I heard an interesting exchange in the Two Magpies Café this morning, between a waitress and a customer, neither of whom spoke English as their first language.
“I would like toast please.”
“Would you like white or brown?”
“Not white but not too brown.”
“I mean the colour of the bread not the colour of the toast.”
“Ah I understand, brown please!”
What impressed me was that they could sort out their misunderstanding so quickly. I’m not sure if I could ever manage that in another language, except possibly French.
Anyway James and I had a delightful brunch at the Two Magpies and then travelled to Tottenham Court Road where we did some successful shoe shopping for James. We then went back to the flat to relax because James’ bad cough has become even worse and is deep in his chest. It was sad to leave Ally and Cat’s flat in the afternoon, they have been such welcoming hosts and the flat is fantastic, with the ever changing colours of the Thames just outside the window. However it was just as well that we left quite early, because there were delays on the Elizabeth line. * It took us two and a half hours to get to Heathrow Airport and then we more or less walked straight on to the plane after queuing through security. It was good to get home and to see the cats, who gave us a big welcome by escorting us to their (already filled by Angela) food bowls.
“I would like toast please.”
“Would you like white or brown?”
“Not white but not too brown.”
“I mean the colour of the bread not the colour of the toast.”
“Ah I understand, brown please!”
What impressed me was that they could sort out their misunderstanding so quickly. I’m not sure if I could ever manage that in another language, except possibly French.
Anyway James and I had a delightful brunch at the Two Magpies and then travelled to Tottenham Court Road where we did some successful shoe shopping for James. We then went back to the flat to relax because James’ bad cough has become even worse and is deep in his chest. It was sad to leave Ally and Cat’s flat in the afternoon, they have been such welcoming hosts and the flat is fantastic, with the ever changing colours of the Thames just outside the window. However it was just as well that we left quite early, because there were delays on the Elizabeth line. * It took us two and a half hours to get to Heathrow Airport and then we more or less walked straight on to the plane after queuing through security. It was good to get home and to see the cats, who gave us a big welcome by escorting us to their (already filled by Angela) food bowls.
* the delays on the Elizabeth line got worse, there was apparently a train caught in the overhead wires so the whole line shut down and people were delayed for hours and had to walk along train tracks to get out. So all credit to James for suggesting that we leave early to avoid the crowds!
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