THUR 30th SEPT : LONDON FINAL UPDATE

Woke up this morning looking at My Little Ponies again. That reminded me of a different story. Today is my last full day in England. Tomorrow I return to New York.

I t has been a long trip. It wasnice having the Lady come visit me in London for a week or so but I don't know if she shared the same feeling. Of course we spent a lot of time in a perfect location: Dan & Bella's flat. It worked a treat. The problem was that it also flooded teh Lady full of memories of the time she lived here before. Lived here with an ex.

I tried to counter this on the first night she was in town with a meal at Rosa's: Old tea rooms done up with a spot of paint and dimmed lighting. Modern British Cuisine. Yes, my pork was great but the fish pie wasn't quite what she expected. Huge pie, potato top, no salad or greens. The creamy haddock was great but can you eat a whole bucket full? I promised her that we'll enjoy a Gastropub meal the next night.

GhostsSo we went over to meet a gang of people including Davo and Mina, Al and Julie at the Holly bush in Hampstead. A great old pub with nooks and crannies. Problem was that the kitchen had run out of everything except pies and bangers & mash. The Lady had fish pie again: this time Salmon. To be honest, she was quite a trooper and put a brave face on it. We all headed back to Dan & Bella's gaff and drank and chatted until the early hours until the the TV in the closet switched itself on when Al was talking about ghosts and his dad looking down on him. The spirits? Possibly the rum.

We decided to go on a day trip to France with my folks the day after I would apply for my visa at the US embassy. Yeah, I wasn't thinking was I. They took my passport for a week and we were left to drive the south downs and then Rye which was nice I kept telling her.

We did go to a wedding together too. Now, I went to 2 weddings whilst I was in the UK: one was a quintessential do with 14th Century church, old manor house; the other was an Anglo-Irish drinking session. Guess which one I took the Lady to. How was I to know. By the end of it the Lady was worried that if I remained any longer in the UK I would become a wrinkled, ruby faced, beer fuelled pub singer.

The Lady went home last Monday morning and on Sunday night went to see the ex. What was I to do but pop down the Westbourne to thank Dan & Bella for their hosptiality and enjoy a couple of tipples. The problem with enjoying a couple of tipples with Dan & Bella is that they drink them at the same time. Normally Merlot & Stella.

When I met the Lady later I convinced her for about 25 minutes that I was sober. Until I couldn't quite press the buzzer on my older sister's house. After that she gave me the cold shoulder.

"You just came back to your sister's and then just sat there slumped against your chair. when I had to chat to your sister. You looked ridiculous," she finally told me when she first spoke to me againe three days later. Nothing to do with seeing the ex. then...

Luckily she missed the rest of the week which included the finer points of British nightlife: drinking at speed from 6 to 11 then stepping in to stop one of your friends (Al) try to have a fight with someone. Have a fight with his wife's (Julie's) boss. The thing is with these idiotic circumstances, people start criticising you for holding people back. What a bunch of arseholes people become when there's a possible fight. Then you remember that you are 33 and life's too short so you just shove off and leave your mate to his own devices.

I staggered back to my younger sister's flat to try to hold a conversation whilst she talked about some of the issues behind the new play she is directing ( Martin Crimp's Attempts On her Life http://www.attemptsonherlife.com (From 23rd Oct to 7th Nov)). Slumped against the chair I nodded to everything she talked to me about glad that the Lady had gone home already.

Oh New York. Take me away from all this. I am sure Fall will be a quiet and restfull time.

Oh, what happened at the fight? There must have been some spiritual intervention this time too. The all made up and went for a couple of rum and cokes. Spooky.

Posted by Guy Brighton on September 30, 2004 at 03:53 PM | Tags/Topics: | | (0) | | Add GB To Your News Feed

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