Pat’s Point of View

“I was within walking distance of several terrorist attacks” are not words I ever thought I would say.

But today was no ordinary day. Whilst I travelled to work today, 4 bombs exploded in London killing 37 people so far.

I was one stop away from Kings Cross, at the time when one bomb went off, but I had no idea anything was wrong other than a Tube delay (not unusual). Soon afterwards I was on a bus travlling very close to the Russell Square area at the time of the bomb going off on the bus, again no idea what was happening. I was using my iPod so I heard no explosions, but nobody around me seemed to either.

Jenn had to catch a string of buses to get to work because the Tube station near our house was closed. She ended up near Liverpool Street station soon after the bomb went off there (she works nearby).

A work colleague was at Edgware Road station when the bomb went off there. Luckily all he experienced was a loud bang.

It’s amazing that none of us were injured in any way at all. But I’ve gotta say, the sooner we leave London the better. There’s only about 8 days left.

P

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Well it’s been quite a busy time in this part of the world; stinking hot weather two weeks ago, Glastonbury and pissing down rain last week, Wimbeldon finals this weekend and the Live 8 concerts yesterday.

It wasn’t such a bad day weather wise, London can certainly be a lot worse! We watched the BBC coverage of the concert(s) on TV whilst packing. It was meant to be a momentus event but it certainly didn’t feel as special as Live Aid (from the video I’ve seen). The presenters kept referring to the ‘incredible atmosphere’ but I kept thinking they were trying to hype it up because in reality that’s not how it was.

I suppose it would have been much different if you were in the crowd (200,000+ in Hyde Park) but I guess we’ll never know. Jenn wanted to be there to share in the spectacle (not the music, I don’t think she cared for any of the artists other than Madonna), but that’s not my thing really. Besides we have a lot going on in our lives and we were too busy packing, planning etc.

And ofcourse it would have been awful trying to get back home. The Tube is bad enough on a normal day, but imagine it with that crowd?!

In terms of the actual concert, it was a bit lame the way each act was only allowed to do a 2 song set, then they’d take 20 minutes to change the stage, then another act went on. And of course there was all that ‘modern’ stuff like Coldplay, Razorlight, The Killers, Travis etc. Can’t stand that new wave British crap.

Later on was better, with Velvet Revolver, The Who, Pink Floyd and Paul McCartney. Of course the opening with U2 and Paul McCartney playing “Sgt. Pepper’s” was good, but U2 had to leave for Dublin soon afterwards, so that ended that.

Historic occasion? Not sure, but it was an OK day.

P

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Well we’ve started packing. Almost everything we own is going into boxes, ready to be shipped off to Sydney next week. Then soon afterwards we’re off on holiday to Italy and Malta, before returning to London for final farewells. Then we jump on a plane and go home!

It’s been a long time coming - we’ve been planning our exit for more than a year now - so I’m glad it’s finally happening. Can’t wait to be back home.

My next entry may well be a true Antipodean rambling!

P

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