In a new episode of the Transporting Awkward Items by Bus series, I found myself yesternight trundling along wrestling a Christmas tree. Some Grinches and Scrooges among you may glance at my tree and with an aloof sneer dismiss it as being far too short to be considered in any sense a tree. I ask … Continue reading
Tag Archives: Wapping
Enchanted Evening
The London of my imagination is a nighttime city, a city of twinkling lights reflected in the Thames, of old-fashioned lampposts, of warm windows full of laughing people glowing into dim streets. Sometimes it’s even like that in real life. One night I walk home from seeing a show at the Globe and I feel … Continue reading
A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread, and Code
“A Book of Verses underneath the Bough, A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread–and Thou Beside me singing in the Wilderness– Oh, Wilderness were Paradise enow!” Quatrain XII, The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, 5th ed. (trans. Edward FitzGerald) On the first Tuesday of every month, Victualler in Wapping hosts a wine tasting of organic, biodynamic … Continue reading
Walking the Bounds
When I was young, we were forced to read Ethan Frome for school. I found this novel utterly infuriating because one of the major themes is that the titular character leads a depressed, reduced life because he’d “seen too many New England winters.” Now, New England winters are tough, but they don’t KILL people. Okay, … Continue reading
Night Terrors
As you would expect of a young person at the weekend in a thriving metropolitan city like London, last night I was out with some friends. And then, we got to 11 PM and the little dance started. The dance of “When do I need to leave here so I don’t end up stranded in … Continue reading
Meeting the Public
On Tuesday there was a public meeting to discuss some problems in Wapping Woods. There have been instances of mugging and knife crime there lately, so a meeting was called to ‘reassure’ the public. I went, not because I feel unsafe in Wapping, but because I am new to the area and wanted to get … Continue reading
Meeting the Neighbors
Last week appears to have been a week for testing my mettle. The day after Bus Day, I was running an errand in my neighborhood in the middle of the morning. I walked from Shadwell station towards my house; in front of me a couple walked along the road together, laughing. Suddenly he reached out, … Continue reading
How Not to Catch a Bus
It took no small effort to push myself up from the gutter in which I was lying. I had seen the bus, I had run for it, and indeed I had caught it. But not before catching my foot on a wayward slab of pavement and flying headlong into the street. I hit the ground … Continue reading
The Fox in Darkness
We are now installed in the Wapping flat, boxes slowly being unpacked, bubble wrap slowly discarded. Alas we won’t have internet until oh, say, the next millennium, so my missives will be few and far between. But the adventures reign unabated, starting with one that happened while I was still at my friend’s house in … Continue reading
On Not Being a Felon
As you already know I’m currently a little wandering nomad, flitting hither and thither until I can roost permanently in my new home in Wapping. I went away for a few days to Stratford-upon-Avon (expect some moony-eyed lyrical blogs about the beauty of the countryside &c, shortly). Following this I made my way to my … Continue reading
Caitiewrites 