Demo on Cup Final Day

i went down Tott Ct Rd on my way to the Demo today.  It was full of City fans.  

Holborn was for Palace.

I'd arranged to meet my old chum Pete for the Demo.  He was coming from out of Town and was going to do it from the start line.  I was going to meet him half way round.
He txt'd me that it was an hour late starting off, so I adjusted my schedule accordingly.

I erred in my planning and found myself east of where I expected the march to come back across the river.

Seeing the crowds crossing a bridge behind me I did hie my way there.  Where the bridge made landfall there was a total barrier, in the centre of the road, up to the crossroads.  Standing at the crossroads was a counter (Israel flagged) demo so I mounted the barrier and found some cyclist digging sandwiches out of the back of his bike.  

We exchanged pleasantries and he told me I shouldn't have worred about the counter demo.  There was hardly anyone there.

We agreed that the world had gone to hell and I left him to enjoy his picnic.  A rare event, to enjoy a sandwich in the middle of the road with a view of the Thames and no traffic.

Joining the throng into the Strand, I got a txt from Pete that he was at Trafalgar Sq and watching the clog dancing.  It's a culturally rich life he leads.  He started his London day with the Victor Hugo exhiibition at the R.A.  followed by an anti genocide march, and then clog dancing.

He found me easily.  I was probably the only one in Traf Sq  who appeared to be looking for someone.

The march had only taken an hour.  We rejoined it for the stroll down Whitehall and made our way as far as the gates of Downing St, where we could see the speakers on the stage.

The first one turned out to be Jez  :)
I remarked that I minded a time when there were no gates on Downing St and you could walk down it ahd have your picture taken next to the policeman outside No 10.  (Never occurred to us things could be different.)

We listened to a few speakers, did a minutes silence for the dead, and then stayed to hear Lindsey German.  More out of respect for all she's done for the anti-war movement than hearing the same thing again.  

Then made our way out, to Pete's parked, electric, push bike outside the Supreme Court building.  And made our seperate ways.

I got back  in time to see the goal.  An exciting game belying the score line.  I found the VAR interventions helpful in being long enough to mix another screwdriver. 

Disappointed to see Bernardo carded for a professional foul.  Confused by names, do City really have a player named Sudoko ??  Then again, I'm confused by names when I read of a game with two players called Onana.  Is  this what Starmer meant when he spoke of "an island of strangers" ??
  Surprised to see the Nip didn't kick the shit out of everyone, like he did in the semis.  He had a good game.

Onwards with the footer fiesta for the Europa Finals when two mediocre teams from the Premier League battle it out for a shot at the Champions League next season.
I'll have to followi that one via the Telegraph's Live Updates.  Al hum dilly la.

"we have a video of the murder, but the murderer wants you to know that the deceased is lying about the incident"
Richard Medhurst