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Published: December 7th 2020
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Reading is a picture post card town. A nice cathedral ruins on a little hill with a backdrop of a
meandering Thames and Kennet rivers, embracing (sometimes too tightly during floods). That's Reading, 45 mins by Great Western Train from London Paddington to Reading main station.
It was my first holiday during the infamous Coronavirus alias Covid-19 pandemic of 2020 which initiated a lockdown in United Kingdom in March 2020.
I simply had to capture the English summer with one day trip to make it memorable as government was discouraging public to travel for leisure. Train was almost empty. I took my bicycle into the train at Hayes and Harlington station and got down at Reading. As per the new rules of social distancing, only one household per lift or me and my cycle in the station lift from the bridge to platform. Outside the station, the Reading roads seemed so big and busy. I looked left and right to spot a cycle lane to go to Caversham. What a busy bridge with the fast moving cars! I decided to take the towpath by the river and lo! A little away, there was a foot/cycle bridge 😊
It
was amazing to see the river locks which
controlled the flow of waters and
lush, tidied greenery (not like the wild tropical forests with undergrowth, creepers, massive trees and accompanying wide variety of annoying insects).
A crisp air of a summer morning like the cold, white Chardonnay, fresh out of refrigerator.
I crossed over to Caversham village where I took a look at a property for sale. The stairs were a bit squeaky.
From the face of the estate agent, it seemed I was perhaps the first ever prospective buyer to have ever arrived on a cycle! I pottered about the narrow lanes and viewed a couple of other terraced houses. There was a nursery, a primary school and a park nearby. Largely residential but the houses seems to be at the lower reaches of the river( Later I confirmed from the Environment agency that the last flooding took place in 1947 and since then the area is flood free).
Such an
energetic morning and I was
feeling restless. I cycled back to the river and
cycled up and down with mad abandon, letting the air blow on my face and fill my lungs. Mid way, I sat by the green stub of a tree and helped myself to a homemade sandwich. After
break, explored the little islands in the middle of the river, followed some other cyclists and wandered about aimlessly. Of course, Her Majesty's birds, the mute, white swans were lazing around in the lakes. Again, decided to cross the
Caversham lock. The water was rushing out like pure white fur. I stood in silence over the bridge, admiring the moment and music of the gushing waters underneath.
I continued to cycle to the posh area of Sonning, hoping to meet George Clooney. I think he would have surely made some effort had I informed him of my visit.
With a well planned, Thames path showing directions to cycle to London or Oxford, I decided I was going nowhere. I sat on a bench and idled away some time looking at the idle boats.
The river towpath had a path to Tesco outlet. It was nice large Tesco with a great number of staff. Bought a white, dark blue patterned pair of trousers, a Tesco shampoo conditioner and Financial Times (FT) Saturday edition of Aug 22, 2020 (4 GBP when the Friday edition is only 2.90 GBP with more relevant news). Paid up and then cycled to sit
by a nice area by the river with a nice, well maintained lawn. Then tried my new reading glasses.
The Governor of Bank of England was confident that recession was not as bad as expected. Next used my distant glasses and the supposed boats were
clearly boats and not blurry blots of whales. Later, Dec 2020 FT edition mentioned, UK saw an exceptional 6.5%!d(MISSING)ecline in accumulated wealth of households, the steepest in any large developed country as per Credit Suisse report.
As my vision is okay, the newspaper clearly wasn't. My stomach grumbled. I crossed the bridge to Reading Town Center, navigating the traffic and parked my cycle in front of the
Townhall and Museum of Reading.
It was closed because of coronavirus and only open for weddings. Despite the pandemic, the town centre was busy with a long queue to a popular pub.
I decided to brave a restaurant during the pandemic, a Vietnamese restaurant and asked for a table for one. Restaurants were maintaining a physical distance of 1.5 ms by asking people to sit apart and leaving some tables empty. All waiters were wearing masks.
Doors were open and air conditioner was switched off. I ordered a homemade lemonade, fresh vegetable spring rolls and spicy, chicken curry with rice. Nice to be served at a table. It cost me 20 GBP. Satisfied, I decided to call it a day. I cycled back to Reading main
station and train back to Hayes and Harlington station. The train was filled with 30%!c(MISSING)apacity and I used my cycle to maintain physical distance. Was home by 4pm.
While the pandemic had scared the wits out of people, the restrictions had frustrated people even more. The warm summer is the only time, the Brits can look forward to long outdoor holidays and enjoy nature.
Indeed, it was great to take stock of
sunshine vitamin on my skin and get some relief from the cacophony of city life. For a change, no reading books for me but a
summer day trip to Reading to try a new pair of reading glasses!
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