Yesterday was a pretty wonderful day. It being my first full day with Julia, I was planning on spending most of it in bed. For various reasons (not the least of which being my overall excitement) we decided that we should venture out into the world instead. We agreed that it was ok to splurge and go out for breakfast on our first day together. I had a coffee and Julia ordered cranberry (spelled "cramburry" on the menu). Julia said the coffee made my breath smell like I was a "grownup." She kissed me.
My "Full English Breakfast" arrived on a fairly plain large white plate. It was quite full indeed. From right to left the items were as follows: baked beans, a sausage, two halves of heavily buttered (and lightly toasted) bread on top of a piece of undercooked bacon, a handful of mushrooms, two triangular hash browns, half of a tomato that was pan fried on its flat side, and a fried egg. It was delicious.
After breakfast we walked back down Gipsy Hill (Julia's street, and the title of my next song) to the train station. We headed to Oxford street to find a case for her cellphone, a three prong adapter, and a new pair of boots for me. The only thing we ended up buying was the power adapter.
We checked out the side streets and a shop called John (something-or-other) shoes. I can't remember the full name. A gentleman with a white pencil thin mustache greeted us. The shop was full of some amazing footwear. I had a wonderful conversation with the man. He was John, as it turns out. Our discussion began after I had said that the Americans have no culture with a wink to Julia. He disagreed. He seemed to ignore the playful nature of my comment. I have to be careful with that out here. He defended the Americans as if I weren't a part of the culture. The conversation played on tangents from there. He explained to me how to keep my boots for a long time by using cedar inserts and alternating days. He explained to me how Steve McQueen was the epitome of cool. He told me about the two weeks a year that he spends in Florida with his buddy. And then we discussed circadian rhythms and how Melatonin is illegal in England. After introducing myself and Julia we headed on our way. Julia was awestruck and seemed a bit nervous. She couldn't believe I had just held this conversation with a stranger. It made us smile.
We had a couple of cocktails at the Slug and Lettuce. For some reason my Bloody Mary was made with cucumbers and, what tasted like, a whole lime. It was pretty awful. Julia crinkled her nose, furrowed her brow and covered her mouth when she tried it. I switched to Sauvignon Blanc after that. With a nice little buzz, we headed to Hamley's toy shop.
This particular shop had been around for 250 years. It was huge. It felt like Willy Wonka's factory was on crack. The employees of the shop were all wild eyed with an infected and chaotic sense of capitalism. The two guys selling remote control helicopters were singing a silly song at each other. The guy with the three glowing balls on a string was doing laps around the third floor speaking like he was selling an age defying tonic from the back of a horse drawn cart hundreds of years ago. The girls dressed as pirates at the front door were giving away stickers and, I think, were selling foam rubber swords. Julia was surprised to find that I knew of Paddington Bear and his marmalade sandwiches. The whole scene must have seemed magical to all the children. Its easy to hide all the strings amid so much mayhem. But, I guess, Disney's done it for years, right?
We had some nachos and a bottle of wine at a pub in Kingly Court a few blocks away. Julia started to feel ill. It got to the point where we had to leave. We rushed home as fast as we could. I was glad to have the opportunity to take care of my girl. I feel as if it validates me. I ventured out on my own to pick up some Chinese takeaway for our dinner. She had given me her credit card to use for the food. At the closest Chinese takeaway place, the Indian delivery guy sitting in the corner complimented me on my mustache. I was glad to see Julia when she answered the door to her flat. She looked lovely and comfortable in her pajamas and was starting to feel a bit better. We watched an episode of Friends leaving over half of the food for later and went to bed. It was a good day.
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