Day 5 was a good one. we had to get up early (for vacation) so we’d bought some groceries the night before and made some eggs in the room for breakfast. This involved figuring out how to use “the hob” which was the electric cooktop. Jason got it sorted out and made an egg scramble. I’d wished I’d grabbed some butter from the breakfast buffet the day before for our bread and I am really missing having all the world’s best EVOO at our fingertips!!
We grabbed an Uber to take us to the Waterloo train station. We had to be on the 10 or 10:30 train and when we got into the Uber the first thing he said was, “Man, traffic is so bad right now.” Great.
We missed that 10:00 train but arrived at 10:10 or so and I was feeling good. We bought our tickets at the kiosk and then spent 11 minutes trying to find the bathroom. By then, it was time to board! It’s cool these days because you can buy an “anytime” ticket and not be locked into having to get on a certain train at a certain time. If you know me, this is my preferred way to travel. Whatever, whenever. Bam.
We had a lovely, easy, peaceful train ride to Haselmere where we were picked up by my lovely employee Emma and her husband Chris. After years of working together, we’d still never met in person! We were so excited to see each other in real life!! My team plays a game where we try to guess how tall someone is when we finally get to meet them. We’ve only ever seen each other’s faces on video calls! I did NOT expect Emma to be shorter than me! What a cute little thing she was!
We took off in her green Mini Cooper (I was feeling exceptionally British, I have to say) for a local village pub where we were going to meet Matt and his wife Vicky. Matt and I have been working together the past couple of months and we realized he and Emma lived about 10 minutes apart! Insane!
We get to this village and you guys…it is…it’s so damn tiny and so damn cute I can’t stand it. We walked up to the pub/restaurant place and I said, “If I wasn’t with you guys, I wouldn’t know this wasn’t someone’s house! How do you know to go in here???” So there was that place, a tiny shop, a post office and like…12 houses? When I close my eyes and think of a little English village in the countryside, it is EXACTLY what I picture. What a dream!
Matt and Vicky arrived a little bit later - hugs all around! Everyone was chatty, and lovely, and warm. The meal was delicious! I had a risotto and Jason finally had fish and chips.
We had plans to go to a vineyard for wine tasting after but we had a little sliver of time first so Matt and Vicky ran home to grab a taxi to the vineyard so they could fully enjoy the tasting without having to drive. Emma and Chris took us to a (oh my gosh why is everything so freaking cute) little brewery to try a hyper local brew. We all had a little half pint of stout and whoa - man, it was good. I was surprised to find a glass of free condoms in the bathroom! Hahah - I guess a day of drinking has led to quite a few babies;)
Now, while there, we started talking to the lady working there. Chris and Emma are throwing a huge festival in their village on June 8 and have made their rounds all over the neighboring communities to invite local people and business to the Festival of Food and Fizz! So, this little brewery is coming. In the convo, they talked about other happenings going on around the area and this is where we made the most hilarious discovery. There is a “famous” local celeb who is a drag performer with the most glorious name….Camela Toe.
Oh the laughter.
We’re still laughing.
It left with Chris and Emma texting their village vicar to see if it would be acceptable to bring Camela Toe to the Festival of Food and Fizz and this whole thing just has me in hysterics. Who texts the vicar? The vicar gets to weigh in on the drag performer coming! Camela Toe!
So, we then made a bee line to the vineyard. It started with a bit of a tour in the vines. It was really nice. They make all sparkling and their terroir is similar to Champagne, France so I was excited to see how everything tasted.
We went inside and got to taste 3 different sparklings; all of them were delicious! The group consensus was the middle one, which had a touch of sweetness, was the most enjoyable. So, Chris popped up and went and bought a bottle for the table. So, Matt popped up and went and bought a variety of cheeses and things to snack on and we sat and laughed and visited until the place was closed!
After a good round of hugs goodbye, Emma and Chris took us back to the train station - with a slight detour to the local grocery to get some ‘gin in a tin’. Because, surprise! You can drink on the train! Gin and tonics and a train ride home in the rain for the win.
By the time we got to Waterloo, found an Uber, and got back to the hotel it was around 9:30. I was all full up with the goodness of the day. What an absolute delight to meet such beautiful people and enjoy the day with them.
In the drive home, we had a wonderful driver who was extremely knowledgeable in the area and took us past all kinds of things we’d somehow not seen despite being in London a week now - you know, like Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abby, Big Ben, etc. It’s a different kind of trip to be in a different country with so much to see and do but to be spending most of the time being with friends. I love it.
Tomorrow would be our last full day in London and we had some loose plans. But first, sleep!!
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