a london diary

2000 03 24 thursday

left the big city for the lost weekend in the country. no news of that shall pass in the london diary.

2000 03 26 sunday

back in the teeming metropolis (greeted yesterday when I saw a big red bus from the train and I did finally think, "this is home").

took a late afternoon walk (well, messing with the clocks can screw you up) from Liverpool Street to Waterloo, more or less. the city is deserted on sunday, except for the few stragglers in the few fast food joints and coffee shops open. ran into the only real knot of people at St Pauls- tourists trying to get a shot of the cathedral, backing up endlessly to cram the dome into their snapshots.

left the area quickly, rushing to see A Matter Of Life And Death, and went via Blackfriars Bridge onto the South Bank, which was much busier than I'd ever seen it, a mass of families and other unexceptional types busy going nowhere quickly (except for the joggers, of course).

after the (good, if dated in its handling of relationships) film, night was falling, and the city in darkness (but still lit magnificently) with Westminster in the final rays of twilight was the nicest view I've seen so far here. amazingly Covent Garden is still busy at night, but the walk to Holborn was the scariest for me yet.

manor park was a lot less eventful than last Sunday. later than last week too.