I have spent the past few days looking for the Seville oranges that are in season at this time of year and bring brightness to dull January days. However, Lidl never sells them, Sainsbury's in Clapham didn't have any and nor did Tesco in Brixton or in Streatham (the Swan Whisperer very kindly looked after skating). I had thought of going to Tulse Hill Sainsbury's, but they probably wouldn't have had them.
I thought that, if anywhere would have them, it would be the massive Sainsbury's in Nine Elms, but it is a serious trek to get there. However, one could make a proper Expotition of it. I thought at first I'd go up there on the 196, then take the Tube from Nine Elms Station to Battersea Power Station Station and the P5 home, but it is rather minor roads between Battersea Power Station Station and the P5 terminus, and it would be dark by the time I got there (I'd been watching the Men's Short at the Europeans, so hadn't been out earlier). So I thought I'd postpone the excursion to tomorrow, and just pop out to Lidl for today's necessities. But just as I got to the bus stop, there was a P5, so I thought I'd do the trip the other way round.
So first I got the P5 to Thessaly Road, and walked under the eponymous bridge (which calls itself Thessaly Road Bridge, but as it is patently a railway bridge, that is a bit of a misnomer) to Battersea Power Station Station.
The trains aren't very frequent from there, so I had to wait 6 minutes, but of course the train was in the station so I could sit down, very comfortable. It is only a couple of minutes to Nine Elms, which I'd been through before, but never got in or out at. I love the inside-out "Underground" logo that you see as you approach the exit:Sainsbury's is just next doorand I was delighted to find they did have the Sevilles in stock, so from that point of view it was a most successful Expotition.On the way back, I decided to change buses at Stockwell Bus Garage, catching a 196 from opposite Sainsbury's and changing to a P5. Big mistake - normally, when I do that, both buses arrive at the stop within seconds of each other, but this time I must have just missed the P5 and had to wait for a quarter of an hour for the next one - which was just in front of the next 196! Ah well, I got home at last, in time for a much-needed cup of tea - as I hadn't expected to be out for more than a few minutes, I hadn't bothered to bring my water with me, and missed it rather badly!