Tom Departs, London, and Spider-Man.
Not too much to say about today, other than it being Tom’s last day as he wings back to Denver this afternoon on a 2:50 pm flight home.
I met Tom at Vibe around 8:30 for his final breakfast in London. It’s a nice place… and if I ate breakfast, it’d be there. Nice staff, nice atmosphere, nice music, and good food. It’s been the perfect spot for Tom, just around the corner from the Barrington, and right on the way to Hilary’s.
We walked back to the flat, Tom finished his packing (as he’s left his bags here), and Claudio drove us to the Underground. A goodbye to Hilary, who couldn’t come as there isn’t enough room with Tom in the car, who needs a lot of legroom, but their small Fiat works fine with the seat all the way back. And another goodbye, this time to Claudio as we got ready to entrer Oakwood station, and then it was Tom’s final “tap in” on the tube as we headed for the train.
A smooth but long (90 minutes on the tube) journey to Heathrow, Tom’s final “tap out” as we left the station, and then a short walk to the terminal. Bag checked in, it was time for Tom and I to say goodbye after a great couple of weeks together, and some travel ups and downs, but almost all ups, and a whirlwind tour of England and Wales (not to mention Paris), as he entered security, and then. poof, just like that, Tom was gone and I was heading back to the Underground station.
I had no real plans for the day, but on my return journey decided to take the relatively new Elizabeth Line on the Underground, opened in 2022, which I’ve never actually seen until now. Actually, like the Docklands Light Railway, the Elizabeth Line is technically not considered part of the Underground, although it may as well be as it interconnects seamlessly, runs through the same tunnels and stations, in addition to new tunnels, track, and stations, and is part of the same system in every respect, including the fare system.
The new line is part of the seemingly ever increasing expansion of London Transport (actually, now Transport for London – but why bother changing the name? It’s the same name, just transposed and adding a “for.”), with the capacity to travel to more and more points throughout London and nearby communities. Combined with the buses, the Underground and its offshoots, such as the Elizabeth Line and Dockland Light Rail, London Transport is an amazing network… but not inexpensive.
Transport for London has continued to replace and add new trains to its various Underground lines as it updates, and these are pretty much state of the art. That’s certainly the case with the Elizabeth Line trains, which are nothing like the traditional Tubes, which themselves have been and continue to be updated and modernized since the inception of the Underground in 1863. Amazingly, it’s not the world’s largest subway system, although it depends on exactly what you’re measuring, but nevertheless covers 270 miles of track and and 606 square miles, with over five million passenger journeys every day. Whoa!
Alright, enough of the London Underground (although I do hope to visit the London Transport museum on this trip, which I haven’t visited in years). I took a meandering travel route back into central London, where I connected to the Northern Line for East Finchley, and then headed for the cinema to see the new Spider-Man film, Perfect timing! I got in just as the trailers were starting. I enjoyed the movie, which I simply couldn’t go without seeing until mid-September when I return home, and loved certain aspects, although could’ve done without some parts. It was a great use of my day, and I walked back to New Barnet from there, about 3½ miles, but couldn’t resist stopping for some chips as I walked through North Finchley, walking and eating them as I headed to Hilary.
Not much to otherwise report. The weather remains hot, and has heated up some, heading back into the heat wave zone, with some serious heat related problems, like heat exhaustion, forest fires, and two possibly heat-related train de-railings, and I actually passed a fire (or, at least, a lot of smoke pouring out of a home) along the way, which was being attended to by the London Fire Brigade.
A lot of memories in this area, and along this road, passing the news agent shop where dad used to walk to pick up his newspaper, and then passing mum and dad’s home in Weston Court on Farnham Close.
I arrived back at Hilary and Claudio’s around 7 or so, and there we remained for the evening, until bedtime. Once Tom had left, a not much of an anything day, but still very pleasant.
