Back - In London

 

It started like this. Fly into Heathrow from DFW, marvel at the T shirt and shorts weather then get a convenient train downtown and set up at the Reform Club. Most Pall Mall congenial and all very "welcome back, sir. Negroni?" Fortified by the right stuff, wander around Zone One in search of the Islamo-Marxist Caliphate, where was it?

Not in Clubland, unsurprisingly, and not much anywhere else except Trafalgar Square, where Sadiq's Khanate has installed hideous Allahu Akbarriers around the monument to Nelson's glorious victory, oh, and a temporary racist statue to boot. Recce into the heart of this once imperial city over, fall back to somewhere pleasant to meet old friends for lunch and dinner. I like the bar, dining room and terrace of the NatLib for that, and of course the Reform is splendid.

So that was a welcome social blast even if it wasn't particularly Communist, although the Reform, Travelers and Athenaeum do share a communal garden just off Waterloo Place, which is very pleasant in a collectivist kind of way. That aside, and by way of ending the first phase of this tour, I met an old pal in Rotherhithe, where the Mayflower set sail from, and enjoyed Choral Evensong at St. Mary's, where the Master of the pilgrim ship is buried, as well as an obligatory pint at the Mayflower pub.

Had Rotherhithe been taken over by the Commie Caliphate? It didn't seem that way as we strolled along the Thames, stopping at several sensible hostelries on the way to Tower Bridge, which lights up like a jewel in the night. Could London make such a monument today? Questionable.

The next day, Monday, it was time to head to Shropshire and Ludlow, once home to a mighty fortress castle and today one of England's more beautiful market towns. Would I find Communism there? Stay tuned to find out.

Cheers,

LSP