Saturday in London

This is an edited version of the blog I would have sent on Saturday.

Saturday 9 December 2006

Hi Federico!

How are you today? Relaxing and having fun on your public holiday, I guess. Here it is about eleven thirty and I’ve just checked the website to see whether you have posted a blog or not. You’ve probably posted one by now, but it sometimes takes a while before they appear on the website.

I have had a long day, as you will find out when you read this. It is quite late so I’m going to go to bed now. I will check the website early tomorrow morning and will reply as soon as I can. Meanwhile, perhaps you would like to hear a little about my day?

It was still dark when we got up this morning, and freezing cold. Lucy isn’t very good at getting up early, especially at the weekend. However, we had arranged to meet a couple of good friends for breakfast at one of my favourite French restaurants, near Waterloo. So we took the train from where we live into the centre of London. There are two trains every hour. By the time we arrived – it takes about 40 minute – it was a bright, sunny morning. Our friends were already there. It was great to see them. They live in New Jersey most of the time. They usually come to England at Christmas and sometimes in the spring. So we don’t see them very often.

We had coffee and croissants, fresh fruit and yoghurt with honey, soft-boiled eggs and small bowls of cereal. Of course, we talked and talked and talked, but finally it was time to leave so we exchanged early Christmas presents and set off for the shops.

I had planned to take lots of photos of different parts of London for you. However, Lucy’s digital camera broke before we had even taken one photo. The solution? Buy another, of course! I will try to send you some photos later.

I bought books, including a new edition of Twenty Love Poems by Pablo Neruda and a collection of Christmas writing from the New Yorker magazine, and Lucy bought a party dress. Why? She has at least three party dresses already. Federico, here’s a little piece of advice for you. If you don’t already have children, maybe you should think twice before you start a family. You will never be a rich man if you have children. I’m not really being serious, of course. Lucy is the most wonderful thing in my life. She’s great company, lots of fun and, well, OK she spends all my money, but I think that’s just what children do.

Next we went to see London to Brighton, a new British thriller. I thought it was a pretty good movie but Lucy didn’t enjoy it. It is quite tough and rather violent – not the best movie to see at Christmas time, perhaps – but I thought it was well-made.

After the movie it was beginning to get dark so we took a walk to see the Christmas lights in Regent Street (an important shopping street) and Bond Street (an incredibly expensive street to shop in, but beautiful).

We walked past Downing Street, where Tony Blair, the Prime Minister, lives, and we looked at his tree. Very nice. Then we walked to a small bar near the river and had a glass of wine (Lucy was 18 recently so she can now buy me a drink!) and some olives and cheese. We were very tired but it was good to sit and watch the river and the crowds of people coming and going.

It was about ten o’clock before we got the train home, thirteen hours after we’d had breakfast with our friends!

On the train home I was completely exhausted.

I’m looking forward to hearing all about your long weekend off work. Did you take part in any celebrations or did you leave the city and go cycling along the shore? How did your girlfriend enjoy the movie? And please don’t forget to tell us all about the Scissor Dance.

Enjoy the rest of your day. Take care.

With best wishes,
STEPHEN

SOME USEFUL WORDS AND EXPRESSIONS
good at getting up
If you are good at something it means you can do it well. If you use a verb after ‘good at’, it should be in the continuous (or ‘-ing’) form: example sentence: She is very good at playing tennis. However, you can use a noun directly after ‘good at’: example sentence: She is very good at tennis.
New Jersey
a state in the USA, near New York City.
piece of advice
If you give someone advice you tell them what you think they should do.
think twice
think about it very carefully before you make a decision

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