Yesterday we basically stayed home. I have accumulated a lot of brochures and flyers on places I had visited, and I had to go through all of it to see what I wanted to keep. Fortunately I was able to recycle most of it. We went to nearby Zaika for lunch. I continued going through our "stuff" and packing what I could. I did a load of laundry but when I went to use the dryer it wouldn't turn on. After reading the instruction booklet and trouble-shooting to no avail, Gord sent off an email to our landlords while I hung the clothes to air dry. Thank goodness this wasn't the night before we were leaving. The problem isn't our clothes so much as our sheets and towels. We have paid for the flat to be cleaned the day we leave and this includes washing the aforesaid items. While we were eating the simple dinner I prepared, the landlords called. They wanted us to call the repair place listed in our instructions. It was now almost eight so it would have to wait until the next day (Friday).

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Today I spent the morning finishing up The Radiant Way while Gord continued to mark papers. Gord and I went downstairs to have one last brunch at the patisserie (eggs this time, no pastries). Then a student stopped by to finish up a project. I packed some more and then we headed over to St. Mary Abbots Church for one final Lunchtime Concert. We heard a pianist tackle Claude Debussy's Images, Deuxieme Serie, followed by Chopin's Ballade in F minor. op 52. She played the Debussy very softly and I found I was quite distracted by the children playing in the nearby schoolyard and the occasional blaring of police sirens. It was better when the violinist and another pianist played Tchaikovsky's Scherzo and Melody, and Fritz Kreisler's Rondo, based on Mozart's Haffner serenade.

I then walked over to return my books to the library. Sadly, I relinquished my card and am a member no more. I stopped at the Boots drug store and at Marks & Spencer where I bought some socks. I suppose I could have waited until I got home to make the purchase.

We then met the students and institute administrators at the London Eye. It was a beautiful clear night (albeit windy and cold), and the views were spectacular. From there we walked to Balans, a restaurant in Soho for a very nice farewell dinner given by the institute. Some of the adults later walked over to a place on Charlotte Street for some more wine. Actually I think our goal was to visit some more, but the place was quite noisy, making it difficult to carry on much of a conversation. We were home fairly early.

Reading: Vanity Fair by William Thackeray