Day 114 – to the west side of London
- We both crashed a little early for us and also slept in. Travel can take it out of you if you don’t pace yourself. We had even arranged a late checkout because we had a late train (so we could sync up with our friends at the end of the work day. They are meeting us at a station and guiding us to their place.)
- I was up first, so I jumped in the shower. It’s a stupid design and water got everywhere. Why-oh-why do hotels cheap out with a pre-made shower pan that doesn’t use the whole space? They are just asking for water to go everywhere, making more work for the housekeeping staff, creating a greater risk for slip & fall injuries, and risking far more maintenance work from all the water. Even in the short run, it can’t really be saving them any money. Anyway, my slippers got wet. As I got dressed, I set them out to dry.
- We didn’t have a kitchenette this time, so we went to the next block to a Muslim place that had breakfast “at will” (which apparently means buffet). Just as we stepped inside, we saw an angry Indian guy leaving, dragging his embarrassed wife and child with excited exclamations of “We are leaving!” The owner was encouraging them to leave. He kept saying “my friend” and asking him to calm down and leave. We didn’t see what happened, but I’m going to say that the owner was right. The guy was being an ass in an otherwise-nice breakfast spot. Our breakfast was good and there were plenty of options.
- Next, we stopped at a grocery store for our picnic-on-the-train lunch. The UK had issued a ban on bringing in all meat, dairy, and a few other things, so we had to choose carefully so we could consume (or be forced to trash) it all before arrival.
- We took our time to pack and game/work. The hotel wifi was weak, but I used it to download a couple of days worth of pictures. I didn’t expect to have Wifi on the train, so I wanted to be set up to work offline.
- Next, I had the idea to use the hair dryer on my slippers. Nothing I tried would make the hair dryer work. I even told him that the AC problem was probably a power problem. So, when he got up, I asked him to try and it worked just fine for him. I hate that part of my life. I’m so glad I have him to look the right way at anything powered and make it work after I spent time repeatedly trying the exact same things.
- At the station, there was an increased security and police presence. I didn’t know if that should be more comforting or more worrisome.
- In the security line, a mother and daughter were so close behind us, that the daughter ran into me. Again, what is the deal with the lack of personal space? You are in line, you aren’t getting there any faster by standing so close to me. I just started dragging my spinner behind me two wheel style to create space. Even the little kids in front of us weren’t crowding the people ahead of them. Finally, when it came time for passports, they went to the EU line while we went to the non-EU line. Once again, I’m amazed at the amount of crap people bring. The little older couple in front of us had two backpacks, three more items, two spinners, and two large cases they couldn’t even handle, nevermind lift. I felt so bad for the security guys putting those up on the security rollers. I hope they have strong cores and aren’t at risk of a back injury. In the US, Flight Attendants have been trained to refuse. Airlines won’t honor the workers’ comp because they are told not to do it. Maybe as we have more robots and less humans doing physical labor, people will finally stop trying to bring cases the size of small furniture. I won’t hold my breath.
- Trains that go from UK to EU (and other longer routes without stops) should have cars divided by task. There could be a reading/working/quiet car, talk-on-the-phone and use speakers, laundry, mani-pedi, barber, massage, etc.. You’d pay more, but you’d book the thing you need to do during the time it takes to get under the water and back up.
- At first, our train was quiet. But once one person–speaking Spanish [link], of course–was loud, the rest seemed to see that as permission.
- He went to the café car for drinks and brought me back a scotch whiskey and Coke. That and earbuds paired with music with steady volume helped.
- We did have (slow) wifi so I was able to get a little work done while he chatted with our friends about when we would arrive and how to meet them for the trek to their home.
- We got off the train and took the Underground to the stop she told us. Then, she led us to another (commuter) train to her suburb. Then she got us a taxi to their home.
- While the three of us all chatted in the kitchen, she cooked us an amazing Indian dish of chicken, veggies, and rice. It reminded me of biryani, which is my very favorite. She called it her quick biryani.
- We chatted until she had to go to bed for work the next day. Once in our room, we were fine with our screens until we also got sleepy…which took only a few minutes with the rain pitter pattering against the skylight.
Day 115 – early chilling
- We had to wake up in time for their cleaning lady. And our friend overslept her alarm, so she was working from home for the morning.
- Her husband had come home late, but was up to cook the four of us a massive breakfast of sausage, English bacon, scrambled eggs, and toast. They had even picked up Coke for us. So sweet!
- It was raining, of course, so we all declared the day to be one of chilling. She would have to go in for the afternoon, but just for one meeting, so we all made plans to have supper. He was going to cook for us, again.
- He broke out some good frozen pizzas for lunch and then the guys went to the local store for some provisions.
- We spent the evening enjoying great homemade chicken curry (she made us some bundi rita–yogurt with graham balls–to garnish the food) and catching up with our friends.
