There are a few things that can only be done at restricted times. One is visiting the Mansion House. I had hoped to advise you to turn up on any Tuesday afternoon for an hour long tour but these jaunts have now been cancelled until further notice.
The re-building of Dresden is almost complete but, as in any city, there is a continuum of regeneration. A bridge over the Elbe is closed to traffic for reconstruction and some bomb sites have not been rebuilt.
A good game is to name structures called after their architects. Let me get you started in Paris with Charles Garnier’s opera house and Gustave Eiffel’s tower and in Vicenza, the Basilica Palladiana by Andrea Palladio.
When a friend saw the kitchen Alan Higgs built for me she said Wow! I was very pleased, as was Alan, by her reaction. On Thursday I visited a building that has the Wow! Factor.
My outing to Gerrards Cross and Chalfont St Giles was on the hottest April day in London since 1949. Trains to GC go from Marylebone, an intimate station compared to other London termini.
I sometimes use St James’s Park station as a cross country route to my club. Incidentally there is grim news in Clubland. The new business rates will see clubs facing rates rising by as much as 400% and my club is reluctantly phasing in higher subscriptions.