Sun morn. Day of Dylan, big day therefore. Biggest thrill I've had recently is realising that I have in fact already seen Bob 28 times and not 27 as I had previously been thinking. That means these two upcoming Wembley shows will be the 29th and 30th times I see him. So that means that I have managed to dredge up from my memory banks a "lost" Dylan show. The one in question was from Cardiff 2004 which I have to say I had clearly completely forgotten about. Dunno why because it was rather a good one as I now recall. It happened a couple of days before the Fleadh in Finsbury Park which I went to with the Wizard and which had Ronnie Wood from the Stones as part of Bob's band in a one off special. Both shows are covered in the Dragons and Harpsichords cycle of writings within the Justifying the Star collection. Dunno what it was that made me remember the Cardiff show, or for that matter forget it in the place, but as I sat there thinkin' hard my conviction grew an' then I just felt better an' better I can tell ya.
Warm and sunny today. Gonna be another hot one that is for sure. That's the kind of deal we have to expect now with the weather and we are only just at the mid point of April. What else is there to come? Sizzlin' London! Did quite a bit of walking in town yesterday. City trampin' an' I gotta say I like it, I like it a lot. Wrote about trampin' in other posts and will continue to 'coz London is awesome for city trampin' there ain't no doubt about that, a true world city where ya can witness so many different landscapes within a couple of miles that ya head is burstin' with all the good stuff that comes from outta them.
Yesterday I jumped off the El Tubio at Bethnal Green and began walkin' in from there, taking a left out the station and straight down Bethnal Green High Rd with the towers of the City on the horizon, standing there in the mid-mornin' heat haze. April heat, hot enough to burn ya. Then I cut through the back streets and ended up on Brick Lane, an' all within 15 mins. Brick Lane on a Sat morn when the sun is shining is a good place to be, east meets west, before the crowds.
From Brick Lane it is a simple cut down Hanbury St across Commercial St and into Spitalfields which is undergoing some serious renovation and is soon gonna look truly amazing, already looking pretty good in fact. Been a few years since I was there, me and Tamdin used to go down quite often on a Sunday to do our shopping from the organic fruit and veg market but then we kinda fell out the habit. These days it looks better than it ever has and it is only gonna get bigger. Popped in to a little clothes shop located there called Tibet Dreams to say hello to Kungyen a Tibetan I know who works there. Had a tea with him and we shot the breeze for 30 mins or so, got the impression he was in the frame for some new kinda work to do. Both of us had been to Kathmandu this year already so we had chatted about that and what we did there. His folks live behind Boudnath Stupa on the north-east side of town. Refugess from Tibet, makin' do as best they can.
From Tibet Dreams I cut through some back streets to end up on Bishopsgate just opposite Liverpool St station. My destination was now Borough market on the south side of the river by London Bridge. Found a nice little cut through in between Spitalfields and Petticoat Lane which I will remember for future reference. Alleys and corners, hidden pathways that open onto new vistas. On Bishopsgate I cut through the gardens of St Botolphs and ended up on Old Broad Street now headin' directly towards the Stock Exchange.
When I got to the bottom of Old Broad Street I stopped to stare up in amazement at some construction work which was going on at the corner with Threadneedle Street. Awesome piece of engineering was taking place. Seeing what goes on in the City with the road and the buidlings at the w/ends is a never ending sourse of fascination to me and I like it, I like it a lot. It surprises me how people crowd out the galleries in the West End of town looking for art and inspiration when they could wander up an' down the deserted streets of the City an' see some truly spectacular works of art, acts of the imagination taking place right before their eyes. People just don't get it though and in a way I'm kinda glad they don't 'coz if they did then trampers like me would no longer have the place all to ourselves and the emptiness of the City at the w/ends is more than kinda wonderful I have to say.
After silently payin' the guys on the cranes my respects I then walked up Threadneedle Street and cut across Cornhill an' into the hidden gardens of St. Michaels on Cornhill. Then through the alleys and onto Gracechurch St where I was soon headin' down to the Monument and London Bridge. A twister of a route and an ace way to lose someone if ya is ever being chased by da mugga man in that part of town, which actually is pretty unlikely but there we go. Ya need ta go a coupla miles further east to live out that particular scenario.
All in a day's work to me but a maze and a considerable bit of figurin' on the old A-Z for those who don't know their way around this part o' da cityscape. On Gracechurch Street I had to stop in awe as a boiler system was being winched on to the roof a building. An enormous crane rigged up to do the business. Men in hard hats. They had closed half the street off and I joined the crowd, all of us craning our necks up into the fathomless blue sky to see the work in progress. Man. What a fella he can be on some occasions.
Across London Bridge and onto the south side, then a quick descent into the crowds of Borough Market one of the best food markets in town. Bought what I was looking for which was a piece of belly pork and a fresh pork pie, an' then after picking up a fresh falafel wrap I was back across the bridge and headin' again to the hidden gardens of Cornhill to eat my food and drink a bottle of Volvic. No point in hanging around. In an' out quick is how I like to do it. Sat there in the gardens in the midday sun on my own for 10 mins or so and then made my way back through the city and along the same way I had come in to return to Bethnal Green. Bingo. Tramp over.
All in all about three hours walking which was quite enough as due to the heat I was tired towards the end but more than happy, full of gratitude for being in a place where these things are possible to do, where so much is available to feast my eyes upon, to send my imagination spinnin' and to make me visualize crossin' my hands at my heart in silent reverence. Yeah man and just think, tonight within the limits of the same city I will be going up to see Bob Dylan for the 29th time in this life. Awesome, it just don't get better than that.
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