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London in February

For a few days Marian and I are staying in Central London at our son’s and daughter-in-law’s flat. It’s really close to Victoria railway station, next to which is a bus stand, so we can get around easily at no cost using our bus passes. Old age has at least one compensation.

We had hoped to visit St. Paul’s cathedral today, Ash Wednesday; its web site informed us it is closed to visitors as many Anglicans will be going on this special day to start Lent properly. Being true non-conformists we decided not to go and be ashed, or whatever the technical term is. I have memories of C of E schoolboys having a daub of grey ash on their foreheads decades back. So, we plan to go tomorrow.
It’s odd that visitors to our wonderful country visit more of the tourist spots than many Brits. I guess we locals take too much for granted. Not only Brit locals, either; when we lived in Seychelles my daily walk home was beautified by a view down the mountainside over the reefs and inner islands on the east coast of Mahe. I asked a Seychellois colleague one day if he thought it beautiful. “Not really,” he replied, “I am just used to it.” To me it was, and still is, the most beautiful sight I had seen. While London is not in the same league for beauty, its history is evident on every side. Tomorrow we’ll see a bit more.
17 February, 2010