It’s been a while since I’ve done a post and for once I actually have something to say, so I suppose I should get on with it. I am now back in France after a well-needed but too-brief week back home visiting friends and family across the Channel. It was very good for the soul (if a little rough on the liver). I left France early on Wednesday morning – my train was at 7:30 – and we were both somewhat hungover, having spent the previous night at Lee & Richard’s as they are far closer to the train station than us. I had a painless journey all the way to London (barring the fact that I was feeling rather gross and tired) and from there, jumped right on a train to Bedford to begin the family part of my trip.
Dad collected me at around 3.30 that afternoon and that evening, we had a lovely family meal, joined by Dave and Nan. Dad did the cooking, making an excellent meal of Jamaican Jerk Chicken. This was of course washed down with a lot of vodka and wine, and we also did our belated family Christmas, opening presents etc. The folks had left the tree up just for me, and Mum had even saved a Christmas cracker for me. We were up till around 1am that night but Dave had to work the next day so we tried not to go too crazy.
The next day I planned to see my bestest mucker, Anna. She had to work in the day but had the Friday off, so she collected me after work and we went to the pub for a few ales. It was the Rose & Crown in Newport Pagnell – a pub that is walking distance from my old school, and one that was always very tolerant of underage drinking, so it was a little bizarre going back there after so long (and not wearing a school uniform this time). It was great to catch up with Anna and her lovely partner also called Anna. If they hadn’t been around that night, the plan was for an Indian takeaway in Olney with the parents, so I was extremely pleased that a curry was exactly what the Annas had lined up for dinner that evening. We went to a superb restaurant in newport called the Mysore, where I got to indulge my chicken balti, samosa and onion bhaji cravings in style. Afterwards, we hit another local pub, out of which we were eventually ejected at closing time. Thoroughly drunk, we piled back to Anna’s place for more chatting and drinking before calling it a night some time around 2.30. As the next day was Mum’s birthday and as she had deliberately taken the day off work to spend some time with me, my homing beacon kicked in and I called for a cab back to Olney. It showed up rather later than promised, to put it mildly, so it was after 4 when I got back home. Needless to say, I slept in late and wasnt at my best when I rose.
Once I was up to it, Mum took us in to MK for some shopping. I scored a new jumper, t-shirt and pair of jeans, a new pay and go phone for Matt (cost: £8!) and a few other bits n bobs too. I also did some preliminary research into laptops as mine has been at death’s door for some time now and in dire need of a good throwing away. That evening, we had a massive family celebration: as well as it being Mum’s birthday, Dave’s birthday is on the 3rd of Jan, as is my uncle Barry’s, so all of us went out to the best restaurant in town, Donzella’s. It is owned by a hilarious but very rude English lady by the name of Julie, who is married to a phenomenal Italian chef called Giovanni. The food was typically divine and of course, we were the last to leave. Dave had his drinking hat on, so we left there for (can you believe it) a cocktail bar down the road. Regrettably, the cocktails were pretty vile – I’ve never had a worse margarita – but we struggled through and then all piled back to Mum n Dad’s for a well-needed cleanser. After the previous late night, I was flagging somewhat, but I think we all made it to around 1.30 again before calling it a night.
After a good sleep, I called in on Nan the following morning for our traditional saturday catch up. She very kindly gave me some more spending money to supplement the generous pile I had already gotten for Christmas, so suddenly, my potential new laptop options were looking a bit more viable – thank you Nan! Once I was done there, Mum took me to MK station and I set off for UK trip part II – London.
Our lovely ex-neighbour Iain from Dalston once again kindly offered me his spare room for this part of my trip, so I installed myself and chilled out for a while before heading into town for a quick sarnie and to meet the gang for scheduled drinks in Soho. With just a few exceptions, everyone I wanted to see showed up so we had a really fun evening catching up. While some people have managed to come out to see us in France, others I hadnt seen for literally years so it was a fab night. When the bars closed, Iain and his boyfriend David and I caught a bus back to Dalston, cheekily swinging by MacDonalds on the way for some grease. Back at Iain’s, we foolishly opened a bottle of red, and once that was gone, even more foolishly topped that off with a shot of some truly amazing honey-flavoured vodka Iain had squirreled away. It was somewhere around 3am when we all crashed, with guaranteed hangovers awaiting us the next morning.
