EXTRA TIME

Non-Covid Cold After London Trip

October 6, 2021 at 8:42 pm Leave a comment

Having been to London for some days last week, I returned with an unwanted souvenir: a non-COVID cold.

The non-Covid cold seems to have become very common in the English capital and is doing the rounds also in Vienna right now. It is described in this article in The Telegraph:

www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness/body/do-have-not-covid-cold-really-bad-think/

On my return I took a COVID-antigen and later also a PCR test, both resulting in “not detected”. But today I had to see my doctor to prescribe something against that nasty cough which has remained after the initial sore throat was gone within just two or three days from its beginning.

Now I hope for a better night than the last one – without permanent waking-up due to that unpleasant coughing.

It is a dry cough that’s highly annoying and especially gets worth when I’m wearing a face mask. A souvenir from London which I really could have done without.

But there are many great memories from these much too short four days: We had a hotel with a wonderful view over the River Thames and the Houses of Parliament (above). West Ham’s Europa League game against Rapid Vienna in the London Stadium – the reason for our first trip to London within almost two years – kicked off on Thursday at 8 p.m. BST, so we had plenty of time to explore the British capital that day. But first of all we had to take our Day-2-Covid test, an appointment which had to be made before flying off to the UK due to the migration rules which were in force until October.

I had opted for a test facility near London Bridge and told our West Ham mate Paul that we would be around that place at 11 a.m. And really, when we were visiting nearby Borough Market I got a call by him and we met up in a small cafe. It was great to unexpectedly see friend Paul for a coffee and to hear that he’s doing well. Unfortunately he won’t be able to come to Vienna for the return leg in November, but Paul’s friend Barrie (who helped us to get the tickets for the game in London) will travel to Vienna and I’m looking forward to see him in person then.

Afterwards we had Indian lunch near Brompton Road, fortunately finding a restaurant nearby the unexpectedly closed Shezan we had known from our previous travels. Then we shortly walked through the ground floor of Harrods afterwards.

Finally we had to get ready for the football and travel from Westminster to the fairly distant London Stadium where we had a beer with Sam and his father not only before, but also after the game in the stadium. We were a cool group of Austrians consisting of our pastor Rene from the ICF Vienna, my wife Eva, and my friend Alfred and his son Simon!

West Ham’s game against Rapid in front of an almost sold-out crowd of 55,000 under the lights with a unique pre-match light show to mark West Ham’s first ever Europa League group stage game at home, and a very good first half of West Ham, followed by a welcome not-so-bad second half from Rapid, was highly entertaining and a very special occasion for me.

Buying a split-scarf was a “must” and I will proudly sport it in Rapid’s Weststadion for the return leg in November. I wore Claret & Blue for the game (we were sitting in the home supporters section of Billy Bonds Stand, lower tier – very good seats, a big thanks to our provider!), but I had put on a green Rapid shirt underneath and, to be honest, I would have fancied a shock result in favour of Rapid Vienna. Albeit it didn’t happen: the Hammers won 2-0 and I am very happy that they top Group H of the Europa League and most certainly will progress to the knock-out stages. Unfortunately that cannot be said of Rapid, starting into the UEL with two defeats.

The day after matchday was a Friday with some shopping in the Seven Dials area near Covent Garden and a highlight in the evening when we visited small, but groovy 606 Club in Chelsea. We went there by boat from Vauxhall to Chelsea Pier, crossing under beautiful Albert Bridge. Sax player Dave Lewis gave us a real treat of funky music, partly accompanied by jazz singer Gina Foster – a fine groove night that was!

The following rainy Saturday saw us visiting the Garden Museum close to our hotel in Lambeth, climbing 131 steps of the tower of the former church in which the museum is located. A long bus ride to Camden Market followed, afterwards we graced the High Street of one of our most liked neighbourhoods Marylebone near Regents Park.

The Saturday evening programme was a concert of the BBC Symphony Orchestra (directed by Sakari Oramo) at the Barbican Hall with Brahms’s Symphony No2 in D minor and two modern pieces by Betsy Jolas and Ruth Gipps.

Sunday was London Marathon day and our hotel was full of runners at breakfast. For us Sunday was church day. We visited HTB and afterwards enjoyed the sun and a lunch in the Serpentine Bar in Hyde Park. A sunny Bye-bye to London that was. After lunch we returned to the hotel to collect our bags as we had to take the afternoon flight from Stansted back to Vienna.

A beautiful but also exhaustive weekend came to an end … but its aftereffects are still there: great memories, nice pictures and a nasty cold! Thank you, London!

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