GOOD
Going to the smoke is easier than when I was a kid, except
it’s not smoky anymore, not at London’s St Pancras International Shopping
Concourse anyway. One hour and five minutes and I’m there, meeting up with Lovely Daughter.
NOT SO GOOD
Descending the escalators to the glittering mirror-ball
world of shops at Christmas, I’m caught unawares by the policeman and police
dog. “Keep walking! Don’t stop! Let the dog sniff you!” How could I help but
have a moment’s falter in my step?
GOOD
OK, so everyone else was photographing the enormous Christmas tree
made up of 2,000 Disney character teddies and it didn’t feel cool joining them but I did it anyway. I love teddies.
And because it was so difficult to get the full effect on camera, here's a close up of one tiny part of this huge, huge tree:
NOT SO GOOD
Lulled by the Christmas lights and festive shop displays we
were jolted back to reality as two policemen walked past carrying machine guns,
not just-in-case-holstered, but in their hands as if they might have to use them at any moment.
GOOD
The opulent surroundings of Searcys Champagne Bar and
Restaurant provided the perfect location for quality time with Daughter. We ate
well, chatted loads and almost managed to put the entire world to rights. It
was posh fish and chips for me followed by ice cream – delicious!
NOT SO GOOD
Meeting Daughter on a one-day return means that the time
flashes past. We were soon hugging and waving our goodbyes and it was too
quickly over...
GOOD
...but how great that we can do it. When I was a kid the steam train
took hours of slow and dirty chugging. Don’t you just love today’s
high-speed world... even if it does have its 'not so good' moments.
