under another sun

A beautiful sunny day. On with the suit and black tie and up to London to the funeral of Chris Toumazis, Sophie's father. Hideous journey. I had given myself an extra hour to get there just in case, but thanks to two train cancellations and a hefty delay on the third train I still contrived to be late. Got really stressed by this. Eventually leaped out of a taxi outside the Cathedral of the Holy Cross and St Michael buildings five minutes late, and a random man asked me if I wanted the church and pointed to an open door. I burst through this only to discover I was by the side of the the altar and looking at the scene of a crowded church, clouds of incense, and the singing of priests presided over by Archbishop Gregorios of Thyateria and Great Britain, who knew Sophie's dad well.  Slunk self-consciously to the back feeling like an idiot. A Greek Orthodox service, with some beautiful singing from one of the priests, and presided over by the Archbishop. Almost all of it in Gre...

Busy in London Woke up in Tufnell Park in North London. I'd stayed overnight in the home of Sophie's pal Sarah Saunders who had kindly put me up. I slept heavily after Sophie's party. Waking up I was followed downstairs by a black cat, after it had introduced itself by snaking its front paw underneath the door of the bathroom. Sarah's house reminded me a lot of Isis Court, where I'd lived in Chiswick down by the river. Even the smell was the same. Sat drinking tea, feeling pleasantly nostalgic, while being attended to closely by the amorous black cat. Enjoyed a few minutes looking out at the nice street full of December light before Sarah got up. An excellent conversation over toast and tea with Sarah. She is an old friend of Sophie's and is very interesting. Quite passionate about green issues, and has been a photographer but is now a consultant in digital image-making. A new friend. Then off out into the lovely morning. I travelled up to Edgware and had lunch ...