Post Lockdown Kings Cross
My photowalk friend eventually arrived exactly an hour late. The first step was to grab some coffee from the first cafe we saw. Just like travelling on the tube for the first time since the pandemic lockdowns, it was also the first time I was buying coffee from a cafe. I had made my own coffee for 5 months. It was nerve wrecking if I'm being honest, but I was comforted by the fact that the barista was wearing a mask and gloves. He also seemed very careful and well mannered, like that actually mattered to a virus. Besides, I figured the coffee was pipping hot, so any lingering bug would succumb to that kind of heat.
He, the barista that is, turned out to be quite multi-layered and interesting. We talked about the fact that he had visited his girlfriend's family in Ethiopia and experienced true coffee. He had not only heard of the country of "Chad", which most people have never heard of, but was actually supposed to visit this year. He also recommended us a patisserie that serves croissants that would "make you cry".
We lingered there for a couple of minutes after we already had our coffees in hand, just because the chat was so interesting. I wondered just how deep the rabbit hole went. Probably someone to follow on social media. Eventually we had to leave to allow the next socially distanced customer on the queue.
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We sat and chatted for a bit since it'd been about 3 years since we'd last seen each other. We talked about life, coronavirus, family, money, our cameras, other people's cameras, and why a guy was wearing a faded custard coloured shirt.
The new Kings Cross and St. Pancras area is really fleshing out now. There are even more buildings going up than ever before. Soon it will rival the city and More London. I do like how they've preserved a lot of the old structures though. Rather than tear them all down, many of them have been integrated to the project. It gives the area that old London look you see in parts of Canary Wharf.
We walked along Regents Canal, all the way to Camden where we tried to eat through our masks. I wasn't very comfortable in Camden market. We got our food from the very first stall we saw to avoid actually walking into the partly crowded market. Only about half the people we saw were wearing masks, and true social distancing was clearly impossible in such a place.
We made our way back to the safety of Granary Square after a few hours of photography along the canal, where we then spent the next four hours just talking about a lot of things. Of course we got other rounds of coffee in the process, including from a very vintage looking car-fé.
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We finally, reluctantly, called it a day around 8pm. I had forgotten it was Saturday and there was no rush hour, which I had been subconsciously trying to avoid. The trip home on the train was even less busy than the earlier one.
Back To Normal
Apart from the odd closed shops, and all the social distancing and sanitation measures, London is really back. People were going about their business apparently not too worried about much. Many people don't wear masks, even indoors in cafes, bars or shops, despite the government mandate. The shops all have signs outside stating the mandate, but I don't think any of them is enforcing it.
I observed people touching their faces, picking their noses, coughing and sneezing without covering their mouths and noses, hugging, kissing and shaking hands - just like old times. I saw the homeless - who have clearly survived the pandemic somehow, and the drunkards doing their thing. London is back baby!
Peace & Love,
Adé