London, February 2013

Having missed out on getting to Delhi a few months back when we made our way to Dubai and Thailand..we decided to make a second go to visit my parents in India after a prolonged absence. This time we made sure that we would not have any problems so took out visas before departing from SDpain, and came to London to correct the PIO card that Marisol holds.

It was so cold in London, our bodies have forgotten the cold here in England. We had virtual frostbites on the first evening, perhaps in sympathy with Ranulph, who is having similar troubles in Antartica..so the next morning headed straight for Primark to buy the Fake UGGs that are for sale there and which were on a special price of 5 pounds! None in the men section so I succumbed in despaeration to buying the female version. we put them on immediately and have not taken them off since!

The shenanigans at the Indian HC were also worthy of note. The wait for 'getting a token' on Monday morning had us in a queue at 8am by which time at least sixty people were already ahead of us outside the IHC in Aldwych in London, in the freezing cold (hooray for our FUGGs) which in this day and age is inhuman. After an hour of waiting we were allowed into the building and the forms etc exchanged hands. The next day we had to go and collect the modified card, and there were about twenty people in a queue to collect the documents. The man behind the counter took his time. Marisol thought he had some prostate problems, as he would dissappear after dealing with two or three people for mysterious reasons with everyone patiently waiting and getting nervous! Finally we had the PIO card and that was a relief.

Now we can relax for a few days, meet friends, Anil and catch up on art and food in London, before progressing to Delhi!