Interactive devices.

The flight leaves Edinburgh on time and is completely full. As we suspected the British Airways food and service is much improved. The cabin staff smile. We arrive half an hour ahead of schedule. London turns out to be colder and wetter than St Andrews ! The volunteers at the Poppy stand at Paddington station look as if its been a long day. Stations are always cold and draughty places. Next to them is one of those interactive 'Share your station experience with us ' devices.  I think we know which button the poppy sellers would push.

The view from the hotel room is very 'London'.

Ox heart on a restaurant menu. Even 'The Font' thinks this is a tad too adventurous . Pressed pigs ears are also rejected. There is a bottle of seriously under priced Chateau Ausone hidden on the wine list which we  drink with partridge. Some opportunities can't be spurned. The staff are relaxed and chatty. This is that quiet time before the office Christmas parties start. There's a group of ten smart young women at a table next to us. We prepare ourselves for a noisy hen do night but it turns out that they're a group of nine junior barristers and one more senior barrister  working on a case. They're still there when we leave. They plan to return to their chambers to carry on working. 'All nighters' are the bane of young lawyers lives.

More Poppy sellers outside Waitrose. The friendly German Shepherd has been gifted a luminescent red British Legion collar. The old paper poppies seem to have been replaced by small enameled metal ones. In this part of town 50% of people are wearing them. The percentage of wearers is higher amongst older demographics. All the staff at the reception desk in the Irish owned hotel are wearing them. Poppy wearing is one of those national rituals that somehow seems to not only survive but thrive.

The Christmas lights are going up. They will be switched on next week. For now  London is quiet but the lights will bring out the seasonal shoppers en masse. We shall not head south again until Christmas is over and things have calmed down again.