Lamplight in the Rain

London was cold, wet, windy, cold, damp grey, cold, miserable and cold today. Did I mention how cold it was? I thought making the decision to venture out today was not such a eureka moment afterall. But I did have my reasons. Recently, someone at work recommended some Tea Rooms located 'very near' Tottenham Court Road as a pleasant place to the spend an afternoon. To say I love a good quality tea room is an understatement indeed. I am a proud veteran of many a tea room across enchanted land of Cornwall. From Tintagel to Truro, I have sampled Chocolate Fund Cakes, Apple Pies, Treacle Tarts and numerous other delights, as well as fine quality teas. If ever someone organised a 'Tea Room tour of Britain' I'd be the first to jump into that Morris Minor Traveller before it set off long B Road Britain.

Anyway, confidently I leapt into the London greyness in search of this gastronomical Shangri-La with dreams of hot tea and generous slices of Victoria Sponge. Unfortunately, two wasted hours later, having tramped along every side road and alleyway between Tottenham Court Road and Trafalgar Square, I hadn't found it and, cursing the rather vague directions I'd been furnished with, was thinking this beacon of light on such a cold day was too good to be true. Depressingly, I gave up looking and ended up in a Pret a Manger on Trafalgar Square with a coffee and a muffin for company. Not what I had in mind when the day began with such high hopes. However, by the time I left to go home it was getting quite dark and, looking about myself as I trudged towards the Tube Station, I suddenly noticed how Trafalgar Square had transformed itself from a drizzly grey to something magically bathed in lamplight. It looked rather beautiful on such a damp, cold and dark evening and a pleasant surprise at the end of my rather unproductive, tealess and cakeless day off. The fountains were lit up, the noble lions and our intrepid one-eyed and one-armed hero too. It all looked very atmospheric. I'm sure it looks like this every but how often does anyone in London take the time to stop and reflect on its occasional beauty? Wandering around I noticed quite a beautiful old lamp at the back of St Martin's-in-the-Fields Church that was rather nice with its warm glow and fancy ironwork and I thought I'd share. Maybe I found by mean of light afterall; it just didn't come with a helping of Victoria Sponge. Incidentally, the fabled Tea Rooms are on Great Russell Street opposite the British Museum. An adventure for another day methinks.

But thank God for Google Maps and mobile phones or I'd still be definitely in the dark concerning its whereabouts! The wonders of modern technology! I must remember that I live in the 21st Century and not the 18th ? but if about half the people I know would just refrain from wearing Tricorn hats for a single day, I might stand a better chance of remembering ?