13 - 14 February: Setting Off, touching down

As I write, we are checked into our London studio; supplied; fed, (albeit with supermarket pizza and beer); showered – and imploding from exhaustion, after 28 hours awake.

Any chance we had to sleep during the flight, (which we always knew would be slight, on the red-eye, in economy), was dealt an endless series of blows, or rather, kicks, from the three toddlers behind us. All hyped up. One still in nappies, which her mother simply changed on the tray table – twice. It was an olfactory, not just a physical, assault. We were supposed to meet Gareth, Fabi and a few of the wedding early-arrivers tonight. We simply bailed.

We have to change rooms tomorrow, a booking mess-up. But, for tonight, there’s a bed, which is plenty. We are safely on the other side of the world. “Sufficient to the day is the evil thereof” (Matthew 6:34, one of my mum’s favourite verses).

We had an unexpected luxury: lounge time at YYC, thanks to Carey’s Delta Lifetime Gold status, courtesy of his career traveling for the Red Cross. And, we had a 3-hour stopover in Schipol, home to the coolest clock in Europe – a piece of video performance art we always stop to enjoy.

Today is Valentine’s Day. I bought (and brought) a card for the first time in years. Holiday is a time for whimsy. It’s blue and white, not the regular red/pink pallet: Hokusai’s Great Wave, (because, obviously, Carey sweeps me off my feet - and always will).

Jet lag definitely gets worse with age. Nevertheless, we successfully swapped apartments; collected our wedding present; popped by Gareth and Fabi’s to hand it over and snuck in a quick cuppa. Their kitchen is full of roses, hyacinths going to the venue this evening. Their 4-wheel wedding cake of cheese is chilling on the patio. Gareth’s professional chops as a producer are evident in multiple clipboards. We also collected our British Museum card and enjoyed a much-needed lunch in the Members’ Room.

Tonight was our last chance to see Bill Bailey, one of my favourite comedians. His London show closes tomorrow. The theatre was packed. We took our restricted view (and, therefore, affordable) seats in the gods.

Bill’s opening routine included the audience participation question: “who’s in favour of apathy?”. He described the resulting oxymoron as “Schroedinger’s sloth”. The show's music started with a sea shanty and ended with a mini rave, via a Flamenco ballad about regret in crustaceans, an Irish jig, Gospel piano, Coldplay’s “Yellow” in Turkish, a bagpipe solo, and a giant laser harp…

We also got a trademark Bailey spoof of the music of ‘80s German electro band Kraftwerk, from their (imaginary) unreleased album, “Für die kinder”: “Die Räder am Bus…“, including the awesome verse (in German): “The nihilist on the bus asks what’s the point?“

We spilled back into the London streets late evening. The South Bank Centre was lit red, the London Eye pink, for the holiday. Our trip is off to a great start.