The Perfect Ending

I always think that the perfect way to end a perfect day is with a perfect night. Makes perfect sense, right?

It was a hard week around these parts with my father jet-setting out to Vancouver, Mum upset from Burlington, and all of us reeling from the thought that sometimes Our Time comes far sooner than we thought it would. To end the Weeks that Ended All Weeks, I settled in before nine on Friday night (I slept at 9 pm) because I was feeling under the weather, and spent the day doing great things on Saturday. Since I'd dreamed about teaching a particular subject to my students on Saturday morning, that is the subject we covered (two actually: solving inequalities and finding averages from grouped frequency graphs...sweet). My kids canceled tutoring after Saturday School, so I was free to go get a new phone on Saturday (with Sheila's help, of course). I'm all set up now with a real person's phone: touch screen...um, and other things (you know I'm not exactly technologically savvy).

Dinner was at Erik's house after I picked him up at a bar. Oops...I mean I met him after work and we walked back to his place together. But Sunday...Sunday was The Day to End All Days. We went to St. James' Park for a picnic and some people watching, then I read and toured the city for a bit while Erik went to rehearsal. From where I sat, this is what I saw...

I left the park, totally enamored by the fact that I live here. I toured around some shoppes and sights,

bought some boots,

image courtesy of Clark's

and did some research at book shoppes along the way.

It was a gorgeous day, topped only by the most romantic evening I've had in a really long time ever.

Before meeting up again, I found myself in Chinatown, as I often do.

Isn't it a bit odd that I feel more at home here...

...than I do here?

No matter. Here are some images from My People and their Town...

I just had to try Seoul Bakery (sorry the website isn't an official one, but at least you get a map here) at long last, since I'd heard so much about it. When I found myself with no cash in a place that didn't take cards, leave it to the Koreans to just let me go after I ate and trust me to return with what I owe.

Gone are the days at El-Cheapo with Matt-uh We-ba where I could eat a whole bowl of hastily prepared mandoo soup for $2. Still, the food was quick and it was good.



Of course, true to form, there were socks, mushy Choc-o cakes, and stickers for sale. Nice-uh. I wonder if the Korean experience will ever come out of me? I do love to go back for the flava.



So...onto the evening. We finally went to Gordon's Wine Bar along the street that links Charing Cross to Embankment Station. It is LITERALLY a hole in the wall...a cellar along a crowded street ("therearenotanymicehere therearenotanymicehere therearenotanymicehere" was the ongoing chant in my head) with a delightful outdoor patio. Perfect for chats about Bruges and Portugal, I think. We got a bottle of wine, a platter of cheese and there you have it: perfect.

I hope your weekend was a delight.