Meet up

 Though it was Zoe's day off, she had to go into the store early to provide a couple of hours of cover. As a result, we had the early drop-off for Ellie. As the weather was particularly wet (though not actually raining), I walked with her to school as she rode her bike.

Back home, I had some breakfast and then Diane took me along to Bognor railway station. I settled down with my Kindle to pass the next couple of hours as I headed for Victoria. AT Victoria, I asked Google Maps to guide me and set off walking to my destination.

I passed Buckingham Palace and took this photo to show Ellie. As I crossed the road into Green Park, it started to rain but it never really amounted to much. Turning onto Regents Street I headed for Piccadilly Circus and then looped up Shaftesbury Avenue for a while before turning again and heading for D'Arblay Street and "Vasco and Pierro's Pavillion Restaurant".

Paul, who owns the restaurant and used to go to St Columba's, had given us a table in the glass booth at the back of the restaurant. Mike and Brian were already there and the others drifted in over the next 30 minutes... Charlie, Richard, Max, and Peter. They had come from Cardiff, Northumberland, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, London, and Sussex.

Conversation wasn't an issue as we flipped into reminiscence mode and related and retold stories from our times together in the 1960s and 70s. I was also able to catch up on the health of my oldest friends. We had a lovely lunch. I chose a goat's cheese and tomato starter followed by a Scaloppini Milanese with salad, and finished with some lemon cake with apricots. As usual, the meal was fantastic, and Paul and his staff looked after us brilliantly.

As the clock ticked towards 16:00, we settled up and headed out. Some were destined for a local pub, but I decided to head back to the station. I was lucky, there was a train due to leave in 5 minutes and I found a comfortable seat and settled back down with my Kindle. The train arrived back in Bognor on the dot of 18:21, and Diane was waiting outside. It had been a brilliant day and the messages I have received since are asking for it to become a more regular occurrence (currently it's annual).