Day 116 – Guildford
- We had a lazy morning on our own, made breakfast, and tidied up. After noon, our friend texted us to see if we were still going to Guildford. I think she noticed that we didn’t use the code to leave the property and got a bit worried. LOL
- On the way to the town, we had a very funny Uber driver, A “Road Scholar”. He told us all about Guildford.
- I can never resist a good kitchen store and there was one right by the spot where he dropped us off. We bought a set of three small gifts for our friends. We had to carry a receipt because you can’t carry blades in the UK without the receipt showing it was a purchase you are taking home. (For scissors).
- We like record shops so we popped in when we passed one. They were playing The Beatles, of course. they also had a CD of Shostakovich Jazz, but it isn’t Jazz at all. I found it. No track has a swing beat; there are even a couple of waltzes!
- He kept beelining us for the castle. It was really nice and very pretty grounds. They were also setting up for their fall and winter lights walk. They were planting hundreds, if not thousands, of plants. They also had the place decorated for Halloween a tiny bit. He paid the £5 to climb the stairs to the top.
- We found a really good late lunch at Pasta Experience. We had the appetizer meatballs. I had a shrimp, crab, and lobster ravioli. He had tagliatelle bolognese.
- We then ran a couple of errands.
- Our ride home was “hosted” by a driver with a Christian station on. Ew. That cost him a tip.
- It was our night to cook, so I gathered all the things I’d need for when it was time to start. I spent way too long looking for their salt and never did find their cumin. Ahhh, the joys of cooking in someone else’s kitchen. LOL. I also learned that our friend and I have something in common: we both “hoard” good containers and reuse them. She keeps rice in these really nice boxes that her favorite whiskey comes in. She also labels them in her native language, so I had to use a translation app to read a couple of them. The tacos were also not up to my standard, but that was mostly about not having access to the same ingredients.
- Dinner would be delayed, however. Our friends each left work a bit late due to a big week and met at the same train station for the ride home. That’s no big deal, of course. What really messed with them was that the trains were down. Apparently, this happens once in a while, but this time it was because of the big rain storm (Austen). They spent a couple of hundred pounds to take two cabs home (because no one would go the whole way).
- It worked in my favor that they were starving. They loved dinner (or were polite enough to feed my ego).
- We spent the evening killing a bottle and a half of whiskey (yikes!) and chatting.
Day 117 – WFH day
- We slept in. I cooked the pork chops we picked up. And our friend made scrambled eggs for the three of us while she napped on the couch between meetings. We also watched the window washer working in the rain. I guess a contract is a contract.
- After brunch, they both took some work meetings while I worked/YouTubed between views of the storm named Austen and he gamed. Their garden (that’s British English for yard) is quite beautiful. It was nice to watch the trees sway in the wind. We thought it was funny that the UK names small rain storms when we save that for massive hurricanes. However, this storm was a spinning spiral like a hurricane. It also did some pretty bad damage on the coastline: it collapsed the historic Brighton pier and had 110mph winds. We were just lucky to be on the outer edges of it.
- One of our friends had to leave for a work trip on the way to his home town to visit family. Since he can work from anywhere, he’d be gone a month or maybe two.
- So she cooked us dinner and we took her out for the evening. That’s a fair swap, right?
Day 118 – another storm
- After a night out, the three of us all slept in. I made breakfast for the two of us (she’s not a breakfast person). She and I then went to the store to get stuff for lunch and dinner and each cooked one of the meals.
- Just when we thought Austen had left us, another storm, Boelo rolled in. He was quite smaller and warmer than Austen was, but it was still windy and rainy. We all spent the afternoon just lazing about.
- After dinner, we all got dolled up again and went out again. With the trains still down, the uber rides to and from London both nights seemed long and were pricey, but the drinks were cheaper than what we are used to, so it worked out on balance. We had a great night.
Day 119 – time change and wind
- While we were sleeping, the time fell back an hour. The two of us didn’t wake up until 12noon, so we got eleven hours of sleep! Wow!
- All three of us heard a stranded dog, but we all had different thoughts on where it was. She was genuinely worried, texted the building group, and gathered some neighbors to go find/rescue it, but it must have worked loose from whatever was making it bark because they didn’t find anything.
- We did hear some banging doors and were not sure what that was about.
- After we made/ate our breakfast, we helped her book her flight to New Jersey for her cousin’s wedding in November. Making sure she flew to Newark instead of JFK. Normally, I’d never suggest anyone go to Newark; it’s an awful airport. But if she went to JFK, she’d ride right past Newark on her way to the wedding hotel.
- We spent the day chilling and relaxing on the dreary/windy day. She made us a light fried rice for lunch….and I started brainstorming how flexible it was for a wide variety of flavors.
- Later, she and I ran to the store to grab pizza and wine for dinner.
- It was a great stay near London and we are very lucky to have such good friends.
