On Tuesday evening I went for my first meal out since last summer. It was a slightly surreal experience, as the streets were pretty empty of people, but the outdoor tables of all the restaurants and pubs that were open were busy (we’ll be allowed to eat/drink indoors from Monday next week). There were no shoppers or people leaving work, something I wouldn’t pay any attention pre-Covid, but their absence was very noticeable. Walking across Waterloo Bridge towards the restaurant looking eastwards felt both familiar and unfamiliar.

I had dinner with my dearest G & D, my old work colleagues who’ve I now known for exactly 20 years. We were too busy talking, laughing, eating and drinking for me to take any pics, but I took this as we were walking back across Waterloo Bridge, seeing them match each other with their accessories.

We stopped to look at the Shard framed by the National Theatre, and felt our love of London swell. It was nice to be back in the centre of it.

G showed us a picture of these carriages that he’d taken on his way over to meet us, and we walked back briskly to see if they were still there. Luckily they were still there. There was a night shoot about to start, either a movie or a TV-series, obviously set in pre-car times. We stood looking at them agog, feeling like we’d travelled back in time.

Nothing like a selfie to bring you back to the present though. Loved the contrast of it all.

Had to crop in here, I mean look at that expression! Brilliant.

We chatted to one of the guys in a top hat, who opened one of the carriages up for us so we could have a look inside. I wanted to take a picture, but I also wanted to take it in. Sometimes it’s difficult to do both. It was a four seater, and clearly people were smaller then - it would be a really tight squeeze these days. Apparently half of the carriages were over 150 years old, and the other half were new builds. Not sure what this one was (did the real ones have mudguards I wonder?). Sadly the guy didn’t know what they were filming, but maybe he was fibbing.

Trust G to show us this old gas street light around the corner. He’s a fountain of knowledge, and knows so much about London and its history (like a true Liverpudlian - haha). He told us that it ran on the fumes of the sewers below which sounded a bit bonkers.

He was absolutely right of course. I mean, wow, just wow! I need to show this to Oomoo, I don’t think he’d ever believe me if I told him that there’s a street light in town that is powered by poo.

On Wednesday morning my friend M took me on a 28k bike ride along the River Lea, somewhere not that far from where we live, but somewhere I’ve never been before.

We hadn’t established beforehand whether the bike ride was to be a workout or a pleasure ride, so M was all kitted out for exercise and I was in my jeans and jumper. Also, my bike is a 6 speed step through with a basket on the front.

It’s a bit strange how I haven’t explored the east part of London that much, considering I’ve lived in the city for 28 years, and don’t actually live that far away from it. It’s probably because it became the place to be just as I stopped going out. As a result, being there feels like being in a different city. Handy in these times.

We stopped for a hot drink on top of the neighbouring Dutch barge to this boat. This area is heaving on the weekends and evenings normally, but at 10am it was really nice and quiet.

Funky details on a house boat.

We continued on to Stratford and the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, but as I’ve said before, cycling and taking pictures is tricky, and I feel bad about wanting to stop all the time to take pictures. I had to take one here though, as it felt like we were suddenly in the countryside. We cycled along the other split of the River Lea on the way back home, where you could sense huge industrial estates beyond the tree lines and the water, but they were hidden well enough that we could pretend we were somewhere much further out.

I did make an exception at one point and made us stop to have a look at these guys for a little while. So ridiculously sweet.

I’m definitely going back here soon; I want to show the guys what we have so near us. Thanks London for constantly surprising me! It’s nice to know that I still have so much here to discover.