KEY POINTS:
Winter has grabbed London. Snow on the ground the other day in Hyde Park confirmed that reality as if we needed any second opinion. It has been bitingly cold although the All Blacks have been favoured for the bulk of their trip to the Northern Hemisphere with fine weather. But many players were caught out on their first training session in the capital, complaining about the cold and how they needed to double up on tracksuits and thermal vests or whatever apparel they use to keep the blood flowing.
It was also unusual to watch the windows in the double-decker bus taking us into Piccadilly, steam up, but through one of the clearer panels you could make out one of the humanitarian locals. She was heading to Hyde Park to give her two pooches a circuit or two of the magnificent green belt which lies so close to the centre of the city. The small dogs appeared to have barked out a few candles in their time and, a bit like the owner, did not appear in the most robust health. But her kindness was obvious as she had clad each canine in a specially-fitted dogcoat for their daily outing as they mozzied their way over towards the Serpentine, the Long Water and the Round Pond.
We could take all this in because the traffic in London was not going much faster than the woman's canines. A new hotel or business block was being built near the intersection at Knightsbridge and that was causing more snarlups than normal. All that sort of congestion is standard in places like London and a reminder for those who bleat on about the bottlenecks in Auckland, what traffic chaos is really like. But it is also great in London to have the bus or Underground as viable alternatives to taking the motor out for a spin.
At last the journey past mega-expensive arcades and such icons as the Ritz, stopped in the middle of the city and we beetled off to various points including a pilgrimage to Lillywhites and five floors of sporting goods, clothes and treasures. It is a remarkable shop where you can find items to interest you from any code. Just down the road and round the corner Liz and Phil would have been getting ready to host the All Blacks as part of the preliminaries before the 2011 Rugby World Cup draw. London is busy, staggeringly busy. Every time you visit it seems to have got more frenetic but the ubiquitous history, landmarks and points of interest keep drawing you back while the Green Park, St James Park, Regents Park and the massive Hyde Park areas so close to the city centre give it some wonderful relief.
Wynne Gray
The All Blacks were forced to double up on tracksuits during their training session in London today. Photo / Getty Images
