I spent last weekend in London with Amber. Not realising that Saturday was the Trooping the Colour parade, we set out for breakfast at Dishoom, making it just in time for our reservation because the bus schedule was all over the place. Delicious food consumed (their chhole and gaajar ka achaar get a special mention from me), we set out for a day of loafing around the city: picked up some clothing basics for Amber from a nearby Uniqlo, saw a little of the flypast for the parade, and visited Bookmarks and Present & Correct. Later in the afternoon, we made our way to Kensington Gardens. We were exhausted by the time we got there, but slowly the perfect weather and just being outdoors lifted our spirits. One of the reasons to go there was to see the Peter Pan statue whose twin we saw a few weeks ago in Parc d’Egmont. After paying the statue a visit, we settled down near the water and had a quick call with my parents to show them how lovely the sky looked. Then we just bird-watched, people-watched, dog-watched. Once we were rested, we walked into Hyde Park and were greeted by the Black swan that visits the Serpentine. From here, we walked to St. James’s Park past the Buckingham Palace. I had only been in that part of London once before: when the Department of Typography & Graphic Communication at the University of Reading was awarded the Queen’s Anniversary Prize, and I was part of the small group of students and teachers who attended a reception at the palace. This time, of course, no going inside the palace. It was late by the time we got to St. James’s Park, and sadly, the infamous pelicans were nowhere to be seen. I had got it in my head that it would be fun to see pelicans on a day that I bought Pelicans for my burgeoning collection. Not to be, this time. We ate a lovely dinner at Brother Marcus, and pretty much collapsed after getting back to the hotel. We took it a bit easier on Sunday. A late morning visit to the Borough Market and Shakespeare’s Globe and a walk back via the Millennium Bridge, and a trip to Old Spitalfields Market for an early dinner. Amber had a meeting in London on Monday morning, and I had a usual work day, just from a hotel room and a café. In the evening, we took the train back home.
The rest of the week was a heady mix of work, household chores and administrative tasks, aside from the time I had set aside to catch up with Aadarsh and Prateek. I submitted the application to renew my resident permit in Belgium, and made a non week note post here on the blog. The second heatwave of the year is here, and with outdoor plans curtailed, we capped off the week with a viewing of Disclosure Day.