Up and down

Life is made of up and down. From getting up in the morning to laying down at night, your perspectives are about to change hundred times a day. I am sitting on the train, fascinated by the English countryside running in front of my eyes out of the train window, thinking about life. Questions and uncertainties for the future have apparently gone for the moment, replaced by a deep feeling of joy and hope. A minute after, I start feeling my heartbeat in my ears and tears streaming down my face: all of a sudden, I'm able to feel only melancholy and despair. Up and down. To me, travelling on my own has always meant freedom and pride; I don't miss talking to people and I don't really feel alone. I don't even feel disoriented or puzzled in the airports, where thousands of people come and go around you, and maybe you don't know which direction to take because you've never been there before, The excitement of finding the way step by step, following directions, pulling the suitcase through corridors made of glass and then on the escalators. Up and down. Following directions step by step makes me feel I'm going the right way, no doubts and no regrets. That's why I've chosen to live day by day. From today. 

Today, I've been in a place never seen before. Even if I've already been in London several times and even for long, and seen many places around, I've never been to Little Venice before. You get there after a very long walk alongside Regent's Canal. From the second hand bookshop in Camden Market - one of my favorite places in the world, where I can't help buying something anytime I go there - you just follow the canal and cross Edgware Road, and you'll reach Little Venice. Regent's Canal walkway is a very relaxing path for a Sunday afternoon stroll in London. Many people are walking or riding along the river and many others are passing by on riverboats. 

Walking along the Canal.

As you pass by, you'll find yourself crossing London Zoo and you can see tropical birds, whartogs and hyenas just over your head. There are amazing villas on the riverside, with high columns as if they were Greek temples. The funniest part of the walkway is a dock where many boats are moored: they are like houses on the water, with people seriously living there. Each boat is decorated, depending on the owner's taste, but many of them are definitely kitch! In front of each boat there is a small garden, with trees hanging Christmas balls or lights, barbecues, colorful dwarfs and chairs. Then, the last part of the Canal was full of other boats with people having parties, eating and drinking - and apparently they didn't mind if tourists took pictures of them having fun. 

People having party on the boat.

An example of kitsch decorations.

After this long walk, we finally got to Little Venice, where Bank Holiday Canalway Cavalcade was taking place. There, the Canal is larger forming a sort of a lake, where many boats have gathered to celebrate a traditional reunion which sees more than one hundred boats. The atmosphere is joyful: colorful flags from all over the world wave on the boats, the air is invaded with scents of food from all over, people are laying on the lawn having picnics or just relaxing, children are playing around - even if it implies looking like hamsters in their balls (you'll understand why...). 

Canalway Cavalcade.

Relax time on holiday.

I wanted to try it!