Heading Home . London to SFO . September 12, 2013. (No photos!)

Hi All –

Very short…  from Putin’s favorite “little island that doesn’t matter much”…..

Spent most of yesterday on the phone with Alitalia trying to locate my bag… Then running around London to get basic necessities (like underwear and a change of clothes, and a cheap carry bag to put it all in)… While I would have like to shop in Soho and Marleyborne High — I wound up in very practical places for fear I’d lose a lot of time in the chi-chi places and not get those basic things.. I was on hold on the phone with the Alitalia baggage people for a straight 45 minutes and then got cut off; called again and was on hold for 96 minutes until I just gave up (actually my phone battery died). I can’t wait to see the phone bill (which I plan to turn over to Alitalia since they told me I needed to call to keep up with the status).

Started out as a sunny day but began to rain in the afternoon and then through the night, although it is fine now (at 9 am). Lara joined me for a very late lunch (3 pm) at Morito which is fairly close to the hotel — about a 20 minute walk — a very cute little tapas place that is a sister to Moro which is a really good Mediterranean restaurant that I’ve eaten in before. From there we walked and took bus to the Angel area where we thought I could get that silly little duffle bag to put these new odds and ends … Throughout the day I remained hopeful the bag would show up, but hopes began to diminish when it still wasn’t at the hotel at 8 pm and when I never heard anything from the company…

So off we went to dinner — to Nopi — small plates built on a Mediterranean/Asian twist.. very very highly recommended… Finished up at about 11:30 and hopped a cab back to the hotel. And lo and behold –when I arrived at the front desk at midnight — my baggage!

So, although I was beginning to feel pretty free flying over the ocean without any luggage.. and thinking about what I’d replace my stuff with — a new me (?) — I was actually quite relieved to be reunited with my stuff!

It’s morning now and I’m rushing around to gather up the stuff I bought to merge it with the pre-existing stuff in the suitcase… and then I’m off to Paddington to catch the Heathrow Express. More good news. On a phone call to United Airlines, one business class seat opened up at that moment and I was able to get upgraded… See you all soon in the real (?) world. I’ll be at the office tomorrow morning.

Fern