april 20 – chunnel to london, emma’s house in clapham south & old speckled hen

up early again
tram
to the train to brussels
adam’s getting sick...
long wait while they deal with work permits
to the eurostar through the chunnel
onto the london underground at waterloo
short walk to emma’s house in clapham south
collapse

emma’s an old friend of our manager, and welcomed us with open arms. she’s got 5 kids, four of whom were at home, a boarder from mexico, and an australian ex-runway model nanny. entered to friendly chaos, beautiful children, and generally a warm atmosphere, a marked change from the hotel vibe... after introductions (emily – nanny, anna – mexican boarder, jack, 12, mollye 9, cici 4, olivia 18 months) and a spot of tea (yes, they really do that here), adam went straight to bed where he remained ‘til the following morning (it was about 330p at this point). adam and i shared the eldest son harry’s room, he was away at boarding school. surrounding the two not-quite-adult-sized beds were larger-than-life photos of nude women in various sultry poses, including the requisite lesbians in the shower. excellent.
allen, carson and i went for a walk around the clapham south suburb, as we happened upon london during a brief period of great weather. looking for decent food (stereotypically a challenge in england), we found a great barbecue place called bodeans where they have a “beat the clock” menu (price = time on the clock). delicious...
manager’s brother rupert came over with some old speckled hen, classic english beer. jack, youngest son in house of emma at 12 years old, recommended the other flavor and promptly cracked one open for himself (he was supposed to be studying the good samaritan or something from the new testament, so he was keen to get a good buzz on). charles, emma’s husband, is the chef, and he arrived home and plunged straight into dinner prep. had a great dinner with the gang minus daughters who’d retired by that point, stayed up late talking.