Thereafter, everything else is a bonus - the chance to relax and unwind for a few days, the pampering of a luxury hotel, the overindulgence of those buffet breakfasts (although there is payback for that when you stand on the scales after coming home) and the chance to see things in better focus from a distance and take a moment to reflect (maybe more on that in another post someday).
On top of all of that great stuff, is a chance to catch up on some reading, mostly on the plane and by the pool.
The first book that I finished (having started it a few days before we went) was Popco by Scarlett Thomas. It makes me want to learn a bit more about the Voynich Manuscript, as well as re-read Simon Singh's Code Book (although as I look around me in the study now, I can't find it anywhere - I can see the Maths of the Simpsons book that Mum bought for me in Paris last year, but not the Code Book - I wonder if this means that I read a borrowed copy before?).
The second book that I read was Saturday by Ian McEwan, which takes place on a single day in 2003, and which I pretty much read on a single day on holiday (although I read it on a Sunday), and then on the flight home I finished Julian Barnes' Levels of Life, which I had made a brief start on before leaving home, but I didn't get into the main section of the book until at 38,000ft. A short, but especially moving book, I did need to look out of the window of the plane for a while after I had finished it, and wipe away a few tears.
I turned the tears into laughter by making a start on Notes From a Small Island (another one of the Sunday Times / Waterstones £2.99 books - loving that Times+ offer). Bryson starts by reminiscing about his first arrival in the UK in 1973, and the book follows his farewell tour 20 years later and reflects on how the country has changed during that time. Given that we are now another 21 years further on, it is interesting to be reminded about our country in 1993, and how things have moved on again.
At an early stage in the book, Bryson talks about his time at the Times, and remembers the bitter disputes with the unions in the 1980s when Fleet Street stopped being Fleet Street, and moved to Wapping. One thing that I didn't know was that actually The Times wasn't on Fleet Street anyway, as their offices were on Gray's Inn Road.
I was back to work today (always a joy after holidays) and had a meeting to attend in London this afternoon. So my time in Crawley was fairly brief this morning before heading round back round the M25, leaving the car at Ebbsfleet, and getting on the train. As I managed to dash straight from the car to the ticket machine to the platform and onto a train, I was in London a little earlier than expected and so decided to walk from St Pancras to the office. And, the easiest route is to walk all the way down Gray's Inn Road.
A little bit of hurried iPhone research on the way, and I thought that I could tell which was the old Times building, and sure enough, here it is.
Emboldened by my success in finding literary locations, once my meeting had finished, I decided to see if I could find some more. So, I walked along Holborn, up Southampton Row, diagonally across Russell Square, through various parts of the University of London, up Tottenham Court Road, stopped to take a couple of pictures of where Maple Street crosses it and turns into University Street on the other side, and then on to Fitzroy Square, where I took a picture of some of the houses around the square, and one looking south to the BT tower.
The reason for the walk and the photos - well the best way to find out would be to read some Ian McEwan.
