On the Eleventh Day

On the eleventh day of 'flu, I decided that a fresh walk along the Thames would do the trick.
I started at Waterloo which is always cold, even in summer, and which was particularly cold today.
The river was grey and steely and slapped and heaved under the thick cloudy sky.
As I passed the South Bank, I mused that if the graffiti-stealers with their angle grinders took to the underpinnings of the Queen Elizabeth Hall and removed the graffiti'd pillars, the whole thing would collapse in an undignified pile of concrete and skateboarders, with only their feet and perhaps their skateboards left behind, just like the Wicked Witch of the East in The Wizard of Oz.
Although sweaty trainers don't have quite the same appeal as ruby slippers....
I walked past The Globe, which shivered beneath its Beatles fringe of thatch.
I tried to go to the Lichtenstein exhibition but the Tate Modern is a confusion of ticket offices, stairs and escalators, with more gift shops than sense, and I decided to get tickets online and go another time.
My final stop was the Borough Market which was crammed with people but really fun. I bought a sloppy wrap which squirted its contents all over my clothes; I looked at cheese but didn't buy it, but I did buy a huge bunch of parsley and some of those lovely little Portugese custard tarts (which won't last long in this house). Although it is resoundingly middle class and ok-yah, the sheer variety of photogenic food is a delight to the senses and nobody seems to get cross if you bump into them (inevitable). Even at this time of year there were lots of tourists eating venison burgers in floury solid-looking buns and every stall has minuscule sample blobs of whatever it is they are selling. If you were really patient you could probably eat an entire lunch out of mini-portions.
Urban walking is a good remedy for the dregs of a cold and even the cold wind and little flurries of snow didn't spoil the afternoon; the only shame was that I think Barnet were playing this afternoon and I didn't have enough energy to go!