Time was running out. I needed to check my list. Had I achieved what I had set out to. Well mostly but there was one more thing. I wanted to ride a bike around Hyde Park. Actually, I would ride anywhere but there were nice safe cycle lanes in the park. Right…decision made, and the weather was looking bright…so far. We were on the bus and the clouds closed in. The stop was outside the Peninsular Hotel so we decided we needed coffee anyway. Umm very nice.

It’s London and the sun arrived to tease us, so we crossed the road to the park and found the stable of bicycles tethered securely to their hitching posts. The next challenge was to unhitch them. It’s 2024. It’s Britain where they have done bureaucracy for more than 500 years!  We are dealing with the masters of red tape. We must download the QR Code, upload the App, register our personal details, create a 15 letter/number/symbol password, add a security question, remember our aunt’s dog’s name and finally surrender our financial assets and only then will we be told how to release the beast. In the meantime, the rain returned and we had to run away and hide in the nearest bus shelter until it eased. And just to add insult to injury when we returned to the stables, two young women turned up oblivious to the hardship they would encounter in trying to retrieve their mounts, had a short discussion in French/German/Spanish, I’m not sure but they had not used the system before and yet magically they waved their magic phones over the place, said the magic words and were off before we had retrieved our first bicycle. Children today are born with a technology gene…that is all I can put it down to. 

The Palace had heard of our arrival in the Park and had sent an escort. We were quite chuffed but waved them on. Our ride was wonderful. The sun escorted us, flowers bloomed at our heels and the swans and ducks ignored the silly tourists. It was such a treat.