Good Dog-Days

Back in London the late-December virus ran its course and abated just in time for the arrival of the Delightful LA Actress. Over here as a birthday treat for her daughter, who had brought a pal, their welcome presence certainly brightened the year’s end.

We met up at the Victoria and Albert Museum just after they had been around The Golden Age of Couture exhibition. Shamefully, I haven’t been to the V&A since my days at The Esteemed School of Art, and had forgotten just how beautiful the building was, let alone the exhibits.

After a leisurely lunch, the girls dragged us into Harrods to tear through the sale, oblivious of the murderous exchange rate. While the DLAA shook her head in weary acceptance, experienced at the negotiations that would soon take place, I couldn’t help grinning at watching a pair of Californian teenagers in their element.

Back at their hotel, I had to break the news to the birthday girl that there probably wasn’t going to be any way she could get into a pub or club for New Year’s Eve unless she had brought fake ID. To soften the blow I got her a Lemon Drop in the bar – which I don’t think her mom was really that thrilled about – and then took them out to YO! Sushi.

Apart from seeing a friendly face at last, the day out made me look at the city through a tourist’s eye, whether it was the sheer beauty of Sir Reginald Blomfield’s County Fire Office, illuminated as darkness fell or the novelty of food passing back and forth along the counter on a conveyor belt.

Suddenly the city wasn’t the concrete leviathan that simply pounds everyone into submission on a daily basis. And the darling DLAA decided that I should write more.