Hypatia Avenue

Good Friday in London

A walk from one side of Hyde Park to the other in order to see my parents and cousins for dinner, just as the sun began to set. I got caught up in a Critical Mass rollerblading event and was briefly surrounded by a huge clump of rollerbladers all dancing, slipping, lurching and gliding along to a thumping Euro-disco tune broadcast by a guy on a bike

Two competitive cousins trying to outdo each other in hugging me goodbye (one year old Aaron wins because he was intent and serious and didn't seem to enjoy it at all but was determined to cling on longer than his sister)

The top deck of a bus that reeked of spilled beer and fried chicken, which I've come to realise is standard on all London Transport buses after 10.30pm

The top end of Edgware Road just beginning to look busy as the affluent Arabic community began to gather for a typical "warm-weather" Friday night

A group of quite good-looking young men playing cricket with a bag of oranges, some traffic cones and proper cricket bats at about 11.30pm on my street corner

A pair of tramps lying back to back outside Oddbins off-licence, shouting and singing at each other

There were two, perhaps three occasions when I almost trod in vomit. It will clearly require a few more sunny bank holidays before the public learn to hold their wine once they've sat in a pub garden all day