April 10: London luxuries

I am clearly over-excitable: 2 posts in 2 days. I’ll settle down soon.

Today we took one of our “usual” walks: across London to the British Museum. I took SuperTrip 2026’s first photo of Carey’s back (see: all previous SuperTrip galleries) as he strode the towpath ahead of me. We followed the Regent’s Canal to Hoxton; then wove through the 19th Century developments, with their mix of garden squares, repurposed pubs and shockingly awful late 20th Century infill buildings: post-Blitz terraces; boxily-redeveloped warehouses; ‘70s social housing estates. I adore the perversity of London’s neighbourhoods, particularly now, with flowering cherry trees, early lilacs and the acid-green curtains of weeping willows.

Accustomed as we are to asking, “How can it STILL be snowing in April?”, we experience London as shockingly green. The grass is untrodden and un-dusty. The trees have their freshly-waxed, spring sheen. Waste ground is full of striving weeds, while, in gardens and on terraces, tulips are looking blown out and the daffodils are largely over. It’s quite dizzying, especially down by the canal, where the light on the water, frequent low bridges and crammed-in buildings contrive to constantly present new angles and glimpses, all of which are mostly green.

One of our ongoing luxuries is our British Museum membership. I deeply value the sense of belonging it gives me to swan past the queues at security; sweep through the bedlam of the Great Atrium and slip into the Members’ Room for a coffee and a quiet seat. It’s a snug harbour in the mighty river of people flowing and eddying through an institution always busy. After we finished our (very tasty) sandwiches, we just flashed our card again to enter the exhibition at our own convenience… It has both an objective value and a highly subjective feeling that this way of living is not entirely in my past.

The “Samurai” exhibition was a very competent, immersive presentation, starting with a history lesson about the 800s CE, ending with anime and Star Wars. And, it made perfect sense.

We exited (voluntarily) through the “Grenville Room”, the British Museum’s VERY fancy gift shop: all silk scarves, pieta dura trinket boxes, Iznik platters, repro bronzes and high-quality jewelry aligned with/inspired by the Collection. Somehow, we left with a Mexican beaded skull! Unique, handmade, mesmerizing, it is both beautiful and profound; Fairly Traded by the Huichoi Indigenous Collective. Also, it is resin, rather than an actual severed head, which, was the clincher (for me).

We WON’T take it on camino, although Carey definitely thought hard about that. It’s both heavy and delicate. It’s going in the crossing bag until we get back in June.

We saw it separately, and simultaneously turned to the other. It feels a fitting souvenir for SuperTrip 2026. Memento Mori (or, alternatively, “Eat, drink and be merry…”) – a reminder that the present is a gift, and every day counts.

We came home and excitedly shared it with a rather non-plussed Gareth, who rallied like the true friend he is.