St Albans; Friday, 10 July, 2020

So, first trip as the Covid-19 restrictions started to ease and by pure chance the first trip to survive the rounds of cancellations and postponements had always been a quick weekend away to a city less than 40 miles from home – perhaps the best choice for getting back into the travelling habit.

As it was a short journey with only one change in Streatham onto a Thameslink train all the way to St Albans, I was able to travel up over part of my lunch break. The Thameslink train was deserted and so I was able to sit in relative comfort in the declassified first class compartment at the rear of the train and get on with some work – meaning I still had most of my lunch break left when I got to St Albans.

From the station it’s a hefty 10-15 minute walk up the hill into the centre of the city, so instead I cheated and got a taxi from the station all the way to my hotel, where I was able to checkin and go straight to my room, where I could remove my face mask.

I did a couple of hours work at the hotel before finishing off for the evening just after 5pm. I had a restaurant booked for 7pm so I only had a little time to explore so I grabbed the camera and headed over the road to the Cathedral to have a look around the outside of that.

I spent a good 45 minutes or so wandering around the outside grounds of the Cathedral and the last remaining parts of the Abbey that used to exist here – only small fragments now remain. After that I headed back to the hotel to get changed as my restaurant for the evening had a smart-casual dining code and my shorts were probably not covered by that.

Just before 7pm I headed out to my first proper restaurant meal since Naples back in mid-February. The meal was very nice and the service was excellent – if slightly weird with everything being delivered to a large tray set on a stand next to the table which I then had to help myself from onto my table to ensure that the waiters never got too close.

Stuffed from a lovely dinner I wandered back through the area around the cathedral down to my hotel. Passing up the idea of a nightcap in the hotels deserted and Covid-secure bar, I headed back to my room and had an early night.