11 Mar

As usual for a weekend, I had a rather late start (though not as bad as usual). I ate lunch, planned my schedule for this fall, read the New York Times online, puttered around a bit on the computer, and talked to my folks at home in the late afternoon. I texted Andy about dinner and he said to recommend a place to go. Since I’m such a cheapskate, I’ve hardly been out to eat here so I looked online for a while for a good place to go that wouldn’t bust our budgets. I picked an Italian place near the British Museum because their hotel is by there and I figured it should be easy for them to go home when they’re tired. I knew I’d have no real trouble finding my way home, no matter the hour.

While my folks and I were talking, I got a call from Andy. He was with Jessica and her mom near the London Aquarium and I told them I could meet them in an hour (18:45) at Trafalgar Square. It’s nice having such an obvious landmark to meet people at. I got ready and headed out in time to catch the 18:24 train. Bambi was at the reception desk so I chatted with him for a while. He was watching “Supernanny” and was appalled at the behavior of the kids on that show. Such brats!

I made it to Elephant and Castle around 18:30 but didn’t leave that station on the Tube until nearly 18:40 because the Tube just stood there forever! Fortunately, I was only a couple of minutes late. They looked really cold with their jackets zipped up and teacups in their hands (coffee cups with tea in them) so we headed to the nearest Tube stop and were on our way. It sounds like they’ve been having a good time so far; they visited the Tower of London and the Aquarium today and will see the London Dungeon and other things tomorrow.

Talk was quite pleasant over dinner. Mrs. Binkley is quite funny and apparently works with a lot of Indians at SAS and had some funny stories to tell about the people she’s worked with. We talked of arranged marriage for a while, and like many of the Americans I’ve spoken to about it, they seemed just bewildered with the idea and couldn’t imagine themselves playing any of the roles (matchmaker or matchee). ßMade up word, I know. The service was a bit slow but the food was decent and certainly decently priced. I also found out that at least Jess and her mom will be in Rome from Tuesday until Friday night. I told them about my family’s trip there in 2000 and her mom asked if I could recommend places to eat. I said that I hardly remember where we ate on that trip except that we had lots of gelato and it was wonderful!

We left the restaurant just after 10 p.m. Jess and her mom were pretty tired (still a bit jetlagged) so they started heading back to their hotel. I figured I could reverse our journey their and catch the Tube at the nearest station when no sooner was this thought in my mind that I saw a bus come down the road that said “68- Norwood Garage.” I blurted, “Oh my god! That’s my bus!” (I had no idea it would be stopping anywhere near there). I quickly bade them goodbye and just ran for it. Jess said “Run, Sapana, run!” and they cheered when I got on. Hilarious! The few passengers on the bus must have thought I was just another strange girl but I just sat their smiling for a few minutes. How could I have known that the restaurant would be just yards away from a bus stop on the 68’s route and that we could leave the place with such impeccable timing? I planned the route there just fine, but hadn’t really given the route home much thought. Ah, such wonderful luck.

It was freezing outside so it took me some time to thaw out when I got home. Sachi was online so I talked to her. She asked if I’d like the last half of the UNC vs. BC game Skyped and of course I said yes. Too bad I listened to us lose…but oh well. BC’s a good team. I talked to them for a bit after that before going to bed at 1. Such a pleasant day…Cheers!