The greengrocer.

 

We fly British Airways from Edinburgh to London City. All the flights from Edinburgh to Heathrow are full. There was a time when this small airport was hectic with investment bankers coming into the financial centre for meetings. Now, with many ( most ? ) folks still working from home, passenger numbers are way down and it's trying to find ways to attract new customers.

The weather is grey and cloudy when we leave and its not much better south of the border. The plane is one of those small commuter jobs that becomes uncomfortably hot very quickly. Perhaps most travellers like to fly in super heated cabins ? The good news is the cab to the hotel takes twenty minutes - a third of the time it takes from Heathrow into town. I won't say the airport was quiet but the time it took from the aircraft door to the cab rank was exactly four minutes.

We buy tickets for a concert.

The one thing we miss about France is the lack of good greengrocers. Out of season good quality fruit is hard to find in Fife. Near the hotel we find a new fruit market that is every bit as good as anything you'd find in Paris - or Barcelona - although the prices are eye wateringly London.

We stand gawping like country cousins at the produce on offer. 

They have Victoria pineapples. By comparison the pineapples on sale in Scottish supermarkets are pale imitations. We debate whether the hassle of driving down to fill the car up with fresh fruit is completely daft. After brief reflection we decide it is. Perhaps one day the greengrocer will  start an out of London delivery service ?

We sit at a table outside for dinner. We are the only customers to do so. Londoners clearly think 18 degrees is cold. We think it's rather balmy. We try a rather uninspiring bottle of Provencal rose that seems to have come from an organic producer in an unfashionable corner of the Var. Our curiosity to try a name we'd didn't know got the better of us. London is very quiet. This is the time of year to visit if you want to avoid having to make restaurant  reservations.

Breathing :https://www.popsci.com/health/no-sense-of-smell-breathe-differently/

A rug exhibition :https://mima.art/exhibition/winifred-nicholson-cumbrian-rag-rugs/