London pictures (the beginning)

Sorry about the delay with the pictures and update on the rest of my journey. Came back on thursday, then had quite a pile of pictures to sort through, some Christmas presents to get, and today 6,5 hour train journey up north to spend Christmas holidays with my parents.

I'm not quite sure about the best method of displaying the photos, as I really took a large number of them. Maybe I'll post a few at a time, that way they'll last longer. Here, to start with, is a few greyscale shots from those brick houses in East London, around about Shoreditch and Bethnal Green. By the way, in case someone didn't know, Boris (in the 3rd picture) is London's current mayor, conservative Boris Johnson. Obviously not all like him.

So, tuesday started with me walking the half a mile stretch of Regent's Canal from my hotel to Victoria Park, where I got some pretty good, somewhat melancholy winter photos, aided by a slight fog.

Next, back along the same stretch of canal, up on Cambridge Heath Road and towards Bethnal Green tube station. On the way I stopped by the Museum of Childhood, a branch of the Victoria & Albert Museum. What a marvellous place! It has toys, games, doll houses, all sorts of things which people used to amuse themselves from the 17th century onwards. I ended up staying a couple of hours, a good portion of which was spent trying to get Robbie The Robot, a 7-foot mechanical robot to work by connecting the cogwheels at its back. I failed in the mission. Eventually a little girl came to inquire what I was doing, and when I explained, noted "Oh dear". Her mother then came and tried to work the robot. I left them to it.

In the evening I and my friend did the Shoreditch walk from the London Footprints website (http://www.london-footprints.co.uk). The website has some 60 walks all around London and is a very useful resource in that it reveals many historical details about the buildings and locales along the walks you otherwise might not easily find in any guide. The website has only one, but major, shortcoming: it would be much easier to follow the walks if they had maps showing the routes, with the buildings and spots of special interest marked with numbers. We had a bit of trouble finding the starting spot of the walk but it was a most enjoyable evening.

WEDNESDAY. Sunny day! Not seen many of them this winter. The sunny weather of course affected the mood of the pictures I took. Among others, I got some rather fantastic pictures of the canal and the gasworks there. A particularly enjoyable occurrence was when I was taking pictures of the J. Hoyle & Son Foundry (est. 1880) just on the Hackney side of Regent's Canal: the current foundry master (not sure about the proper job title) happened to step out and was very pleased to end up in the picture, cheerfully announcing "I'm smiling!".

Evening: rock'n'roll! I made my way to the Indig02 venue for the Who show just before the support band started. Not the most fantastic spot: some way from the stage, a bit too close to the speakers. Nevertheless, I had good enough a view to Pete (until, that is, some tall guys got in front of me). A venue with a size that is to my taste, some 2300+ people. Excellent show. Good setlist, with some songs played more rarely (Tattoo, Sister Disco), Pete and Roger seemed in good shape and mood, joking and talking. Well worth the 45 pounds. However, I have a confession to make which might cause some fans to name me a heretic: I saw a review where the writer was enthusing about Pete's leaps and rock'n'roll strutting, finding it incredibly intense. I know those are the thing for many fans, but I must say I'd prefer Pete in a quieter context. The reason is I just can't take all that strutting seriously, and I have a feeling that Pete doesn't take it seriously either.

THURSDAY: Homeward bound. All too soon. I really like the areas of East London I spent the days in, and would have stayed longer if possible. Couldn't be helped. I hopped on the central line tube at Bethnal Green Station and travelled to West Ruislip in West London, where my friend picked me up. We drove to Runnymede, a beautiful rural place along the Thames in Surrey, to have a walk along the river as there were a few hours left before I needed to be at the airport. A truly idyllic location to live - if not for the proximity of Heathrow and the noise caused by planes taking off and landing. My friend then drove me to the airport and it was bye bye London. I hope I'll have the opportunity to spend a longer time in East London in the future.

More pictures to follow in the next installment.