Brea's February visit to London

It's ironic that my last post was about finally being over a long drawn out 3 week cold, because here I am sick again. :( I've had this all week, but I've ignored it, continuing with client work and socialising. This weekend I'm trying to catch up on rest, but I think Monday may need to be a sick day. But let me backtrack...

Brea arrived on Thursday, 21 February at the same time as the Ocado/Waitrose delivery. I saw the van outside, so opened the door to wait for the delivery man, and in walked Brea, sans groceries of course, but also sans her luggage. Air Canada dutifully left her luggage to catch the plane behind her at her connection point in Canada (this happened last time to her on the way back from London). This didn't cause an immediate problem as I was due to work from home on Thursday and Brea was happy to nap during the day. But nearing 5pm, the bag still hadn't arrived and we had to get ready for our theatre plans. Luckily Brea and I are basically the same size, shape and colour, so clothes and makeup weren't a problem.

We saw The Hour We Knew Nothing of Each Other, but we weren't actually that impressed. It was an interesting concept: a play with no words, 27 actors who play over a few hundred characters, and the setting is just outside a tube station in London. We went for post-theatre drinks at Oxo Tower on the Thames, and enjoyed dessert and several glasses of rose champagne. Home by 1am on the night bus (rail replacement service due to engineering works) from Waterloo, we felt that day 1 was a success! Oh, and her bag was at the flat when we got home. Not only did it contain all her belongings, but requested items from the States for me!

On Friday I took the day off and we slept in till midday, spending the afternoon at the flat except to go out for errands, a few groceries, and to get a movie. Friday night was a girls night in with popcorn, meringue making, watching Spellbound, and making homemade pitta pizzas.

We went to the London Aquarium on Saturday with a large group of friends, but we had a slow start getting in. First, we waited nearly 40 minutes for everyone to arrive, and then just as our entire group entered the turnstiles, someone pulled a fire alarm and we all had to evacuate! So, another 30 minutes of waiting outside and re-entering and we were finally looking at the little fishes. It wasn't the best aquarium I've been to, but my standard is the Monterey Bay Aquarium, so I'm spoiled. It was a fun afternoon, but more so by lunch at the Ha Ha pub afterwards.

We did have to rush back home to get ready for the California Reds wine tasting at my house that night. The food was all purchased and as pre-prepared as possible, but with 10 people coming over at 7pm, getting home at 5:30 felt a bit stressful....it all worked out in the end though, but I couldn't have done it without Brea's help. It was a fabulous night of excellent wines and good company and the night went well into the morning, with the last guest leaving at 4am!

Sunday was another well-deserved day at home, sleeping in till noon and during the afternoon, booking our flights to Greece in June! We went to church in the evening and dinner at Busaba Eathai in Soho, and that was it - the weekend and Brea's last minute trip all wrapped up! And another work week started...