Day 19 London (Good Friday 6 April)
I started the day with breakfast at Le Pain Quotidien, and was appalled at the number of people who appear to travel on Good Friday: I actually had to queue up for 15 minutes to get a seat at a common table. (I should have gone straight to Covent Garden and had breakfast in the one there.)
I have referred to the Big Egg Hunt in London several times, and although I quickly gave up the idea of a personal hunt, I did come across half a dozen or so while wandering around central London. From yesterday, they were all assembled in Covent Garden Piazza. I went this morning, as the weather forecast said sunny morning, overcast afternoon (though until very recently it has continued beautifully sunny).
Covent Garden Piazza turns out to be practically everything in Covent Garden except the Opera House: the former fruit and vegetable and flower market buildings, the spaces around them, the spaces between them, the arcades around the open spaces. All littered with eggs. Some in rows in the open, on plinths; some along the railings surrounding the basement; others suspended from the market ceilings; a few inside closed shops (some, at least, already sold at auction). I was not alone: lots of people (and their children) were out having fun inspecting the eggs, and most of us had cameras out. I seem to have taken about 70 pictures, but nearly half of those are identifying labels. They appear to be raffling off the Where's Wally egg. The egg all over real precious stones was not on display, heh.
Some eggs were delightful, some merely pedestrian, even dull. A few were beautiful. Quite a lot showed evidence of interesting lateral thinking.
Satisfied that I had seen as many as possible of All The Eggs, I headed back to the hotel at midday, stopping for coffee at Kings Cross Costa, hoping I'd like their brew better than Starbucks'. No. Perhaps I'm spoiled by having had my own espresso maker for the last few years. It looks as if I'm doomed to subsist on hot chocolate while I'm travelling. Not that I mind a good hot chocolate, but I'd like to have had my usual coffee hit after breakfast.
I remembered (at last) my post-breakfast medications, so around 2 pm I ate an éclair to give them a soft landing. I haven't started the antibiotics yet; I'll see how I feel tomorrow. It's just possible that the cold is beginning to clear up. Maybe.
I have referred to the Big Egg Hunt in London several times, and although I quickly gave up the idea of a personal hunt, I did come across half a dozen or so while wandering around central London. From yesterday, they were all assembled in Covent Garden Piazza. I went this morning, as the weather forecast said sunny morning, overcast afternoon (though until very recently it has continued beautifully sunny).
Covent Garden Piazza turns out to be practically everything in Covent Garden except the Opera House: the former fruit and vegetable and flower market buildings, the spaces around them, the spaces between them, the arcades around the open spaces. All littered with eggs. Some in rows in the open, on plinths; some along the railings surrounding the basement; others suspended from the market ceilings; a few inside closed shops (some, at least, already sold at auction). I was not alone: lots of people (and their children) were out having fun inspecting the eggs, and most of us had cameras out. I seem to have taken about 70 pictures, but nearly half of those are identifying labels. They appear to be raffling off the Where's Wally egg. The egg all over real precious stones was not on display, heh.
Some eggs were delightful, some merely pedestrian, even dull. A few were beautiful. Quite a lot showed evidence of interesting lateral thinking.
Satisfied that I had seen as many as possible of All The Eggs, I headed back to the hotel at midday, stopping for coffee at Kings Cross Costa, hoping I'd like their brew better than Starbucks'. No. Perhaps I'm spoiled by having had my own espresso maker for the last few years. It looks as if I'm doomed to subsist on hot chocolate while I'm travelling. Not that I mind a good hot chocolate, but I'd like to have had my usual coffee hit after breakfast.
I remembered (at last) my post-breakfast medications, so around 2 pm I ate an éclair to give them a soft landing. I haven't started the antibiotics yet; I'll see how I feel tomorrow. It's just possible that the cold is beginning to clear up. Maybe.