Had a very successful weekend. On Saturday went to the 4-hour first part of my beginner’s climbing course at the Westway, did some shopping on the way back, made an apple crumble in 30minutes flat and then went to my friend Filipe’s leaving do. Met some friends in Brick Lane and took them along as well.

The party was all that London parties can be with people from all over the world and from all callings of life there. The highlight for me definitely was Eurico, a Portuguese guy who, after doing a PhD in astrophysics, decided he wanted to work on something more real. So for the last five years he’s been researching and publishing astrophysics papers in his free time as a hobby whilst working on the stock exchange. Best of all, these last five years he has always worked always only 9 to 5 on weekdays and only one weekend, for which he demanded time-in-lieu anyway. You have got to admire a set of priorities like that.

My triumph of the weekend though was definitely that, after getting up on Sunday and not being able to even squeeze my toothpaste out of the tube, button up my trousers or unscrew my contact lens case in the morning, I managed to make it to the second part of my climbing course in the afternoon. Climbing uses muscles that you don’t normally use and it was only Andy’s tiger balm that saved me. Had to try climbing using only my leg strength on Sunday though, but that’s how you are supposed to do it anyway. Then popped by Teresa’s birthday party in the evening and afterwards for the first time in many years had a bath (rather than a shower). Today much less problems squeezing my toothpaste so it worked.

So how was climbing, pain apart? Lots of fun and we had the most fantastic instructor, a middle-aged, very slight woman called Suzanne, who just floated up the climbing walls. Best person to show us that climbing is not about having muscles or strength, but knowing how to shift your body weight appropriately. She did have muscles on her knuckles though. Joao also managed to climb a grade 6a wall in a way that no one had done before on that wall, all the way up with his back towards the wall.

Still no idea of what I’m doing in the next weeks – will update when I can.