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Today Saturday is the day when we  plan to rendezvous with our friend Ewa.   She lives in the far north of London and distances/times are greater especially if you live some way away from a subway. We agreed to  meet at 2:30 by Kentish Town overground station as opposed to Kentish Town West as opposed to Kentish Town subway. Warning – be specific about where to meet. For example it is fatal to say ‘At Euston Station’ or even ‘the ticket office at Euston Station as there are many of them.  Try saying a particular platform.

In the morning I met my nephew and we had a chat about how the world situation is from the alternative view of things and we both agreed that the situation was becoming more serious by the day.

It is always a good idea to keep in touch with kindred spirits even though it is for a short time. It rekindles the spirit especially in a situation where either others are not awake or only partly awake. It is refreshing indeed vital.

On the way I saw a diary kept by a homeless person and left  on his sleeping bag for everyone to see. It is worth focusing on, enlarging the page if you can (control and plus sign). It may give some insight into the world of ‘homeless’ people.

Here you will see numerous examples of Street advertising to browse at your leisure

No this is not an old notice left but a reminder that there are many religions in the world and the Christian calendar with its new year on the first of January is only one of many

As we had not had lunch we picked a rather unfortunate time, three o’clock on a Saturday afternoon, to find a restaurant that would serve us. Eventually we found a place called the Bakery well the kitchen had closed and all we had was a series of roles and quiches so we bought the lot, hey items, costing 40 pounds, and consumed them.

We then went for a walk on the heath during which our friend told us at length how she was fighting with a court to avoid paying what she considers to be illegal council tax. She explained that the council tax does not go to the local council but to the government which pays out money as its so pleases. She commented on how the law has degraded, relevant information not read and part of the general deterioration of society that we will notice more as time goes on.

Whilst going up the hill I came across a young lady assiduously writing her journal. I  spoke about the importance of diary keeping and told her about my efforts. She said her writing was the one thing that kept her going through covid.

We went to the top of the hill at Hampstead Heath and photographed the famous view. There were a couple of hundred other people there also enjoying the weather. There were 205 devices detected in the range of my Bluetooth app. There is no escaping technology I’m afraid.

A wonderful old tree which keeps going somehow. I’m amazed it has not been vandalized but I think even the most heartless person would not see the point.

We said goodbye to our friend at Hampstead Heath station and took quite a long journey by overground train to Clapham Junction where there were many boisterous young men obviously having enjoyed a football game.

Our travel pass runs out today so we used it for the last time checking out at East Croydon. We have had good value for money. The main value to me is convenience. I have a lanyard with the plastic card pass inside which I always wear. I don’t worry about ‘losing my card’ or any such.

Our combined expenditure for travel by public transport

Coach return Bath         £32.80
7 day London passes  £139.20
Travel to Margate         £48.80
1 paid journey                    £9.70

TOTAL for 2                  £230.50

That makes £14.40 per person per day for 8 days