Categories: uncategorized
Date: 13 January 2007 16:26:25
Did lots of ordinary stuff this morning, but it was good to do. First I caught the bus up the hill to the newish S**nsb*ry's to pick up a few bits, including a stash of Green and Blacks, which I'll explain about later ;-) However, I decided this was a good opportunity to stay on the bus a couple more stops and go and suss out Crystal Palace Sports Centre. I've been thinking of joining an exercise class, either aquarobics (which I've done before and loved) or Pilates (which I've heard is good for posture and suppleness, areas in which I'm somewhat 'challenged'). The Sports Centre is rumoured to be good, but I don't drive, and its location would mean a walk through the huge park to get to the bus stop - nice during the day, but don't really fancy it alone at night.
So, it being daytime, I walked through the park (downhill - there are some amazing views from up there) past the site of the old Crystal Palace itself, of which nothing now remains but the stone steps and balustrades which led up to it, and a few statues, including a couple of Egyptian human-headed lion thingies (mini-Sphinxes?). I arrived at the Sports Centre, and was rather entranced by some 'Sport England' signage which was of 1970s vintage to judge by the motif, hard to describe here but basically the top half of a human figure, made from two curves and a circle - kind of o/ but slightly (tho not much) more sophisticated. If you visited a British leisure centre in the 70s, you might remember...
I discovered that the Centre has some free memberships available, and that the walk back to the main road is mostly through the floodlit car park, so probably not too bad. I think I might give it a go. There is a Pilates exercise class on Saturdays.
After that I caught the bus uphill (my Fenland upbringing didn't prepare me for the remarkable number of thoroughfares called 'something or other HILL' in this part of the world) and went to the supermarket. Outside were people collecting signatures to save the local library. As it happens, although it's not very far at all from where I lived, this isn't my local library, in fact it isn't even my Borough, but I have a thing for public libraries, as any socialist bookworm should, so away I signed.
Oh, and about aquarobics, the reasons why it's fab are: i) because you're in water, you work your muscles hard with the resistance, but your weight is supported so you don't jar your joints; ii) because you're in water, you don't get hot and sweaty, and no-one can see your wibbly bits wibbling or tell what an unco-ordinated klutz you are. Obviously, you have to get chlorine in your hair and wear a swimming cossie, but nothing is perfect.