Tigger has been working all this week and I have stayed at home, not feeling motivated to go anywhere or do anything much. This evening, Tigger left work at 6 pm and we agreed to meet at Liverpool Street Station, in order to to have supper out.

On the 153

Accordingly, just before 6 pm I went to the stop in St John Street and caught a 153.

The Friend Street stop

We didn’t travel very far – just to the next stop, in fact – before the bus came to halt. A recorded announcement told us that “The driver has been told to wait at the stop for a few minutes.” This is one of the more annoying little habits of Transport for London that, at seemingly random intervals, makes buses stop and wait a while before continuing. Sometimes the announcement continues “…to even out the service”. But, given that at other times you will see two or even three buses with the same route number all running along happily nose-to-tail, I don’t believe their excuse.

Liverpool Street Station

The bus eventually started up again and this time ran without incident to its terminus at my stop, Liverpool Street Station. At this time of day, the station is crowded as commuters, employed in the City, make their way home. From above, the main concourse looks like an overturned ants’ nest.

Having travelled here by another bus route, Tigger at last joined me and we set out to find supper. Eateries like Leon, Pure and Pret A Manger were all closed by now and restaurants would be expensive. The solution was to go to a pub.

I was surprised how busy the pubs all were: packed inside and with crowds of customers outside on the pavement. I’m used to seeing City pubs like this on Fridays but not in Thursdays. Fortunately, Tigger had an idea where to go.

The King’s Arms

She led me to the King’s Arms in Wormwood Street, though in fact we entered by a side entrance accessed through an alley. This brought us to the stairs leading down to the basement which, though busy, was not as busy and noisy as the main room on the ground floor. I was served fairly quickly though there was a long wait before the food arrived.

In the basement

This is where we came and the low angle of the photo derives from the fact that I was sitting in a low but comfortable armchair!

Halloumi and chips

Pubs often don’t have much choice for vegetarians but this one had halloumi and chips on the menu. Good enough!

Walking along Wormwood Street

Afterwards, we walked back along Wormwood Street. It struck me that, to quote a phrase, “the evenings are drawing in”: darkness already falls noticeably earlier. Autumn is upon us and winter is not far behind…

Liverpool Street Station

We turned up Old Broad Street which leads to Liverpool Street Station. Beside it is the bus station, where we pick up the 153 whose terminus this is.

A 153 was lurking

When we reached the stop, we could see that there was a 153 lurking. We didn’t know how long we would have to wait as bus drivers have a statutory rest period (15 minutes, I think) here before starting again. As it happened, we didn’t have long to wait.

Aboard the 153

We boarded the bus and rode off through the City night. This time, there were no long pauses at bus stops to “even out the service” or other dubious excuses. Other than a few holdups for the inevitable road works, we were carried home in a timely fashion.

Back at the Angel

The bus brought us back to our angelic neighbourhood once more. The crossroads was busy as was only to be expected at this time of day with car-driving commuters making for home.

Tomorrow is another day of work for Tigger and then comes the weekend. I am conscious that time is precious (we each have a limited supply of it) and I try not to wish it away but to make the most of the minutes and hours. I shall, though, be quite glad to enjoy the two days we spend together before the cycle starts again.