Another Court Appearance

"All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware."
Martin Buber
 
I'm sure there's a law against it somewhere, and if not there should be, but it's Sunday morning and I'm up early again.  That's a whole weekend of early starts. The mess that was the very enjoyable N21 Festival yesterday has all but disappeared.  Great dumpsters of litter show the remnants of the disaster area that was the village green yesterday.  An amazing clean up operation to restore the village to its previously pristine condition.

Time to test the theory, are there actually tickets available at reasonable times for the Hokusai exhibition.  As I travel in I'm surprised at the number of people out and about before 8am on a Sunday morning.  I was told the great Hall ticket desk opens at 9am, so as I'm at Russell Square well before 8.30am there's time to enjoy a leisurely breakfast bap at Caffe Russell in the morning sunshine. 

So much quieter in the British when I get in there just before 9am, and there are only a few others at the ticket desk, including one woman doing the same as me - checking availability then ringing a friend to confirm.  K2 showed some interest but has had a busy week, including looking after me, so we decide that as I'm on the spot it's probably a better idea for me to go in 10.20am [the earliest time available] and then return to Winchmore Hill later to join her for lunch.  Good decision.  Also gives me time for a quick meditation in the Great Hall before it gets busy.  The exhibition is popular but not yet too busy and I'm able to navigate through it fairly freely, enjoying not only the finished works but also the explanatory panels and video clips showing how the woodblock prints are produced - works of art in themselves.

The return journey is colourful as the Pride march yesterday and other related events encourage an explosion of exotic and colourful dress for my fellow travellers.  Also managed to finish off Mort during a brief train change at Alexandra Palace.  K2 has been getting on with the usual weekend domestic stuff in my absence, and also booked in to the local pub for lunch.  Plenty of time to catch up over a leisurely lunch, we don't do quick food when we get together, and amble back to the house for a cup of tea and chat afterwards.  May need to get in training for cutting down on the cackle; before we know it the time has flown by and it's gone 5pm and I've missed the 5.09 train.  The next is at 5.39 and my return bus is booked for 6.30pm from Victoria so I'm cutting it a little fine to get there - any unexpected delays and I'm sunk!  It's amazing how Life can turn up trumps and just line everything up amidst the chaos to produce a seamless journey across London, getting me to the bus station 5 minutes before the departure time.  The bus was already boarding of course and I settled in for the journey, interrupted only occasionally by the clink of bottles as a fellow traveller surreptitiously guzzled a few Budweisers while happily drumming a tuneless rhythm with his fingers on the arm rest.

Isn't life amazing?