This is Guy Fawkes Day but we opt not to head for the official celebrations as the early forecasts suggests drizzle. Breakfast at Subway on Queensway: toasted subs with egg, cheese, turkey rashers and veg, along with pretty good coffee for two quid each ($3.20 CAD, €2.30), eat in or at the little table outside, which it's warm enough to do with a light jacket on.
Bus from the Bayswater Road to Trafalgar, a tantalising mini tour in itself. Just west of Marble Arch we see Tyburn Convent and, next to it, a shrine to the Tyburn martyrs, and mark it for later investigation. Is this the site of the old Tyburn gallows? The bus does a bit of detouring and we pass iconic streets - Wimpole and Harley Streets and Savile Row and Berkley Square - before abandoning the bus to congested traffic near Piccadilly Circus. The detour seems to have been occasioned by a demo representing the 99% who aren't wealthy, as proclaimed on their signs, and we meet up with them, drums and all, near Trafalgar. As we head off along Whitehall near the Banqueting House, site of the execution of King Charles I, a young man strides past in cape and Guy Fawkes mask, bearing a sign announcing that The Rebellion is Coming.
It's getting dark, although not late, so we go by tube to Kilburn and reacquaint ourselves with the high street. It's not quite as busy as Queensway, but more real in a way, as the people in the restaurants and pubs and street markets are local - possibly recent immigrants or temporary workers, but not tourists. Baskets of seafood and chips and a pint of bitter each at The Old Bell. Prices are good and atmosphere friendly, although there never seem to be more than three women in the pub at a time.
Home with a fat Saturday Guardian and brochures for theatre and exhibitions to read. We're back before the fireworks start but hear them sporadically throughout the evening.
Bus from the Bayswater Road to Trafalgar, a tantalising mini tour in itself. Just west of Marble Arch we see Tyburn Convent and, next to it, a shrine to the Tyburn martyrs, and mark it for later investigation. Is this the site of the old Tyburn gallows? The bus does a bit of detouring and we pass iconic streets - Wimpole and Harley Streets and Savile Row and Berkley Square - before abandoning the bus to congested traffic near Piccadilly Circus. The detour seems to have been occasioned by a demo representing the 99% who aren't wealthy, as proclaimed on their signs, and we meet up with them, drums and all, near Trafalgar. As we head off along Whitehall near the Banqueting House, site of the execution of King Charles I, a young man strides past in cape and Guy Fawkes mask, bearing a sign announcing that The Rebellion is Coming.
It's getting dark, although not late, so we go by tube to Kilburn and reacquaint ourselves with the high street. It's not quite as busy as Queensway, but more real in a way, as the people in the restaurants and pubs and street markets are local - possibly recent immigrants or temporary workers, but not tourists. Baskets of seafood and chips and a pint of bitter each at The Old Bell. Prices are good and atmosphere friendly, although there never seem to be more than three women in the pub at a time.
Home with a fat Saturday Guardian and brochures for theatre and exhibitions to read. We're back before the fireworks start but hear them sporadically throughout the evening.