London 2018

My annual trip to England is at an end. We’ve spent the past week in London mostly seeing family and friends and doing non-touristy things. I’ve been to England so much over the past few years that it’s almost like a second home…which has inevitably led to questions about whether we should relocate for a year. We’re still undecided.

Our return journey from Durham to London didn’t take nearly as long as the one up there, and we didn’t have to change to nearly as many trains. It all worked out well and we ended up in Clapham Junction, walked to our AirBnB and checked in early.

The apartment had three bedrooms, two bathrooms, all the necessary facilities and was close to Clapham Junction. It was perfect and would suit me, Glen and Donna for the week. Donna wasn’t due to move out of her flat until Saturday so Glen and I had a couple of nights to ourselves.

Because we checked in so early Glen and I had time to sign up and go for a workout at one of the two Fitness Firsts in the area and then go grocery shopping. Glen loves going grocery shopping in new places while I can think of much better things to do with my time (which is why we went to the gym).

In the evening we went over to Donna’s and caught up with her while she made brownies for her final day of work the next day. I was still recovering from a cough – still am in fact – so it was a relatively early night for us (it would have been earlier if the bus home hadn’t been delayed). This is despite originally considering going to G-A-Y to see Jinxx Monsoon.

Glen had conference things to do on Friday, Saturday and Sunday so I had time to myself. Friday I went off to the gym again and then did nothing. In the evening we went for dinner at Brasserie Zedel with Jeff and Nigel. It’s an underground restaurant designed to look like a fancy French bistro. It was a lovely setting and a good choice for dinner. We caught up on what had been happening over the past year and then were done by about 10:30 and headed home.

Saturday I went to the gym again and I either pulled something doing an exercise or did it while coughing. The muscles on the right of my stomach, just underneath the ribs, were so sore I thought I had done irreparable damage. The next day Glen ‘examined’ me and thought he felt a hernia but then couldn’t find it again. Hernia or not, I got no sympathy from either my husband or my sister. It’s a pain that’s lasted all week, even now as we’re waiting for our flight home to Perth. I went to the gym on Monday or Tuesday but then opted out of any further workouts and decided to let it heal. It’s probably been the right move but man, is it frustrating!

In the evening Donna, Glen and I went to Winterville on Clapham Common to meet some of Donna’s friends as a final big hurrah before she moves back to Australia – temporarily or permanently. Our cousin Vanessa and her husband Chris came by and we caught up with them, had a bit of a dance around exceptionally good looking twenty-something year olds and felt rather old. Vanessa hadn’t seen Donna since she was toddler so that was a bit trippy. Dreams of going out to Heaven afterwards didn’t eventuate into reality and I was glad to climb into bed at 11pm.

Glen went off to the conference on Sunday morning while in the afternoon we crashed a birthday lunch. Nigel and Jeff invited us to a lunch Chris had organised (but hadn’t told anyone it was for his birthday) at L’Escargot. There were about 20 people there for a sit-down dinner. It was one of those experiences I think of as a) quintessentially London, b) symbolic of gay life in London or c) something successful people do. It was a great lunch where we met a lot of different and interesting people.

A few of us kicked on for drinks at Rupert St followed by dinner at Busaba where two random guys joined us, one a music teacher, the other a former protestant missionary with quite a story. I had a great time and while it’s something that could happen anywhere, it did make me feel like we were missing out by not living in London.

Monday we rallied and head off to Leigh-on-Sea for lunch with Sheila and Ian and then coffee with Mary. The problem with doing such a short UK visit is that you usually only get to see people the once and it never feels long enough. The tyranny of distance.

We went back to London in the evening to watch part one of a two-part play called The Inheritance. We’d seen the ads around town, Glen was keen, and then people had raved about it. This is always worrying as high expectations are rarely lived up to. The play is about what it means to be a gay man in towards (New York-centric) society.

There were some bits that I rolled my eyes at and the emotional impact of the ending evaporated for me after about five seconds but overall it was a very good theatre experience. I liked the play’s construction and I was taken along enough that three hours didn’t feel like three hours (or like six). I’d like to see part two.

Tuesday Donna and I went to see the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition at the Natural History Museum, something of a tradition for us. What stood out for me was the number of camera-trap and drone-taken photos this year, showing how the nature of photography has changed. Left feeling depressed and slightly missing my work at the Zoo.

Afterwards we travelled across town to the Tate Modern to meet Glen and see a free exhibition called The Clock. It’s a 24-hour film that pieces together different bits of footage so when you’re watching at 3:24pm, it’s 3:24pm on the screen, as represented by various clocks. It’s strangely engaging as it jumps here and there. Seeing it around midnight would be fun. We stayed for about an hour, happy to be in the warmth and on comfy seats.

In the evening we saw Jo and Andy for dinner, stuffing ourselves with very good Thai food at Liverpool St Station. Bizarrely we bumped into Jo at Waterloo station on Thursday. I saw her and said, ‘That looks like Jo.’ So much in fact that I called out and she stopped. It was her. Random.

Wednesday we had lunch with Mum’s school friend, Joanna, and her husband, Roger, in Wimbledon. In the evening we went to Jackie’s for dinner with her and her daughters and their growing brood of children. Again, never long enough to see everyone. After that, Glen and I went to XXL to meet Paolo and Mark for a few drinks and a dance. It was a bit dead though and we left about 1am.

Thursday we slept in and then went east to Stratford for lunch with Mary and Martin, worried that we were going to get pick-pocketed at Westfield Stratford. The signs inside the centre did nothing to allay that fear, or the numbers of police patrolling. Donna went to catch up with her friends and Glen and I had a quiet night at home.

Friday we packed up and checked out. Donna went to the airport while Glen and I checked our baggage at Waterloo Station and went wandering around Southbank, up through Westminster and then to the Cabinet War Rooms. This was the second time we’d been but was still enjoyable – and I LOVE the Churchill Museum. It’s so well done.

More walking afterwards which led us to Soho and an argument that took a long time to dissipate. We had lunch, looked in some shops, and then walked back to Waterloo, caught the train to Paddington and then to Heathrow and then waited for our flight to Hong Kong.

We had a night layover in Hong Kong which was meant to give us the chance to do some more exploring but I’d had bugger all sleep on the 11-hour flight so by the time we arrived I just wanted to go to sleep. We checked into the Marriot airport hotel – which was really nice – and napped for a few hours, then had dinner in the hotel, and then went back to bed. Talk about adventurous.

Sunday morning we woke up at 8, had breakfast, then lounged around in the hotel room. So much for exploring. The idea of having a layover was good in theory but not so much in practice. We just want to go home. We’re now back in the lounge waiting for our flight…which has been delayed by an hour. I am SO ready for bed.

And that’s England for another year. I need to think about going back for next year – and hopefully that will be when the weather is better.