Jazz in Little Venice

Another day in London, a new sight for me, could this be Boris making the capital a better place already? This evening as I was ending my jog (along the canal to Westbourne Park, round Paddington Recreation Ground, across to Primrose Hill for a marvellous view over a hazy London with the sun just down, down through Regent's Park and back along the canal), I came across the "Canalway Cavalcade", an annual festival in the Little Venice basin.



In the (now) dark there was a Jazz band belting out Blues classics, set up on Rembrandt Park on one side. The basin was lined with colourful narrow-boats stacked up, and now lit up. The Bridge Pub had a bbq going, and punters had the choice of beer or ice-cream, after all Carlo Gatti, an Italian chap, was one of the first entrepreneurs to take advantage of the canal to ship in Norwegian ice to the Victorian middle and upper classes, also introducing them to gelati! Crowds of people lined the canal, picnicking, having a drink, or just sitting and enjoying the music. London at its best. I'd come across it earlier and taken a couple of photos:



Training Ride Update
For those of you who are interested, I completed my cycle ride on Friday, heading to King's Cross, taking the train to Cambridge, then cycling from there to Aldborough in Norfolk, a mean 92 miles (or possibly 95 based on some calibration distances I completed but have yet to examine thoroughly). To be honest, the ride wasn't too tough, though I did have some heavy rain towards the end, forcing me to take shelter in a pub in Reepham (ahem).

Quote from Grandpa Cliff: "Those of you who claim East Anglia is flat clearly have not ridden a bicycle across it."

The main issue I experienced was neck-ache, coming from 8 hours or so of holding one's head up to see what the awful road surfaces had in store. There was a stretch of my trip from Mildenhall to Thetford where I used the A11 road, not something I'd like to repeat - think hilly narrow motorway. It was also tough navigating the last few miles - there are precious few signs such as this:



and when they do exist, they tend to contradict one another! Anyway, successful ride, and next training run probably down to Whitstable or Canterbury. Watch this space people.

P.S. Did London suddenly get all couply this weekend? Where did all this sweet lovin' come from?!