Monday 21st August 2023
Today turned out to be another great day. I walked through my bucket list cemetery of Brompton and was greeted with crows and squirrels, runners and walkers, crosses and angels and columns of the Great Circle. I was surprised to see the North side much better maintained than the Southern side where I'd entered yesterday on my bike. But my visit was cut short when my friend was able to get away earlier from her client in her care.
I dashed over to meet her in the Oxford Circus shopping area and was quite amazed at the size of the shops. I don't know why I was surprised after all, this is London, haha. But there seemed to be a great deal of people doing physical retail instead of online. After a buzz around the few shops, my friend had to get back to her client. I hadn't decided what to do so I meandered around some of the shops slipping into the back streets from time to time. After a jaw dropping visit to Selfridges and gaped at the designer stores, I'd seen enough bling so thought about lunch.
I decided to get some food from Mark's and Spencer's and go sit in nearby Hyde Park. I didn't recognise the shopping area around the park though it is a massive park, but I'd stayed across from it during the 2012 Olympics. It had been a scorching summer then, and I remembered having to buy a t-shirt because I hadn’t packed any. Today was lovely and warm and after a prawn salad I lay flat on the grass and did some cloud watching seeing feathers and dinosaurs, as one does when staring at the sky.
Such lovely weather tempted me into walking back to my hotel through the park. It was great seeing everyone enjoying the space and reminded me of both Emmerentia dam and New York's Central Park, haha.
I saw a sign for haircuts for £20 and on impulse found myself sitting in the chair inside. I always feel vulnerable in this situation of a new hairstylist, plus nobody was speaking English very well. So after nodding to having hairwash and blow dry, I unfortunately ended up paying much more than my original £20. However, I did need it so I will balance my books another way, like cycling or walking instead of paying for transport, haha.
I'm heading back up to my brother's place tomorrow on the train and I'm looking forward to everyone speaking like me again although I still struggle to understand them there too!
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