Photo: Sunday speaker in Hyde Park
Feb 4, 1979 In the morning I attended a Catholic Church service that was poorly attended. From there I walked to Hyde Park and saw a few of the sights there: amateur soccer games, the Elf Tree, the Serpentine Art Gallery, and Speakers Corner. The latter had many speakers of divergent points of view, but all drew crowds. There was a lady teacher with a book of questions and answers awarding prizes to her audience, a Marxist, a Socialist, a Black, a German who hated Germans and Americans but loved attention, religious freaks, and more. Also took a brief look at the Natural History Museum with an Aussie girl on vacation.
Photo: Sunday crowd in Hyde Park
Feb 5, 1979 I rode the Underground to Putney and bought a red 10 speed Peugoet bicycle for about $200. This was to be my main mode of transport. It included a light powered by the wheel. I had decided to leave London tomorrow and take the train from France to Spain, rather than a ferry from England as it was not yet operating.
This was my last night in the hostel and I was glad because there had been much stealing. Even if you slept with your camera or wallet in your sleeping bag, you were still at risk because the thieves would slit a hole in the bag even while you were sleeping. I did not lose anything but a number of others did.
Feb 6, 1979 When I checked out of the hostel in the morning there was a note from Robin and Phil. I then met them where they were staying at the White House Hotel. After checking my things at a nearby hotel, we wandered about London, had a pub lunch, and a light dinner at a vegetarian restaurant.
Map of Southeast England
