After what seemed like a quick nap on my flight, I was awakened by the flight attendants offering breakfast. I must have slept for an hour or two, but the shorter flight from New York didn’t allow for as much sleep than a flight from Atlanta. Fortunately, I finished “Fences,” we landed right on schedule, I made it through customs relatively quickly, and I walked the rather long journey through the airport to the tube station. I opted for the tube over Heathrow Express this time since it only requires one transfer and takes about the same amount of time.
Selfie
I arrived at Shehzad’s house at 9:00 and was greeted by Dina and Minahil. I immediately had my first nap of the day, tried waking Shehzad at 9:30 and then again at 10:00. He finally got up, made his way downstairs, and he and Razia cooked breakfast. We can call it full English/Pakistani fusion breakfast. As usual in this house, I was stuffed!
Pickles, Lentils, and Mincemeat
Hash browns and kebab roll
Shehzad’s egg creation with chorizo
We then chatted a bit watched part of a movie, and I felt the need for another nap. After the quick nap, Aayan wanted me to play cricket with him in the back garden. I learned a lot about a game that I previously knew nothing about. Being out in the sun and throwing a ball helped the jet lag feeling, and after that we relaxed a bit more inside and then went to visit The Duke, which Shehzad and I had previously passed by on a run. I had worked up an appetite for a refreshing cider. We hung out there for a good while, I learned a bit more about cricket, and then we went back home, where I had my third and final nap. I set the timer for 12 minutes, which was smart since I would have slept too long and ruined my changes of sleeping through the night. We finished our movie (“War Dogs’), which was quite an interesting, true story.
Learning the basics of cricket with Aayan
A beautiful (hot) day in London
Don’t smoke. You’ll cough up blood like this girl. Gross.
We had a dinner reservation for a nearby popular Indian fusion restaurant but decided to cancel it and find something simpler and lighter. I suggested tapas, and Shehzad knew of just the place, Bombetta, which serves Italian small plates. This was around 9:00pm, so I had worked up an appetite for a bit of dinner. We decided to go with vegeterian options, which was a great choice. It was all delicious, and my belly felt good (not stuffed). That was before we decided to get dessert. It was also wonderful. We drove home with the windows down, and I did a bit of research for the coming days. Most exciting is that I bought a ticket to see Audra McDonald sing “Lady Day,” which just opened in the West End. I’ll be sitting on stage with her on the last night of my trip. Should be a perfect grand finale!!
Mozzarella, orange, honey, fennel seeds
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