An evening by the Thames

Thursday, 2nd September

We woke with the bright sun on our faces. The window let in the bright sunshine along with the noise of moving vehicles and kids on the street. It was about 9 am and Dominic was already at work. We had planned to meet him in the evening for a concert that he intended to review. He was a music professional at the local school.

We had a some tea, bread and mayonnaise  and got ready for the day ahead. We had bought plastic pants from India because everyone warned us that it "rains in sheets" in London. We stuffed that along with some wind cheaters in our day pack and moved towards the Catsford station. The neighborhood was nice. We crossed the post office, one pound store and few shops. An Asian was selling chicken fries which we packed for the day, along with fried potato wedges and Coke was free.

The train was quite empty and we reached Trafalgar Square and the sea of people in some time. There was the National gallery where they housed art by Leonardo da Vinci and many others. Next to the National museum was an exhibition on Early woman travelers to Europe. It was interesting to see so many women , especially from conservative societies taking the leap and coming to Europe. There were few portraits of famous Indian ladies too. Another section had a 90 minute video of David Beckham displayed as art. The video was shot when Beckham was sleeping and the camera zoomed on his face from an angle. So one could see his face up close, his facial muscles, twisting, turning .. an extremely personal and private moment was displayed for the world to see.

With so much of art, we were tired and walked towards the James park. We had our lunch of fried chicken and potato wedges and had fun seeing people and kids playing with pigeons and generally strolled around. Dominic messaged to meet him at the Charring Cross station and we proceeded accordingly. When we reached, he was already there and we almost did not recognize him, as he was in a corduroy suit and we were looking for a casually dressed person in the crowd.

We walked towards Covenant garden and went to Judy and Punch for a round of some bitter pint. The place was buzzing with activity and from the terrace we could see street performers doing their thing. It was interesting.

After another round of pints, we moved towards Greenwich village, home to the 0° longitude, Greenwich mean time and the Meridian line. This place was situated on the Thames river. It was dusk when we reached there and were able to see a row of boats and the magnificent Cutty Sark docked there since 1954. (It was the fastest sailing ship in her times and was launched in 1869).

We made way to a pub named Trafalgar on the banks of the Thames and rounds of lager with potatoes followed. The moon was bright in the starless sky, and the Thames made gentle sound of sensuous splashing against the wall of the pub. A boat with revelers passed. Loud clapping and music, laughter could be heard and seen from the giant windows, from where we were seated.

It was quite late when we walked to the bus station and boarded the bus home.

Like a nice holiday, today was a very nice, relaxing, unhurried day.

While G took the floor tonight, I made myself comfortable on the couch.

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