Heidemarie Al Richter was walking the streets of London

Seemingly lost

She was an Hungarian national and was unaware of the geography of the large city

Everything seemed so mysterious

So she turned to the paving stones for help

But received no guidance

Although she did notice near to the drains two poems almost obscured

London Rhymes

Isapara isapara

Why is the street so narrer

It used to me taxi a treat

But now its been reduced to just free feet

London Rhymes

In Trafalgar Square

People often go bare

In them two damn great fountains

Me and Al

Mandy and Sal

Have always preferred to climb mountains

She thought the poems poor but was rewarded when the paving stones started to speak

They discussed their Hungarian ancestry with her

She was from a small town on the Serbian border

Whereas the paving stones originated in Budapest

Heidemarie Al Richter sat down and shared a glass of wine with her new friends

They chatted for an hour until it started to rain

It rains frequently in London

She was aware of this and had purchased an umbrella at the airport

Which she gave to the paving stones

As a parting gift

Paving stones on the whole do not like getting wet

Soon Heidemarie Al Richter found a hotel in Kensington

It was called

The Hotel Kensington

She booked the largest room which had a king size bed and a view of the park beyond

It also had a bathroom finished in powder blue and pink

So she decided to take a bath choosing the deep blue bathwater from the menu

Magenta was her first choice but this colour had been discontinued

Her bathroom had no door and as she bathed the hotel maid listed the names of libraries on the long steamed mirror

The hotel maid who was from Peru then stepped into her guest’s bath and discussed the libraries she had visited in North-West London

The mutually decided to visit the main library in Neasden because it was opposite a candle shop

And its wall were covered with the writings of Cornelius Tacitus

It was as she was showering with the hotel maid that she noticed than on the maids back there were the addresses of many libraries tattooed in red and mauve

Both in the north-west and in the east of the city

Libraries of Lebanon

After a night of love the hotel maid left for Peru on a silver bus and Heidemarie Al Richter made her way to Neasden by tube

She became hopelessly lost as before and ended up in Canning Town where she met a sign writer whose tag was Stan-Les Steel

He showed her examples of his work

Visit the Halls of St Paul’s

Obey the rules in St Paul’s

Velvet stools are for sale in St Paul’s

Were the outstanding examples

He drove a navy blue Volkswagen with pale blue stars affixed to the roof and apart from being a sign writer he was also an expert in animal locomotion

Heidemarie Al Richter kissed him on the lips as she considered him the prettiest boy in the world

It started to rain again

Heidemarie Al Richter embraced the rain

Stan-Les Steel embraced the rain

The Hungarian visitor suggested that he should return to her hotel room as the hotel maid had left for Peru

He declined noting that he was gay and that although she was lovely she had no spice in her

As they parted he gave her a small gift a rift of paper which read

The Mexican war of 1861-67 was in its final stages by 1866

Britain,Spain and France had sent troops in to challenge the new president

President Juarez

Who had founded the republic and refused to honour foreign debts

Britain and Spain made peace in 1862

Leaving Napoleon the Third to continue the war

And impose an unpopular puppet emperor

Maximilian of Austria

In 1867 the United States forced the French to withdraw

Leaving Maximilian of Austria to his fate