Busy in London

Alasdair dropped us off at Glasgow Airport bright and early this morning for our flight to London. As we walked into the terminal we noticed a group of skiers dragging their distinctive long ski bags towards the check in desk. It seems so long since our ski holiday that it’s strange to realise that it’s still the ski season! In the BA lounge we spotted Nicola Sturgeon, who looked very smart and much younger than she does on television. Soon we were in the air, flying over Troon on this beautiful morning and then over the Solway Firth into England.
When we were making our way across London towards our hotel in Farringdon, we saw lots of people with European flags and anti-Brexit posters, and we realised that today there was a big anti-Brexit march in London. And of course that’s why Nicola Sturgeon had been on our plane - she was going to be speaking at the rally. I’m glad to say that although London was bustling with protesters - we saw on the news later that there were one million people in the march - the atmosphere was good humoured and we didn’t see or hear any signs of trouble.
James and I had lunch at the gorgeous Wallace Collection. I have been looking forward to showing it to him since Jennifer took me there last year. It’s full of lovely gems of furniture and porcelain dinner sets and French and Dutch paintings, and the restaurant is bright and airy with a high glass ceiling over the courtyard.
We then went to the Harold Pinter Theatre to pick up the extra ticket that I had ordered for the evening’s performance of Harold Pinter’s Betrayal (because Cat’s friend Rosa was also coming with us). Disaster! I had accidentally ordered a ticket for the afternoon’s performance which was now finished! To cut a long and anguished story short, I waited to see whether I could get a “returned” ticket and one turned up very quickly and the very kind box office people offered me it at a discount - I think they could see how distressed I was at my genuine mistake. Somewhat calmed, we met up with Cat and Rosa at the Palomar Restaurant, our second visit there because we had liked it so much the first time a few years ago. The meal was delicious, middle eastern fare with unusual ingredients and we all had a nice chat and got to know Rosa, who is just as friendly and charming as I would expect a friend of Cat’s to be. Off we went to the nearby theatre for the play. An added attraction was the fact that it starred Tom Hiddleston, well known for his performances in the acclaimed series “The Night Manager” and also as Loki in the Marvel Universe films. Cat and I both loved it, and Rosa liked it too. James on the other hand could be heard yawning and sighing from time to time as the story slowly marched backwards in time over nine years in a series of flashbacks, covering the story of an extra-marital affair and its associated betrayals (hence the title). I found it fascinating but James did not feel the same way and that is fair enough, it was good that he came along and gave it a chance. After drinks at a nearby pub with Cat and Rosa we walked back to the hotel amidst the Saturday night revellers. What a splendid day.