Bliss

Plenty of stories to be written down lest they are forgotten. Plenty of memories to be secured, and plenty of fun to be shared. Last night David and I had planned to go see a play at a theatre. The fiasco of my previous attempt to visit a play could have made me reluctant to do so, at least it should have made me more cautious in preparing the whole thing, but neither thing happened. The theatre was located somewhere in Shoreditch (15 min bike ride), or rather that was what I had in mind. It wasn’t. I had asked David to look up how to get there, and told him to meet me 45 minutes in advance downstairs in our apartment block. 55 minutes in advance I stumbled in from other day-time activities, rushed upstairs, changed clothes, and made my way down again, and off we went, to the tube station. It was then that I found out that the theatre was way farther than I had thought, and taking the tube would be a very close call, so to say. Particularly as the tube stations were closed for maintenance, as we found out. Angry with myself that I was about to miss my second theatre visit in two weeks’ time, annoyed that I had already paid for the tickets (unlike the previous time), I saw only one faint sliver of hope to make it in time; a cab. Faint as I didn’t know the exact whereabouts of the unit and sliver as a cab in central London isn’t all that faster than a bike. Be impulsive, take the gamble, tjop tjop and in a cab, move on dude we’re in a rush. Yes. We knew that the ring road would get use fairly close but apparently this guy had a short cut in mind, bumping over road bumps, stopping every other minute in front of a red traffic light, mesmerised by the tune the radio played, he couldn’t be further from our anxious state of mind to get there in time. Two minutes before the play was about to start he pulls up in front of the theatre. David pushes twenty pounds in his hands, we rush up the stairs, collect our tickets, and as we stumble into the foyer the doors open and without a blink or the need to pause we are among the first ones to enter the theatre and secure the best places.  

But that was not all that Saturday had to offer. During the day I ran 11 miles with Dana, after which she prepared a fantastic lunch, to which I made a significant contribution by cutting up the onions. And the avocado. The dessert, which was going to be a homemade apple pie, was something I had to let go of because of above-described theatre plans. The run itself was bliss and glamour in its own right, jogging along the canal, with meadows and forest on either side, and small boats passing us by, whose inhabitants keep the cold out by burning wood and coal. And a grin on my face from time to time, when I look straight ahead and see Dana jogging a few metres ahead of me, the bottle of water from which she drinks an aggregate mouthful during the entire run dangling in a sock attached to the Indiana-Jones lookalike belt she uses for that single purpose (see picture).

The late evening after all the theatre adventure was the perfect way to end a lovely Saturday, watching a movie with Vasiliki and her housemate at their place, relaxed and cosy and warm. I also got to meet Vasiliki’s mom for the second time (after a brief encounter in Tilburg some years ago) and I was pleasantly surprised that she had increased her level of English from non-existent to basic! You are never too old to learn indeed, and it was great to be able to exchange a few words with her.

Now it’s Sunday morning eh afternoon I must say and it’s another clear blue sky that would make me feel very guilty if I stayed in. Coffee with Marry (how I will call Marijn henceforth) in brick lane is an option, plus some shopping with David. Unscheduled Sundays are the best, as are their lazy mornings. Lets finish with a brief description of the previous week; Monday pancakes with Marry & Jochem, Tuesday dinner and chilling out with Vasiliki, Wednesday having had Alex over i.e. pubs food and beers in The City, Thursday movie night with Marry & David, and Friday after work beers with Marry and David, plus some whiskey later on to feature the so called cherry on the cake. Let’s see whether the upcoming week is going to be as joyful!