It may have been due to the practice I had been getting in, but I somehow wasnt that bad the next day, unlike Iain and David! Iain got up and made us a delicious fry-up for brekkie, but as soon as we were done, they both retreated to bed, not to be heard from again all day. I on the other hand, had a lunch arranged with a friend I used to work with at my last job, SII (or CISI as it is now – if you care). We were also joined by our mutual friend, Peter, who, somewhat against his wishes, still works at CISI. Zoe recently moved to a new flat with her lovely fella Steve. It’s up in the far reaches of zone 4, North London, so it was a little bit of a hike, but Steve collected us from Arnos Grove station in his car, so it was a mainly painless journey – well, barring the hangover anyway. Zoe made a fab meal of chicken breasts and roasted veg, with a steamed red-wine pear each for dessert, all washed down with a lovely Californian Pinot. We lingered over the meal and had a great catch up, but I was yet again flagging somewhat, so Peter and I left around 4ish and made our ways back home from there. I had an extremely well-needed quiet and booze-free evening that night to prepare myself for Monday’s planned shopping spree.
First on the list was the City where I picked up a few bits from Boots and went to the bank. I also tried to get a bracelet repaired. It was a 30th birthday gift from Anna: hand-made, and one of the nicest things anyone has ever got me, but sadly the clasp broke. Unfortunately, I was told that the only option would be to use precious metal to build a new clasp and that was way out of my budget, so I had to abandon that plan. I did however, have a laptop success – I went to PC world and found a really great machine (a Samsung) that is about 8 times as powerful as my last, and which I am using now with pleasure. Massive thanks to la famille for your generosity: I am very much indebted to you for putting this within budget. Shopped out, I returned to Iain’s and dumped my purchases, then trekked to Sainsbury’s for (bien sur) some Hellman’s mayo and PG tips. I should mention that by this point, my feet were killing me. I couldn’t believe how quickly money was disappearing from my travel card, so wherever possible, I walked to avoid the ridiculous bus and tube fares – getting blisters aplenty along the way.
That evening, I met up with another great friend of mine, who I also met at CISI – Fran. She has been on maternity leave for a few months, caring for her first-born girl, Edie. She was in great form, and clearly loving motherhood very much. We have a tradition of pizza and beer dating back to when we worked together, so I was well pleased to hear her plan of treating me to a pizza at a swanky new place that recently opened up in Shoreditch called Pizza East. Despite the fact that it was a Monday in early Jan, we still had a half hour wait for our food, but I am pleased to say it was worth every second – the food was fairly spectacular. Afterwards, we hit a local bar for a few beers before calling it a night around 10.
Tuesday saw me pretty much hangover free so I made the most of it to finish my shopping with a trip to the west end for guitar strings and picks. Again, I returned to Iain’s afterwards to drop off my purchases, and to rest my sore feet. My last social engagement was at 4 that afternoon, when I called in to see the old crew at CISI. I was very well-received (somewhat surprisingly as we didnt really part on the best of terms) and my old boss in particular was thrilled to see me and promised to find me a place in her team if I ever came back. I stayed there for an hour and a half seeing old faces and meeting some new ones too, before heading back to Dalston. This again was on foot as I foolishly hit rush hour and couldnt face a crowded bus. My feet are just now beginning to forgive me. My last evening in the UK was an extremely low-key affair – Iain was out at the theatre, so I stayed in and read for a while and had myself an early night in preparation for my return journey the next morning, which went very smoothly even though I was by now extremely laden with purchases.
Sooo….. since getting back (and finding it eerily quiet!), nothing has really happened, and nor is it scheduled to. It is a most jarring contrast, I have to say. We plan on seeing Sharon this Wednesday for a walk and a meal, but apart from that, our calendar is conspicuously empty. It also turned cold here recently, so much so that we finally caved in and had the central heat on for the last few days to complement the fire. Not being freezing in the bathroom after a shower is something I will never in my life take for granted again…