I love the fact that you can take a short bus ride from home, and park yourself under such lush green canopies. I missed that in Mumbai. Now when I think of it, everything about it was just so barren and concrete.
Bangalore has it's share of good parks. We had Cubbon Park and Lal bagh, and they bring back fond memories of childhood. Sundays at the park, with the giant wheel, merry go round, toy train (putani express) pink cotton candy, pop corn and bhutta. The big bamboo forest and picnics with sandwiches and puliyogare.
But parks in London, seem to be at a very different level altogether. Parks with ducks, swans and pelicans in the middle of the city. Dotted with pretty cafes where you can spend a whole day brunching and lunching. We planned to head to St James park this Sunday morning. 'Inn the Park' nestles cozy beside the pond, and this log wood cafe looked very inviting.
They have a pretty extensive breakfast menu, but we treated ourselves to a stack of thick pancakes, in a pool of sticky maple syrup. Simple and delicious. We went for a short walk by the pond, and sat for a while on the bench, doing absolutely nothing, just absorbing the fresh air and the cackling of the ducks and pelicans. The pelicans apparently are a rare sight in the park, and were probably there for the mating season.
I could have spent a few more lazy hours, but Ram gets impatient quite easily. He always has to be 'doing' something or 'going' somewhere.
What next?
How about nothing.
Or as the Italians would say '
dolce far niente', or the sweetness of doing nothing. Delicious idleness!
