Sep 23 -- London! -- Day 1

Quick unexpected trip to London. Marco had a conference there on Monday so we decided to make a weekend of it. Why not? It's only a 2-hour train ride away!

We stayed with friends. Marita (from Germany) and Marcello (from Brazil) who live in an area called Canary Wharf. As they said themselves, it's like living in the Matrix. We took the Tube from Waterloo Station straight to Canary Wharf. Whe the escalator opened to the surface we turned our heads up to a night sky lit by a thousand windows twinkling like stars in a ring of glassy black skyscrapers. It's the newer financial district of London, built in the last ten years over what used to be grim spooky dockyards. Though it's not a type of scenery that normally charms me, it felt so much like downtown Singapore in a strange way that I warmed up to it. I guess it's that common Commonwealth touch.

Another great thing of that arrival was that Marita and Marcello met us with big smiles and hugs right out of the subway. It was great to see them! We've known them since living in Singapore in 2003. They had descended from their offices in the towers that rose over our heads, and were partaking the English tradition of the after-work friday night beer at the pub, which was located right in front of the station. Next to it was a canal that reflected the night's lights and was actually pretty. We all had a brew at the pub, then got dinner. For such a seemingly sterile environment as towering glass skyscrapers, there was actually a lot of quite livable shops, pubs and restaurants at ground level. Surprising eh?

Then we went home to their apartment, on the eleventh floor, with a view over the Thames looking towards the Tower Bridge and the London Eye. Again, something not normally my style, but impressive and not unpleasant.