It’s ridiculous that we had to leave the house at 3:15 to catch a train at 3:58 and only just make it. Particularly when I can walk it in 20 minutes. Still, we made it, though I had to buy a ticket from the guard on the train.
We were fortunate in one regard though. The rain held off while we waited for the bus. This was indeed fortunate given I’d already been caught in it twice today.
The first time was on the way to the shops. Mum was originally coming with me but the rain put her off. Good thing too. I was drenched by the time I reached Starbucks which, coincidentally, is when it stopped raining.
The second soaking came while walking the dogs. The sky was blue the wind a little sharp but nothing untoward. And then it all changed. The sky turned black and the water lashed a bit.
Then, as quickly as it had arrived, the rain left and the blue skies reappeared.
But, as I said, we were lucky as we made our way into town. And, for once, the train was happy to travel the entire route without a problem. Well, almost…
The strangest thing happened when we arrived at Waterloo. We couldn’t proceed to platform six because no-one seemed to know if the train would fit…or not.
It was an odd length, the train. Normally, if it’s a 444, the carriages come in groups of five whereas the more uncomfortable 450 has four in a section. Our train was, strangely, half and half. So it had nine carriages.
I can only assume that some underling was sent out with a tape measure because it did fit and we pulled in only a little bit late. We then caught the 341 bus to Sadler’s Wells and to a delicious dinner at our usual.
Mum surprised us by having crab cakes. Who knew she’d eat crab? Though her main course wasn’t much of a surprise. She insisted it was beer battered haddock with hand cut chips when we all know it was just fish and chips.
Mirinda eventually joined us, having only the main course and a much needed glass of wine, following her horrid academic council meeting.
And then, of course, mum and Mirinda took their seats for Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty while I sat outside with a box of Maltesers and my phone.
Apparently the ballet was very good and they both loved it.
On the way home, mum decided to pour her hot tea over herself. I don’t know why. She claimed she was an idiot.
So, a very late night (we arrived home at midnight) but a very enjoyable one…for mum at least.
The ballet was fantastic. The academic board was good – it was another meeting that was horrid!