I fancied a few nights in London. I thought I might as well see a few familiar faces down there before Lockdown 2.0 hits and we’re all stuck indoors until Spring.
At Crewe Station I got myself acclimatised to London prices by buying a £4.99 meal deal.
Every time I leave the house I have to routinely pat myself down, checking for keys, wallet, phone… and nowadays, a face mask.
I chose Coach D for David.
I really enjoy train journeys. I’m that guy that sits staring out of the window for the entire journey, watching the world go by. I definitely prefer the countryside to the city – which is good cos I was heading to the biggest city in the country.
I pulled into Euston just after 3pm and headed off in the direction of King’s Cross towards my hotel. Funnily enough, I’ve never walked out of Euston and turned left – all the times I’d been to London and I’d never been to King’s Cross. I didn’t know what I’d find, but I definitely didn’t expect to find this…
The guy I was supposed to be meeting tonight! I interrupted Adam’s afternoon run to say things along the lines of “what are the chances?!”
After a brief catch up, Adam ran off and I headed to the hotel for a bubble bath. Proper macho, me.
Later on, I headed to King’s Cross Square to wait for Adam.
When he arrived, I asked if we could do something I’ve always wanted to do…
I’m a Harry Potter geek. I had to.
Adam told me there is usually a massive queue to have your photo here. So it is obviously better to visit this attraction during a pandemic.
The next destination was Embankment. I closely followed Adam onto the Underground. Last time I was here, you needed an Oyster card to get onto the Underground. I always seemed to quickly run out of money. I don’t really trust this mode of transport. Nowadays you only need tap your contactless debit card.
Adam was following his Citymapper app to direct us – a very handy app for getting around London and knowing which stations you alight!
From King’s Cross we caught the Something Line to somewhere, where we changed and caught the Another Line to Embankment. Surprisingly, the carriages were not busy at all – despite it being a Friday night. That’s the Covid Times for you!
The Thames, in vibrant grey.
Embankment Station brings you out on the northern bank of the River Thames. Turn right and walk upriver and you will come across Whitehall, Big Ben and the Palace of Westminster AKA the Houses of Parliament. But with the state of our “government” atm, I didn’t really fancy visiting the favoured hangout zone of Bullingdon Club members. Also, Big Ben is currently undergoing a refurb and is clad in scaffolding. The bell hasn’t bonged in over three years and won’t sound again until 2021.
So Adam and I crossed the Golden Jubilee Bridge and turned left. We had some tea and waited for night to fall, when we began our walk downriver.
In the centre you can see St Paul’s Cathedral, which – as I’ve spent so much time in Manchester – I kept referring to as St Peter’s. Centre-right is Canary Wharf, and further right you can see the famous OXO Tower where gravy was invented.
That’s a lie.
The fairy light lit trees gave the evening a festive vibe, and reminded me that Christmas 2020 was probably going to be a digital one.
Next up, Millennium Bridge ft St Peter’s Paul’s Cathedral.
Adam tells me that Millennium Bridge is synonymous with windy weather in London. If it’s a breezy day in the capital, local news cameras will come to the Bridge to film it moving. I was just impressed they managed to rebuild it so accurately after it was destroyed by Death Eaters.
Next to the Millennium Bridge is Shakespeare’s Globe.
Opened in 1997, it’s a reconstruction of the Globe Theatre, demolished in 1644. It was founded by Sam Wanamaker, father of Zoe Wanamaker (Madam Hooch in the Harry Potter series).
We walked past The Anchor, where Londoners were enjoying the final hours of socialising before the pubs shut at 10pm. In the background is London’s tallest building: The Shard.
Bloody tourist. Oh wait, he lives here.
On we walked towards London’s most famous bridge.
According to the 2006 song by Fergie, this is London Bridge. According to everyone else this is Tower Bridge. The towers give it away really.
Opened in 1886, the Towers were designed in the classic Victorian Gothic style, to complement the neighbouring Tower of London on the north bank.
It was Friday night. I was in London with my pal. The logical next step should have been the pub. Or a bar. But alas. This is 2020. There wasn’t much we could do, so Adam and I boarded the Underground to King’s Cross and parted ways.
(To be honest I’d love to blame my early night wholly on lockdown restrictions but I was also really, really tired. I’m an old man at heart).
#VidOnTour 