Day 3 - Paddington

I’m staying at the Dolphin for two weeks – a three star affair in Norfolk Square, Paddington. My room is cosy and serviceable. Small enough that when getting up from the bed I hit my head on the bathroom door handle.

First evening in London and I have a pint at the Sussex Arms – a fairly common pub (or bar) for London, which means it’s bloody better than most Sydney pubs. Three TV screens, no pokies. Sunderland are playing Man City. Someone just misses a goal and a man next to me assures everyone that even he could have got that – and I think everyone agrees.

I finish my pint of Bombardier and go for a walk. I end up at another pub. Are these pubs, or bars? The décor is much nicer than anything found in Sydney. Is this the case in all of London? I have a couple of pints of a Czech beer and read my guidebook – London Encounters – kindly given to me by my sis and brother-in-law.

A tall blonde bloke with darting brown eyes joins my table. He is waiting for his wife to finish at St Mary’s Hospital and is downs a couple of pints of shandy (so he can drink more) before meeting her. He has a British eccentricity about him, finishing all his statements with a twitch of the head, as if to say, “know what I mean?”

He nips out for a smoke of Old Holborn. His wife stopped smoking when she became pregnant, but he still likes a good extra mild shag. They’ve been married less than a year but had been together a long time before then.

Three pints and I’m a bit pissed. Worse, I’ve bought a black pack of Sovereign 10mg and they smoke real good. My latest effort to quit has lasted 48 hours.