Some people are confused because they have seen Helen’s Facebook status and wondered why we are in London today when we are meant to be going to the Bahama’s.  Don’t worry, the plane was delayed and nor has the Bahama’s been hit by another Hurricane.  We planned it this way. To get to the Bahama’s from Cape Town is a real schlep.  You can either fly to Jhb then to Atlanta then to Miami and then to Nassau (which takes about a week and you have to be harassed by American passport control) or you can fly to London and then to Nassau.  We opted for the latter option. Not only was it cheaper and more convenient but it also meant I could spend the day at work and Helen could do what she loves most in London – shop.

So we took the overnight flight to London. I do this a lot (as you probably know). But traveling with Helen is another experience. Firstly she does not watch any movies. Who squanders the chance to not to watch a movie on a plane? And then she sleeps until we are about to land and I had to actually wake her up. She said she didn’t sleep that well (her standards are obviously much higher than mine) and that some strange man tried to steel her blanket in the middle of the night (sounded very suspicious to me). Given she has recently been waking up in the middle of the night and ask me “Who’s winning” while I am watching the SA vs Oz test match, I am struggling to buy the man stealing her blanky story.

We landed early mainly because a passenger had taken ill.  Immediately they announced it I said to Helen that means no doing circles in the sky over London and I was spot on. Straight in to land and even though we had to wait for paramedics to board the plane first we were through and waiting for our luggage in about 20 minutes. And 40 minutes later we were still waiting. What seemed really strange was that no one else was waiting and there were no longer any bags on the carousel. Now people ask me why I only travel with hand luggage. This morning was a demonstration of why I do that. If I had to wait 40 minutes for baggage every trip I made I would consume around 32 hours every year (or 1.33 days) waiting for luggage.  Not a good use of time. And the first time I check luggage in months and the thing doesn’t arrive. Fortunately after visiting the complaints counter they found it and we were reunited with our bag.

Not a great start to the day. Of course as we arrived to take the Heathrow Express the train closed doors and pulled out of the station. 30 seconds earlier and we would have been on that one. Clearly a morning of having my patience tested. What can you do, just breathe in and out and life goes on.  I went to work but Helen was in such a rush to get to the shops she left before me. And from the looks of the packets and the extra packing I had to do this evening it seems she made the most of it. Pleasingly for me she did actually buy me some clothes too so I am not going to complain at all.

This evening we had a client dinner at the Corinthian Hotel. When we arrived there were lots of young teenage girls at the entrance. Clearly they had heard I was coming to dinner there and were seeking my autograph (happens to me regularly). I was disappointed to learn that actually the X-Factor participants were staying there. Fortunately we were asked to go behind the yellow tape. Must have been the fact I was wearing a suit that they let us in so quickly. We had a ‘Chef’s Table’.  This means that we get to see them cook right in front of us. Food was quite good, company was entertaining and overall a lovely evening. Helen is already asleep and I am going to join her very shortly. Tomorrow we fly to Nassau and we need to get up early for our pickup.

Next post tomorrow will be from the Bahamas!