March 13: MOM, DAD, & ERIN ARE HERE!!!



Rin and me at the Trafalgar
St Patrick's Day Festival




They're here! I got up early and met them at the airport when their flight came in around 9. They're seriously jet-lagged, but they're here! We went back to the hotel, intending on dropping off our stuff, getting lunch at Harrods, then catching the St Patrick's Day parade near where it ends in Trafalgar Square. It didn't quite work out that way. I underestimated jet lag. Poor Rin fell asleep on my shoulder on the tube home in spite of me shaking her awake every few seconds. We had to wait for our room to be finished, which took forever, and everyone was moving pretty slow and it was raining. I hustled them to Harrods but on the way we could see Dad was lagging behind. Turns out he had blisters on the bottoms of his feet. Poor guy. We shouldered through the Harrods Sunday crush and got sweet rolls and sandwiches for lunch, then claimed a bench in Hyde Park to eat them on. Dad's feet were bad by this point, so he decided to walk home through the park to the hotel and we went on to Trafalgar without him. The blister crisis had delayed us so by the time we got there, the parade was over, which was disappointing, but the festivities in the square had just started. There were several Irish speakers and such, minor celebrities, and Irish dancers. We stayed there about an hour or so, but I could see that Mom and Erin were drooping, so I took them back to their hotel and headed back to my flat to get some work done on my paper.

Trafalgar Square on St Paddy's Day

Dad's feet felt better after he bandaged them and switched shoes, so he met me at my flat at dinner and we headed to the Gloucester Arms pub for dinner. He had some sort of roast and I had a wonderful chicken salad. I think he's starting to enjoy the city, or at least the beer. We stayed there for awhile then went home to Mom and Rin. Erin really enjoyed the candy I brought her from Brighton. Everybody's exhausted, so I'm going to work on my paper some more, then get to bed early.

At the Gloucester Arms