Tentative Steps

 

I took a train to the City of London yesterday.  Less than half and hour from my house to Liverpool Street station.  I've not been on a train or any public transport since well before lock-down in 2020.

The trains are different now.  The seats run parallel either side of the train and you can see right down through the carriages.  There are information screens and charge points for digital devices.  There are bendy sections between the carriages.

The station looked different to last time I passed through.  Machines that once dispensed drinks, sweets and crisps and even longer ago - cigarettes,  now offered disposable masks, gloves and hand sanitizing gels.  Everything looked clean and litter free and - sanitized.

A surreal experience and although not exceptionally busy I felt as though I had woken from a long coma and entered a new reality.

I remembered the station toilets as being smelly places frequented by drug users.  There was a small change charge to use them and you had to go through a turnstile to gain access.  Yesterday I was pleasantly surprised to see that the toilets were easily accessible with no outer doors - just doors to the cubicles.  The toilet flush, soap, water and hand dryer were all touch free.  It was hygienic and well maintained.

Outside the station, I wandered around Spitalfields and Bishopsgate.  A market was taking place selling handcrafted items, clothes, vintage and antique goods.  A trader smiled and told me there was no charge for looking.

Towards lunchtime it started getting increasingly busy in the market and my son and I legged it across to the falafal shop where we had lunch and watched the world go by.

I stocked up on some Montezuma chocolate in the shop next door before we made our way back to the station.

An albeit brief visit to London,  it was my first tentative steps getting back into society again.  Overwhelming sensory experience had me sleeping like a baby on my return.