The title of today's blog was kindly provided by one of the friends I have met with to say goodbye to this weekend. I am currently a few days into a very long and intense period of goodbye saying. This has resulted in me going for at least one brunch, lunch or dinner for the past six days and I have about two weeks more to go (I will be the size of a house and have a very damaged liver if I continue as I have been!).
The first of these, was on Thursday, when I met with my friend Alan on the Southbank. I arrived quite early and found myself sauntering across the Hungerford Bridge in drizzle with a huge grin on my face as I soaked up the beautiful sights you can see from that bridge. People were staring at me as though I was some kind of mad woman as the drizzle turned heavier and heavier and I was still smiling, until it was pelting rain. By this time I was floating around the exhibits by the Royal Festival Hall and quite oblivious. And so began an afternoon/evening of leisurely drinking and chatting. The weather even cheered up enough for us to walk back to London Bridge and eat an ice cream as we did so. I returned to the Southbank for brunch on Friday with Cassie and another stroll by the Thames. I feel a bit like a tourist!
On Saturday morning, my very old school friend Sophie came to visit. I met her at St Pancras so she did not have to face the riotous looters of London alone...we had a very nice time window shopping. Until we got to the Birkenstock shop which was advertising a sale. I really did not need another pair of Birkenstocks, but, as the man selling the shoes said - they really did look very nice. We had a good day of catching up before we went out in the evening. Clearly Sophie had been pouring herself extra drinks as she started hallucinating - screaming in fear as she was charged by a horse/elephant/dragon on the way to the pub...Oh no! It was just a cat. A kitten actually. Still it was very funny at the time. We met up with the running crowd, who were in their disguise as the drinking crowd and had a very jolly time in the Jolly Woodman. We were up early for bacon sandwiches before Sophie had to drive the train back to Bedford to collect Lottie and then I headed out to see Mark and Claire. I hadn't seen them for a few months and it was lovely to see things were progressing well with the family Atkinson. And, it was over a few leisurely pints (or half pints and lime sodas in some cases) that Mark's creative juices flowed and he suggested the title for today's blog. I threatened to use it, and I always like to carry out my threats! I have another two weekends before I actually head off and they all feature more goodbyes, so I'm afraid there might be another two posts like this before I go. It's all quite exhausting really.
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