Thames Run

Thames Run

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(7)
Journeys ยป Thames Run

The British Trip

Aug 16, 2022: London, England. Tourists were already swarming Southbank as I started my morning Thames Run; I felt like a half-back, trying to hit a gap in the line just to gain a few yards.

โ€œThe Thames Shouldered its way past Blackfriars Bridge, impatient with the ancient piers, no longer the passive stream that slid past Chelsea Marina, but a rush of ugly water that had scented the open sea and was ready to make a run for it.โ€
โ€• J. G. Ballard

Travel is Back

The memory of lockdown is fading, and the crowds are back. Jean and I stayed five nights on Southbank, near the Borough Market. Saturday morning, the sun shone fiercely in a hot sky, and the market as was as busy as we’ve ever seen it. Friendly locals chatted in the adjacent pubs while tour groups marched through the stalls like a ants, ambling behind flag-waving guides.

Borough Market
Borough Market is Back
Southbank London
Southbank is back

Along the Thames, shell games on the Westminster bridge draw the gullible into clusters, impeding the pedestrian flow on the narrow sidewalk and catching a few more marks as they tried to slip past. Selfie-sticks again flash in the sun, a hazard to the unwary. Yes, travel is back in London.

Running the Thames

I managed to shed (most of) the crowds as I moved away from the London Eye and Big Ben, and enjoyed sunny views over the river. My Thames run lets me revisit old friends – the Tower Bridge, Tower of London, Big Ben, and St. Paul’s. London, like all the great capitals, offers the extremes: great art and architecture, contrasted by and plenty of grit and trash. I love running (and visiting) here, and could happily stay for weeks. But I would not like living here I think.

Time to run along and continue The British Trip. Next stop: Cambridge.

Thames Run
Lovers at St. Paul’s Garden
Thames Run
Yes, happy to be here!
Thames Run
Pondering Brexit?
Thames Run
Tower of London Bridge
Thames Run
St. Paul’s Garden
Thames Run
London Eye in the Sky

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