The Coldest Day of the Year

This could be a long one!

I was up at 8am this morning. One of my best friends is having a birthday brunch, so I had to be in London by 11am. The weather was gloriously sunny today, but freezing! There was a thick frost. I wanted to wear my ballet flats that go with my skinny jeans, as it's nice to have flat shoes on for walking, but it was a big mistake to make in weather this cold, as I learned the hard way!

I met my friend at the station. We wanted to get the 10am train, and usually it's me that's running late. I was, and I made it in time, but my friend did not. We ended up chatting and taking the slower train a little later.

It was really nice to go up there in daylight. Every time I go is always evenings, so it was nice to actually see everything in daylight! At Waterloo, we saw a sea of red- about 100 guys in Santa suits with bikes, presumably to take part in a Santa Cycle! We snapped a few pictures, and then headed outside to catch a bus to lighten the journey.


It was a quick walk after we hopped the bus, and we arrived at Bill's restaurant. I've always wanted to try it, but never actually been. The breakfast's did not disappoint! I had a cooked breakfast, and it was amazing! I met some lovely people, and we had a lovely and chilled three hours. The place was lovely, the only flaw was the air con was on and we were all a little chilly!

When it was finished, the three of us walked back to Waterloo. Two of us begged to take the tube, as it was so cold, but we were frogmarched back! And this was when my feet turned practically hypothermic! Oh the pain! All I could think about was the cold! Despite this, the walk across the bridge was fantastic, and I snapped some lovely pictures in the later afternoon sun.

My friend and I grabbed a coffee and took the train back together. I decided to be super-organised and buy my ticket for the evening there and then. Two trips in the same day makes for a rather expensive weekend....

I was happy to get home, as it was almost 4pm. My mum and dad flew back from Spain this afternoon, so I knew the house would be full when I got there! Shelle and Nick were there too, and Ro had made gingerbread biscuits- heaven!

We had a nice hour chatting together. We are in stressful times right now with various things, so it was nice to talk as a family. I was supposed to go and take all my bits home, and I kind of didn't want to. My mum said I could stay an extra night, and I was quite glad. I don't really mind staying at their house, but when it's all over I'm left feeling unsettled. I thought my dad might not want me there, but he said I could stay, it was no problem, and that he had changed, and that he liked me being there. How things have changed. It's like the twilight zone....

I rushed to get ready to go out, and after a quick shoe-crisis (!) I was on the train! It was a pretty cold night, but I arrived at Waterloo on time, and met my date :-)

He has put a lot of effort into organising our 2nd date, which I thought said a lot. He asked me what I would like to do, and he suggested Winter Wonderland, which I've wanted to do for a while. But although the entry is free, everything else was not, and it was fully booked. He chose ice-skating, and we went to the Natural History Museum. It's really pretty there, as the put lights up all over the trees, as you can see. 

We had a drink and then went to pick up our skates. I was a bit worried I'd fall over, as I haven't skated for years! It was pretty busy, and we had the 9-10pm slot. But we did a really good job! There were quite a lot of wipe-outs though, mostly from couples, where the girl trips and then takes the guy down with her! Fortunately we didn't do that, and although it was cold, and our skates were a little uncomfy, we had a great hour out there with no falling over! Success ;-)

Afterwards, we were hungry, as I had only had breakfast (I was mindful it was a rather calorific one!). It was nearing 11pm, so we hopped on the tube to Covent Garden in search of food, but ultimately only one place was still serving: Shake Shack. Now I missed out on going to it when we were in NY two years ago, so I was happy to get my chance. I ordered a hot dog and a vanilla shake, but to be honest it was overpriced at £10 (!), and it wasn't that great. It was a bit of a waste, but we didn't starve! 

And once again, we stepped out back into the bone-chilling cold of mid-December. At this point, I was so cold I didn't care where we went. After some deliberating we got back on the tube so that we were near Southbank for the last train later, and also because there are a few places that aren't clubs that stay open later. We went to Las Iguanas, and decided on Mojito's :-)

I felt very relaxed and happy in his company. There was a DJ there playing Latin music, and there were some people dancing. Let's just say things got a little heated! W stayed there as long as we could and then left to catch the train. As soon as we were outside I was shivering with cold, and got this weird feeling like I wanted to wretch because of it, not from anything else! I've never been so glad to be on the 01:05! It was a bit sad when we parted, as he's off home to the Netherlands for the holidays, and I'm not seeing him until January 10th.

I napped on the train, and when I finally got home after 2am, I felt like a teenager again, sneaking into my parents house in the dark, trying not to wake anyone! Normally after a night out I go home, I can fling on the lights etc, and I usually have a bath to warm me up and to save time in the morning! Not tonight. Face and teeth done in the dark in the downstairs cloakroom, PJ's on, and straight to bed. I felt a bit grungy, but was so grateful to be in a nice warm bed!

What a night!

See, I told you this one would be long- it's taken me three days to write in bits!