Two Days in April

As we left the centre of London, a little drizzle fell and, closer to Heathrow, some drizzle became rain but lacked energy. Throughout the day which followed, we would see none. The countryside is lush in spite of the lack of recent rain and we saw plenty of it in our two days of what I shall, slightly inaccurately, call perambulations. We went to Southampton twice; yesterday to see the impressive MSC Orchestra and, today, to see, rather more distantly, Vision of the Seas. This early in the season there were in fact five cruise ships due in part to the unexplained delay to Black Watch. Also present were Ventura, Saga Pearl II and Celebrity Eclipse as well as Vision of the Seas. It makes me happy to record the Southampton of today. Photography for today is photography for tomorrow also. Today, we went to Reading. I do not recall the last time I was there and I think I have only ever been by train before today. It might have been better by train; one of the unfortunate facts of our age is that revenue protection means that most stations are barriered and platform tickets appear to be a thing of the past. The one disappointment of the visit was that I could not access the station platforms. I enjoyed the buses though and the rest of Reading was attractive. The shops and restaurants were very good. When you have been alive for nearly 55 years and  have eaten a lot of meals, novelty or variety is always welcome. We found that today in Jaswa the baked samosa company. I expect this idea to spread into a chain. The food was very good and reasonably priced.

In London yesterday evening we went to see 'Hurly Burly' at The Garrick Theatre. I hadn't known what to expect as we went specifically to see singer Spencer Day. Perhaps I should have had a better idea of burlesque and, predictably, an hour and a half of women undressing was of limited interest to me although it is difficult to criticise a show which included a mash-up of 'Looks, Looks, Looks' by the inimitable Sparks. Spencer was a bit less prominent on stage than I would have liked and than he deserved. He has a good voice and we were very fortunate to meet him afterwards. He is highly engaging and energetic and I liked him very much. There was energy to spare in London on the night before the wedding and I must admit it was a slight buzz to be there. I enjoyed seeing the scene being set although I had no desire to see the event. Traffic was pretty awful even when we left well after 10pm. Traffic management schemes must have been introduced by those with some sort of vendetta against motorists and the increasingly encroaching cycle schemes are a madness disproportionately favouring those stupid enough to cycle in the capital. The blue paint of the cycle routes is an abomination and the signs proclaiming the forthcoming completion of CS8, a provocation. The only mollification I experienced - and I might have imagined this - was that I think some bus lanes formerly 24hrs are now 7am-7pm.

We shall return to London, Reading and, of course, Southampton.