The 8th June was Mark’s birthday and the 10th June was my birthday. Birthdays = cake = whoopee! On the down side, I am another year older and another year closer to being 40. Being 40 doesn’t bother me at all though. Oh no. I hardly ever think about being 40 at all.
We spent a couple of days in London last week as a bit of a birthday treat (although most things count as being a treat if it means I don’t have to be at work). Blimey it was hot! A great place to cool down and to take in some culture at the same time is the National Portrait Gallery (near Trafalgar Square). This one is my favourite portrait – all cleavage and ruffles and ruby red lips (and passion and murder). History is cool.
We also went to Covent Garden. I was there in 1992 an when IRA bomb exploded in the Sussex Arms pub. I was stood outside waiting to cross the road on a busy afternoon in October. I was so lucky, I just got sprayed with glass; one man was killed and four others were badly hurt. Immediately after the blast was eerie – the only sounds were the tinkling of glass on the pavement and various alarms going off, but all the hundreds of people there were completely silent. For about six seconds. Then there was the sound of a million police sirens heading towards us, and everybody panicked. I headed towards China Town, thinking the Irish probably felt OK about the Chinese. I went into a cafe and had some Jasmine tea (yuck) and talked to complete strangers (yes, in LONDON) about what had happened. The three things I remember most are the silence, the tea and the gulit. Guilt because I felt exhilerated that I’d been through something like that with bearly a scratch, and was enjoying telling my tale.
I wont deny I was nervous for the rest of my time in London back then, and on the many times I’ve been back since. Especially recently. But London is an amazing city; I feel like I’m visiting the world when I visit London. It’s only 70 miles away, so it’s hard to avoid, but I think I’d want to go back again and again however far away I lived.
Love London, not so keen on M25 any more. Took SIX hours to get home!
Have photos, will post later.
1 Comment
Lysseus
20 June 2006 at 02:26Catching up on your blog… I’ve been so busy this month. Happy belated birthday. What’s in a number, eh? It’s more attitude, but then attitude is everything, and once you believe you’re old, it dominates your whole life. Best to enjoy the friends and the moments and live life with all the passion you can muster, and don’t let a number change your life. Having gone the other side of the mid-life crisis, I find that nothing makes you feel as young as does adopting a 10 week old siamese kitten! Ah youth!