Yesterday evening we had a nice cycle ride out through the backstreets of King's Cross to Camden Lock. The area around the locks was very scruffy, I think its trendy days are over.
The reason for going there was to have dinner in Andy’s Greek Taverna which is rightly recommended as one of London's best Greek restaurants. We had a very good and surprisingly cheap, dinner then we cycled back again.
It probably emphasises that I am a philistine but despite it being open for over 20 years I have never been to the British Library. Today this omission was corrected and a very interesting visit it was.
I remember at the time there was a huge fuss about the cost of the building which was called the “Thirty Year War” as that is how long the project took and it cost £142m. No idea if that was good value for money but now it is built it is a very fine building.
They have an exhibition of library "treasures" including the Magna Carta and the Pope's document annulling it written 10 weeks later. There are letters and notes from Leonardo de Vinci, Michaelangelo, Oliver Cromwell and Florence Nightingale.
The picture right shows Paul McCartney's original words for the song “Yesterday”. Below are instructions from Kashmir for making bread dating from 1850 and Charlotte Bronté’s writing from 1834. She and her sister wrote in tiny writing to save paper and to discourage adults from reading it. Just a sample of the diverse treasures on display.
The rest of the day was spent exploring the area around Paddington, the banner picture is the Regent's Canal, and walking back through Kensington Gardens.
Tonight we will head into Soho in search of some Chinese food. Unfortunately we return home tomorrow, writing the last blog entry will give me something to do on the train.