayings of Polish at her which she smiled at, I just hope they weren't swear words. Although she might have heard me curse the bus moments earlier.
My friend was in a rush to get to a meeting in Wembley so she dashed away and I got a message from a new friend who lives in the area to go for a coffee. Which we did, walking through the markets and stalls and I was wearing my Vera hat and a big grin. I spotted the street 'Electric Avenue' which turns out to be from the song by Eddie Grant. In the 1880s, a grand new shopping parade opened in Brixton, south London. It was one of the first streets in the capital to be illuminated by electric lighting. I was thrilled so my camera had to catch that.
I was back early enough to take my friend's puppy for a walk and do his business and he's so good on the lead. He did pause on the top of the steps when he saw it was me taking him and not his mom. We did another nice long walk after supper and he rolled happily on the wet grass and dug up some London mud because he's a London dog. There's all sorts of different characters around and it's fascinating. A lot noisier than where I was yesterday but still fascinating.
I'm looking forward to the next few days of exploring. London has so many things to see. It's choosing the best one that is the issue. Haha.
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