13th to 30th January, 2023

On 13th January I left the warmth of Sri Lanka for the freezing cold of England and two weeks of business trip, the first of which was in London and entailed a trip across the river Thames on the IFS Cloud cable car at the start and end of each day.  I’ve never before had such a motivating commute!  

By great coincidence, my dear friend Aruna had also been in the UK on business for the preceding week so we were able to meet up when I headed back to Mum and Dad’s home in Warwickshire.  He’d spent the previous night at mutual friend Paul’s home in Litchfield, so I drove to Warwick as a half way place for the swap, before taking Aruna to Stratford-upon-Avon as he wished to do.  The orginal plan was to walk along the river before finding somewhere for lunch, but the bitter cold was a bit much for Aruna so we headed instead to a coffee shop for brunch and a good natter in the warmth.

Knowing what Mum planned for dinner, we stopped at the excellent Sheldon’s wine cellars in Shipston-on-Stour for an excellent couple of bottles, as well as their fine house port. A great time was then had hosting Aruna for a coulpe of days before I took him to Moreton-in-Marsh train station to start his journey home.

Taking the opportunity to visit our own home brought a short and cold motorcycle ride as well as a nice curry and catch up with friends Alison and Chris at Shukhur’s in Kineton.  It felt like I had never been away.

The day before flying home to Colombo had been planned long in advance; a trip to Cotswold BMW Motorrad to sign on the line for the new motorcycle that I had negotiated and ordered a few weeks prior – from Jaffna of all places!  Just a shame that I have to wait until July when living back in the UK to collect it.  Mum and Dad came too and we enjoyed a few hours in Cheltenham, taking lunch from a cafe that gave us a view of the Everyman Theatre where they had first met all those years ago.

My flight home was easy and on time, and all the “English Good Stuff” I brought with me much appreciated by Rennie and the kids!

Steve