A Rainy Night in Cambridge

Once more I arranged to go out in Cambridge with Mary who this time had arranged to also meet up with a woman friend she knew.

All week the question was – what will the weather be? And so I tried to cover all eventualities with what I packed.

In the end, it turned out to be a wet and windy evening and so as I booked into the Days Inn, I had already narrowed down my choices to trousers / jeans, top and jacket with umbrella for the rain.

I wore a new pair of chinos in a light brown with my favourite top over a spanx cami (I know its the same top I wore last time out in Manchester!) and a woolen jacket from Roman Originals. On my feet I wore a pair of caramel brown heels (purchased from Next in the Arndale Centre whilst at Sparkle) and finished off with a brown shoulder bag.

I picked up Mary on the way into Cambridge and having parked the car, near the Punters walked to the Pickerel Inn where we were meeting her friend.

Walking into the pub from the light rain outside, we found the place quite busy and whilst Mary looked for her friend I struck up conversation with the barmaid who we had spoken to on our last visit as she was finishing her break.

Once again, no one gave us a second glance as we sat down accompanied by Mary’s friend chatting about a wide range of subjects. Not once was the way Mary and I were dressed mentioned or raised in conversation. Shortly afterwards we were joined by a bloke who was helping Mary’s friend with her web site – she is a singer and song writer and sells her own work on the internet. Again, the guy took us both in his stride and we had an interesting discussion about travel.

As time was marching on and we had missed last food orders at the Pickerel, we left looking for somewhere to eat. This time we decided on Italian and the three of us (the guy had left by now) sat down to a very tasty meal and a bottle of wine at the Italian Restaurant over the road. There were a couple of families and a large mixed group eating around us and not a raised eyebrow between them. It was a good feeling.

Despite the weather which was now quite blustery and raining, we decided to have a drink in the Eagle and made our way there along quiet deserted streets. The Eagle itself was very busy and as we took our seats we were struck by the looks of a pretty girl on the next table. Striking up a conversation with her, she turned out to be Portuguese and we asked her about the clothes she was wearing (sounds strange now but at the time it seemed pretty natural as they were very pretty and original)

Unfortunately, The Eagle still has pretty strict closing hours and at 11pm we made our way back to The Pickerel for last orders. On closing, we made our way back to my car and I gave Mary and her friend a lift home before heading back to my hotel.

I was up early next morning and dressed in a skirt business suit, I walked out to the services next door and sat in the cafe with a coffee and some toast and read the newspaper. I did feel a little vulnerable at one stage as a gang of workmen came in and ordered drinks just across from me and I certainly was eyeballed! but not sure exactly for what reason!

Back to the hotel I put Emma away once more and making sure all vestiges of my make up and perfume had been removed, reverted to Bob mode and drove the 6 miles to work.

Looking forward to meeting up with Karen and the rest of the gang on Saturday the 19th – have booked into The New Union Inn. If I can persuade my wife, I am hoping to get across for an extra night on the Friday which will give me a chance to do some shopping at the Arndale Centre on the Saturday.

The following Saturday we are going to Suzanne’s birthday party at Pink Punters (after our 1st league game) and then on the 9th October we will be at the BNO at PP with some of our Northern friends.

Just need to know when the Christmas meal is planned for Kate.