Summer and other warm things
Yes, summer has arrived. But as it's quite the reverse in Australia I have just completed an adorable little cardigan for an adorable little baby. The little red cardigan is winging it's way to it's new owner as I type. For those who will most likely never see it I include a photo below (the buttons feature little cat faces).
I've now embarked on yet another cardigan for yet another little person. Blue this time. Baby clothes are good to knit during summer as they are small.
With summer in Britian comes additional tourists, more cyclists on the roads and huge music festivals. This coming weekend it's the Glastonbury festival. It's looking like a lovely wet week and weekend which will mean mud baths and foot rot for those who attend. I'm looking forward to seeing the photos from the people who were 'lucky' enough to get tickets and brave enough to go.
For those of us left behind in London, there are still lots of ruins and castles to visit. Since our visit to Warwickshire we've not done very much. Robert has been working hard and spent 2 weekends in a row working. One in London and another in Brussels. We did get the opportunity to try 'Canteen' - a London restaruant which is renowed for it's British classics. I didn't enjoy the experience having made myself ill by not eating for the whole day before going out for dinner. Very silly of me I know. I also attended a BBQ - the first of the summer - where we farewelled a friend who has now headed back to Sydney for a while. We'll miss Lorraine but I know she'll work out what is best for her.
With the warmer weather and longer days I actually managed to get on my bicycle for the first time since last year. We had a picnic in Battersea Park on the weekend to try and eat some of the leftover cheese from the BBQ last weekend. I think it's the first bit of exercise I've had since the operation aside from taking the stairs instead of the lift to get to our flat on the 6th floor.
So, we've been here on the other side of the world for a whole year now (as of May 16) so in memory of such I offer you the following observations of our daily life and commute to work in London.
1. Lanes are optional, especially on round-abouts. The roads are narrow and lane markings are sporadic so one can never tell if there are one or two lanes to choose from. There are huge one way systems where people make a dash for the lane they want even if it isn't the lane they are supposed to go into. They aren't very orderly.
2. Blinkers are also optional. As a follow on from the uncertainty over lanes, blinkers are sporadically used. Now, we thought the Australians were badly trained when it came to using blinkers, but I can tell you that the Londoners are worse. They aren't agressive about changing lanes, they just casually drift over until it would appear that yes, they have changed lanes and didn't want you to notice.
3. Scooters and motorcycles have no need for blinkers or lanes. It's a wonder they even bother equiping scooters and motorcycles with blinkers as lanes just get in the way of making it through the traffic. In fact, there is a special secret lane in between the two directions of traffic. It's a bit like platform 9 and 3/4 in Harry Potter - you close your eyes, make a rush for the oncoming traffic and hey presto, a lane appears!
4. Personal space is not required. There are so many people in London walking around, getting on buses and travelling on the tube that personal space is at a premium. The sidewalks are never wide enough and every bus, tube, and train is packed to the gills (especially at peak hour). Everyone is in a permanent state of being ever so sorry for stepping on your foot, running into you, or slowly dripping sweat into your open handbag. It's amazing that everyone remains so polite.
5. If you like it, and it fits, buy it. Again, due to the number of people in London, if you need to buy something to wear you need to grab it if you see something you like in your size. The London female population like to reverse shop. They buy up big in a shop, take it all home, try it on and then take it all back in a week after they've decided what they really want. This saves lining up for the change rooms at lunch times with everyone else and gives you the pleasure of shopping without really spending money.
6. Drinking is a national past time along with football. Need I say more.
posted by Elisabeth @ 10:14 PM
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