I went to London for a course on Wednesday and had a great day. For my friends on Facebook I did say that when I had time that I would blog about my day.
The course was held in the Thistle Hotel near Euston station; I caught a train from Peterborough at 7.32 am. I had thought that the ticket that work had purchased for me enabled me to catch any train that I wanted but I had a sneaky suspicion that this was not the case and it turned out to have restrictions! Fortunately I got to the station early and was able to catch this train. It got into Kings Cross at 8.57 am. The course was due to start at 9.30 am. Whenever I have been to London in the past I have always caught the underground everywhere. I was taken to London at Easter and experienced a very different London not using the Tube at all. It was fantastic and I had already decided that instead of going the one stop on the tube I was going to walk to the venue.
I love walking; I can't say that I have always thought this but as I have gotten older I appreciate that you see and experience things that you may not if you use a car, taxi or public transport.
I passed the Renaissance Hotel and British Library; what beautiful buildings and who knew that the British Library was so close to Kings Cross!? On my visit to London at Easter I also realised that I love and appreciate architecture.
It was a lovely, brisk walk on a pleasant winter morning; it took me just over ten minutes to walk there. The course was great. I have been doing my current job in one form or another for about nine years. I learn every day and have said before that I reflect on almost everything that I do whether that be in my job or my life. I want to be better and do better; but I did think that I knew most things about what the course was on and would just have some things confirmed to me. How wrong! I came away inspired and what I have learnt will be good for figures!!!
So. . . the course ended at about 3.15 pm. I knew that it was supposed to finish about this time and that may have been one of the reasons that I chose to attend the course in London at this time of year?! What to do?? Come home . . . of course not, let's go shopping!
Google maps opened and Selfridges on Oxford Street typed in, it said that it was just under 2 miles and would take me about 40 minutes to walk. So off I headed with my eyes wide open.
I'm not sure if it is just me but the men in London seem to be far more attractive than those in Peterborough! Oh . . . I obviously wasn't just looking at the men!!
Oxford Street at the beginning of December, or any time of year, may not be everyone's idea of fun but it was great. I wanted one particular shop and ended up walking the wrong way down Oxford Street and having to walk the length of it twice! Great for my Fitbit steps; by the time I got home at 10.30 pm I had done 18,168 steps, about 8.25 miles!
I made my way back to Kings Cross just after 8 pm; I did take the Tube at this time of night. Whilst on the train, in the morning, I received a message from a friend saying, 'enjoy and be safe'. This is not about to turn into a political commentary just my own thoughts. I have never been someone who really thinks about my own personal safety; I have done some things in the past two years that some would consider to be down right dangerous but some things just never cross my mind. The Paris bombings happened about four weeks ago and many people may have changed their plans if going to a big city or organised event. The day I was in London, Wednesday, was the day that the Commons was debating and voting on whether we should bomb ISIS targets in Syria. Again, I am not going to pass any comment on this but just to say that when I got to Kings Cross and was waiting for my train home I saw something that I don't ever think that I have seen and that was an armed police officer with a machine gun strapped across his chest, holding it ready in this hands to defend me. It made me feel reassured and not frightened.
I cannot remember the last time that I was at Kings Cross station but it has changed so much since I was last there. The civil engineering and combination of new architecture with the old Victorian building is stunning. I think that I may take a trip back at the start of the Christmas break just to have a wander; look at a map beforehand and just explore a bit more. I have had my eyes opened, a little bit more, to our capital and think it is awesome!
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