A walk around the city centre

Out of isolation now, I went into the city centre early, to take a few sculpture photos in places where I needed to make sure I avoided crowds and /or cars in the images.  So a quiet Sunday morning was a good bet.
Around the Peace Gardens - a city centre park, near the Town Hall - workmen were busy making preparations for what looked like some anticipated outdoor gatherings for the match tonight.
I walked down Fargate, which in the past has been one of the more flourishing pedestrianised streets in the centre.
Not flourishing any more at the moment, in the wake of both Covid and Brexit. The city centre has taken a big hit, and along some stretches there are more empty shops than tenanted ones. On the other hand, local neighbourhood shops away from the centre - with a higher proportion of small independent businesses - seem to be doing much better. 
Then this afternoon I had a long online chat with Barbara, one of my oldest friends, in the US. As ever, we cheered each other up with a mix of ranting, jokes, reminiscences, mutual family updates and shared film/book/music tips. Ways to survive Covid and all its continuing uncertainties.

Tonight - the match.  Let's hope that this time, the England fans manage to avoid booing the opponents' national anthem, what an embarrassment that was.