A Post Pandemic day out — An Elegant Sufficiency

We’ve quite got out of the habit of going out for the day and need to spread our wings a little more and get back in the groove. I guess we were doing that when we both caught the virus ourselves, setting us back a little. Anyway, it was a bright and sunny morning when we set off up the M4 to have lunch with Edward and Amy.

We’d been driving about an hour when we spotted a sign. Road Closed? What? How come we didn’t know?

Well, we didn’t, so there was no option but to take the diversion and feel thankful that we’d left plenty of time.

The capital was looking glorious on this sunny morning and I couldn’t resist grabbing my camera to take some of those classic shots as we drove up Victoria Street and into Parliament Square.

We always smile as we pass the building we still call “the office” even though it’s years since Edward really did have an office in the Houses of Parliament there. As I was snapping photos though, my Hero was getting more and more frustrated by the people! There we were, driving along the street in a perfectly safe and reasonable manner, ambushed from all sides by people riding bicycles, on scooters, walking in front of the car, crossing the road without looking…aaaagh!

Well, yes, it’s been a while since we’ve driven through this part of London and the tourists are certainly back in force since the UK removed all entry requirements related to the virus. We parked the car on the South Bank and looked forward to a stroll along the river, towards our lunch venue by the Globe Theatre.

It was a beautiful day, but who’d have imagined there’d be people on the beach alongside the Thames?! Not us, for sure, but there was a board explaining that this was Ernie’s beach - a London landmark.

By the time we reached The Globe, we were pretty much fed up with dodging yet more cyclists, scooter riders and people focused on their phones rather than looking where they were going. Was it us? Have we lost patience with other people whilst we’ve been closeted away in our Cotswold hamlet?

Not only that, but the noise! I found that by the time I reached the restaurant, all I really wanted was a quiet table with a comfy chair and a drink. We found that at The Swan but as we sat waiting for our boy and his wife to appear, I found myself bristling should anyone even think about sitting at an adjacent space on this large, shared table. In these past couple of years, I’ve come to appreciate my space and I really don’t want anyone to share it!

We had a lovely lunch with Amy and Edward, we realise how much we miss being able to do this at the drop of a hat - but we also realise who much the last two years has affected us.

There really couldn’t have been a better view than Sir Christopher Wren’s masterpiece, could there? Our small niggles surely faded into insignificance given the lovely time we’d had.