Slept in till 7.30 because we thought we were going to brunch with Tosan's family but he has cancelled.
Blood Pressure 111/72. Pulse 93 The Circle Line is out of action today. Took the Metropolitan and Hammersmith and City to Kings Cross St Pancras. We had a good look at St Pancras. Very crowded. Something like an airport only better. People waiting to get on the Eurostar. Plus then other Eurostar came in when we were there. Lots of excited French People coming off the train and seemingly all going straight into the French Restaurant with a name in French I could not translate. I bought The Times at the newsagent. I have looked at all the papers. There are still The Times and The Telegraph and the Guardian in existence. I am certain their influence has declined in 45 years. There are lots of popular papers. They all appear to be pretty trashy. The Express has gone downhill. Ditto The Mirror. The Sun is not worth reading. Don't even mention The Daily Mail. Plus there are 3 free papers. All the papers have been dumbed down to when I lived here. For instance I used to read The Times from cover to cover. It was so well written it was enjoyable and easy to do so. Plus every page seemed to be full of relevant things. Now all the papers revel in writing about dumb things. They mostly write of trivial sensational things. The English people I am sad to say have dumbed down considerably and the newspapers all compliment them for it. They praise stupid behavior. They celebrate stupid behavior. It is hard to see where the intellectual working class are anymore. The intellectual working class have dissipated. Was there ever an intellectual working class? Maybe not. We then took the Victoria Line to Brixton. Very mixed area. You would have to say mostly black but a firm contingent of privileged whites eating in the less ethnic restaurants inside the market. Mostly they were having eggs on toast for breakfast at 12 noon. The restaurant interestingly called The Burnt Toast. Jenny was immediately drawn to it. Some African and Trinidadian restaurants did not have a lot of custom which was surprising. Lots of children enjoying themselves. There has been some changes since we were here 18 months ago. the street has been spruced up somewhat. There is a new pop up area. We saw the mural of David Bowie. I had a Japanese pork dumpling and Jenny had a French Crepe. We had a good walk around. We went to a small museum showing the struggles of Africans and West Indians over the centuries and explaining the success of some individuals. Some did attain wealth and privilege. Some were accepted and treated as members of families. Some who had been fathered by Slave dealers were brought up as their own. A number were granted freedom by their employers. It was both interesting and heartbreaking. Its good that gradually people with a different skin colour are being accepted as being part of society. I believe that despite all the problems in England race consciousness is receding. It has momentum. England leads the world. Went to a Jamaican Street food stand and had a chicken curry. Have to say unfortunately it was bland food. The Japanese was probably better. I had a small conversation with the girl selling the food and showed her photo's of our house. Told her that like all Australians we have Kangaroos in our backyard. Showed her photo's to prove it. We took the bus back to London Bridge and went to the Borough Market. It was packed. As many stalls as could be squeezed in. Jenny bought a Market apron. The guy selling it had his patter down very well. I think he modeled himself on Alexei Sayle. Same kind of act. We had a drink in The Barrow Boy and The Banker. No black people inside the Pub. I had half a pint of ale. It wasn't bad. I enjoyed it. Jenny said it tasted like yeast. The security on the door was black and on the way out I nearly asked him if he was stopping black people from coming in but he didn't look like he would understand my sense of humour so I stayed silent. The Borough Market on weekends is even more upmarket than during the week. It does not sell produce. It sells glamour products. To a glamour crowd. Very crowded. Literally teeming with tourists. We then walked through the city to Moorgate Station only to find that the Metropolitan Line was closed to northern traffic. So we had to had to take the Northern Line to Kings Cross. Thence home to Preston Road. Blood Pressure 112/79 Pulse 66
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