Crosswords, ice cream, chocolate and the wrong bridge.


The last few days have been more social than usual. Only a part of this socialising was really planned before Friday but it was good all the same.

Thursday night I had expected to go out to the pub quiz over in Headington with Sam and her friends, but as she didn’t reply to my e-mail asking if it was on that night I stayed in.

Friday, and I had assumed that not much would be happening in the evening except for the usual Happy Hour in the department. However, John returned from Cambridge for the weekend and his wife, Katie, turn up to Happy Hour. When it was just about time to go home they suggested that a meal out at the University Club would be a good idea, so I spent a nice, quiet night talking and doing the Daily Telegraph crossword. A really quiet enjoyable evening. I finally got home at about half eleven.

Saturday had one item planned, a meeting with a number of people including Grim and Holly in central London to have a meal at a chinese restaurant on the eve of the chinese new year. The plans changed greatly during Friday, however. Instead of just the meal it was decided to make a day of it. So, I was up at my usual work time and off to Sainsbury’s so I could get everything done and be ready to leave home by 9:30am. The complete journey, driving to the department (to park my car), then the walk to the bus station and the trip into London on the bus (because the train was slower and less convenient!!) tookabout two and a quarter hours. However, due to misunderstanding where the bus stops in London I got off a bit early and found myself on Baker Street a couple of miles from where I wanted to be, so I walked.

I took a well earned rest in the Picadilly Starbucks, bought a latte and texted the group coming into town from the south asking for their ETA. They replied “in about 30 minutes, can you get to Waterloo Station by then?” I replied that I probably could. So I downed my coffee and set off towards Charring Cross and the Thames. Now, I knew that Waterloo was next to a rail bridge over the river but I didn’t know which one.. I don’t know the South Bank at all and the map I had with me only had the West End and Westminster on it, so I headed eastwards along the river after the signs for Waterloo Station petered out (which was very quickly).

It was only when I reached Blackfriers that I guessed that I’d missed Waterloo, that’s a good couple of miles’ walk. It was also then that I got another call asking me where I’d got to. Well, seeing as I knew where the London Eye was, it was decided to meet there. So, off I marched.

The next call came when I was crossing the bridge I now know to be Waterloo Bridge. I tried to describe where I was but the wind stopped reasonable communication due to it blowing into the microphone.

Anyway, five minutes later I finally met up with the group. At last!

The quest now, apparently, was to find chocolate. Not any chocolate but special chocolate from a shop on the Kings Road in Chelsea. Now, all they had was an address, so we took the tube from Embankment and exitted at one end of the Kings Road…. It was the wrong end, so there was lots more marching (though others caught a bus) and finally we were all there.. Roccoco Chocolate or something. Apparently, to chocoholics it’s a special place. I think the total spend there was probably in the region of £70!

The rest of the day was planned to go to the Science Museum but on the way getting some lunch (and by happenstance more chocolate in Hotel Chocolat in South Kensington, only about £30 was spent there).

The Science Museum was a bit of a disappointment. It seemed that the place had been taken over as almost another art gallery with most of the exhibits removed and replaced with lots of space, conceptual art, little explanation, restaurants and shops. Oh and one whole floor was closed for a make-over, sorry renovation.

It wasn’t long though before we had to make our way over to Wardour Street, push through the heaving crowds (which had plagued us all day it seemed) and finally got to the restaurant. Nobby and a couple of Grim and Holly’s friends joined us for the meal. The food was fine but rather slow in coming, so even though we arrived at 6pm we didn’t manage to finish the two courses ’til gone 9pm.. and they forgot out prawn crackers!

Still, there was still enough time to get some ice cream, so we popped over to a nice small restaurant just north of Tragalgar Square on the Charring Cross Road which did pasta-a-like ice cream dishes. They were *HUGE* but very nice.

By this time it was about 10:30pm so we all went our separate ways. I walked up to Tottenham Court Road station and grabbed a tube to Marble Arch to catch my bus. It would have helped if Marble Arch weren’t a rabbit warren, of course. It was interesting finding which hole you had to pop out to get to Speaker’s Corner. Anyway, I’d made it. By a strange co-incidence the couple who came out of the station just behind me were friends of Johnand Katie to whos’ house warming I’d been only a couple of months ago. They were going on the Oxford Tube and I on the Oxford Express, so they had to seek a different stop.

Anyway, I finally got home at about 1am this morning.

Today I’ve been recovering after the two latish nights and the approximately 12 miles I route marched yesterday. I have some quite sore muscles I can tell you. And so, it’s time to go to bed and be ready for another week with my nose to the grindstone.

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