Reflections on the puddle of life

I seem to be doing a lot of travelling at the moment which is good in some respects and not in others. For one, it is quite tiring particularly as I seem to be suffering an excess of tiredness at the moment (falling asleep at 20:30, not good!). But on the other hand it is kind of fun; it's nice to see more of the country and to do things which take you out of yourself, out of your comfort zone. It reminds me that I'm fragile, that what I know or think I know is only small and tenuous. It reminds me that there is a world of difference and possibility out there. These, I think, are good things to remember.

Last week I had to go to London on business. I bob down into London on a semi-frequent basis anyway, but this time I needed to be there for two days so it involved an overnight stay. I don't like staying away from home, not really. I miss my kids and my bed and the comfort of the regular and routine. Plus hotels are never very nice, no matter how nice they are if you know what I mean? But still, I needed to go and that was that.

The business went well, as it usually does. My head office is based in the centre of the 'City' (being the financial district of London), close to the Bank of England:

and my hotel was about a mile away from there, just off Aldgate. One of the things you notice straightaway, if you wander around London a little, is what a city of contrast it is. Walking along Leadenhall Street you pass the monstrous, tubular mish-mash of glass and metal that is Lloyds of London, then round the corner is a 17th century church. Towering over the church is the infamous 'gherkin':

and as you walk further on the city changes again, from the glamour and glass of the high rise towers to the tattered buildings of London's east end. Despite the apparent signs of deprivation, the buildings in need of a lick of paint and a good scrub, the atmosphere was somehow warmer and more welcoming here.

And this is the strange and fascinating thing about London: it's a bit of everything. New buildings tower over topple-down churches; history clings to the magesterial palaces, the classic architecture and yet the current, the modern, still stamps its mark on the skyline. City workers in their clean-cut suits walk spitting distance from the curry houses and street market of Brick Lane. A short walk from the financial district takes you in sight of the doom-laden walls of the Tower of London, the iconic Tower Bridge:

In some ways everyone is welcome and no one is. It is both the most welcoming and unfriendliest city I have ever visited, but never boring; and though I'm not especially nationalistic, and I've travelled a bit, but haven't yet seen the whole world, I think you'd be hard pressed to find a city that was better than London anywhere. Not for the faint- hearted, cosmopolitan and ancient: London.