Good Friday. We go down to Starbucks for coffee. Still doing setup things. There's one man who seems to be a regular. Well, rather more than that. Regardless of the time of day he's always there, a paper cup (probably long since empty) in front of him. He smiles, often sleeps, sitting on a hardbacked chair, occasionally talks to himself. Obviously there are mental health difficulties, but it's a pretty tolerant place and he doesn't bother anyone - with the exception of the time when he sneezed at least twenty times and clearly needed a handkerchief but didn't have one. For a while I wondered if he was homeless, walking the streets at night and sleeping in the chair in the daytime, but it seems more likely he stays in a room or hostel where he is turned out for the day. A very difficult life.
The tube is pretty disrupted due to repairs scheduled for the long weekend, but we go over to the British Library, joking that her majesty is unlikely to be there today - thinking of the last time we had gone and found it closed for a royal visit. The queen isn't there but it is closed - something the googling failed to show. So a bit of a bus tour and we're back in Islington looking at the antique shops in Camden Passage and, finally, having a vegetarian supper at Indian Veg. Couldn't be more different from the crowded party atmosphere of Wednesday. It's quiet and almost empty. Same good food, though this time we haven't brought wine. the owner tells us he's run the place for twenty-seven years, during which time the price of the buffet has risen from £2.99 ($4.63) to £4.99 ($7.33). The dhal is made fresh every morning and what`s left is given to the homeless every night. For, as it says on the inside door of the loo, if your home has a roof, windows and more than one room, you're in the world's top 20%. If you also have a fridge you're in the top 5%.
The tube is pretty disrupted due to repairs scheduled for the long weekend, but we go over to the British Library, joking that her majesty is unlikely to be there today - thinking of the last time we had gone and found it closed for a royal visit. The queen isn't there but it is closed - something the googling failed to show. So a bit of a bus tour and we're back in Islington looking at the antique shops in Camden Passage and, finally, having a vegetarian supper at Indian Veg. Couldn't be more different from the crowded party atmosphere of Wednesday. It's quiet and almost empty. Same good food, though this time we haven't brought wine. the owner tells us he's run the place for twenty-seven years, during which time the price of the buffet has risen from £2.99 ($4.63) to £4.99 ($7.33). The dhal is made fresh every morning and what`s left is given to the homeless every night. For, as it says on the inside door of the loo, if your home has a roof, windows and more than one room, you're in the world's top 20%. If you also have a fridge you're in the top 5%.
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