Sunday, July 18, 2010, London

Talk about feeling that sense of deja-vu all over again! With a slight twist…in that I arrived into Heathrow’s ‘new’ Terminal Five for the first time. The cabbie sent to pick me up by thoughtful friends was nowhere in sight nor was there a placard with my name on it. Turns out he was running late and left the card in his car. Thankfully, we connected without too much stress.

Nice ride through Central London took me through well-loved old landmarks (UCL Hospital in Euston where I’d had physiotherapy for PF…). Lovely reunion with my former next-door neighbors Tim and Barbara–felt funny to walk right past my flat to ring their door bell instead. So many happy memories…

One year after my departure from London, Holborn was still slumbering (it being a weekend evening!) Huge serving of very spicy and very delicious pasta for dinner at Pizza Express before I went to bed…absolutely delighted to be back in London where I become a different person (nicer, somehow, I think–must have to do with the English penchant for politeness).

Went to bed about 10. 30 pm local time after making sure I charged my cell phone and set Barbara’s alarm clock for my dawn departure by coach to Norfolk. Browsing for reading material in bedside bookcase, I found UK and Ireland Road Atlas (I LOVE maps) so had a sense of where I’ll be spending the next few days. Borrowed atlas so I could chart my coach route through the countryside.

Surprisingly, though it was the wee hours of the morning in Bombay, I was still full of beans and did not fall asleep right away!

So good to be back in England again–somehow it feels as if I never left at all!