Tag Archives: London

Weekend in London

Gay, Holiday, Travel, , ,

London is a reliable city for a weekend visit. Close and well connected to Ireland it’s possible to take a Friday to Sunday trip and still have ample opportunity to have a good time. It is too vast a metropolis to absorb in a single visit obviously, so it’s better to select your intentions for each visit and focus on those alone. The rest of the city will still be there when you return. I have visited the city dozens of times – but never for longer than three nights. It remains an ever-exciting destination.

London

My trip last weekend was from Shannon to Stansted Airport in the Republic of Essex. The flight from Shannon Airport was on time and upon arrival I boarded the National Express busw which dropped me outside Bethnal Green tube station. Located in the East End of London this feels like my part of town having visited on multiple occasions over the past decade. I walked along the Regent’s Canal to the house in Shoreditch where my friend lives, resisting the urge to yell ‘You ain’t my muvva!!! Yes I AAAAHM’ a la Kat Slater in Eastenders, at various passers-by. I felt that might be slightly inappropriate.

The sun was shining and it was 7pm. We strolled over to Broadway Market – a Victorian market street that divides Shoreditch from Hackney, located beside the canal. There’s a variety of cafes and bars and food stalls on this road- but not one of them are part of a chain. We chose the Koya-Ko restaurant where a rice bowl cost an eye-watering fourteen pounds and a beer cost eight quid. Cost of living crisis etc.

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Pandemic travels: Catching Covid in London – August 2021

Coronavirus, Covid-19, Pandemic Travels, Travel,

My flight was at 16.30. so leaving my house at 14.00 should leave me with sufficient time to check in, and have a coffee in the deeply unlovely Terminal 1 of Dublin Airport. However I hadn’t factored in how unreliable Dublin Bus can be.. The number 41(the airport bus) didn’t arrive at 14.15 as scheduled, nor 14.30. Instead I hopped on the 41C at 14.40. This chariot only takes you to the airport gate though. I ran the 20 minutes distance to the terminal building. The crowds were at pre-Covid levels. It was now 15.45. My gate was closing in 15 minutes. I’d never make it with that queue. The security guard pointed me in the direction of the Fast Track gate (who knew that such a thing existed?) which solved my dilemma. I sprinted to the gate for final call to London Stansted.

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Pandemic Travels – London – May 2021

Coronavirus, Covid-19, Lockdown, Pandemic Travels, Theatre, Travel,

As the second year of the pandemic draws to a close, I decided I would do a review of my year in foreign travel. Merely to record my traveling excursions during these strange times. I will do an account on a daily (or thereabouts) basis for yours (and my) amusement.

January to April this year were stationary of course. The lifting of lockdown last Christmas had a dreadful impact on Covid numbers, hospitalisations, and deaths, early in the year. Therefore, foreign travel was banned for all but essential purposes. These early months of the year also saw the rollout of the vaccination programme. As an individual in a high-risk category, I was fully vaccinated with both doses of the Moderna vaccine by May.

Travel was still not permitted though. From Dublin Airport I mean. Travel to Belfast from Dublin was fine. Travel from Belfast to London was also permitted. Being someone who willingly wears a mask, respects physical distancing; and maintains hand hygiene, I granted myself a pass. Not the wisest some might say. Selfish and self-centred others might declare, as they say to their partner / housemate sitting in their back garden. I had made the decision to ignore any lectures from people who didn’t live alone in a small apartment.

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Summer sojourn in London during the Plague

Coronavirus, Covid-19, Lockdown, Pandemic Travels, Travel,

I live alone. I am not part of a social bubble with another person. Working from home each day, I can often go the entire week without meeting anyone in real life apart from the shop assistants in Marks and Spencer when I am on a yellow stickered luxury food items mission. These foods don’t require any effort other than to place them in the oven (and if truth be told I would never be able to assemble a scallop bake on my own). It’s been like this for most of the year. It’s been annoying and difficult while remaining reasonably manageable.

However in July I threw caution to the wind, and booked a flight to London for a three day trip. Having witnessed how toxic judgement can be towards people who choose to bend the rules to accommodate their personal situation, I kept this trip off social media at the time. I was unwilling to deal with other people’s reactions. Particularly from people who had either a garden or who lived with another human being. On my trip, I would follow the rules by washing my hands; socially distancing, wearing a mask and continuing my self-isolated life as normal when I returned. My conscience was clear, but I wasn’t going to trumpet my travel plans.
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