The initial reason for coming to England, was to attend the wedding of Marko and Emma in Ringmer village church. Marko is one of my oldest friends and yesterday was an incredible experience, to see the kid I met at Laughton primary school, now married and starting off on honeymoon, wow. The night before, four of us from Laughton gathered at The Walkabout and caught up on old times. James is a long distance lorry driver, dating Sarah for nearly a year. Russel is a brick layer/car dealer and engaged to Hannah, and Marko was about to get married.
   At the wedding I recognised our old neighbour-but-one, and at the reception a bloke came up to me and asked if I went to Ringmer College, which I did. It turns out that he and a bunch of others sitting outside were two years below me at college, and knew that I had left the country a long time ago. Mostly by virture of knowing my younger brother Peter. It's kinda cool to come all the way across the world and bump into people that know you.
   There were a few people at the reception that were incredibly familiar, but there was no chance I could have known them. Perhaps it was a trick of the mind to make me feel comfortable, perhaps there are only a certain number of faces/mannerisms and I have seen so many people that I was bound to find some duplicates. Everyone was really great, lots of people buying me drinks, and I was glad for it at the price the English bars get away with.


   The book I ordered from Amazon have arrived. I got the Cicerone Guide "Tour Of Mont Blanc" and it is very thorough, so I can now safely venture into the alps, with at least some sort of idea about what I am up against.. HostelBooking.com has helped me organise my first night, I'll be staying in Chamonix on Tuesday and then starting the hike from Les Houches in France.


   Before I go I should say hello to Gemma, a lovely girl I have know since before I can remember. We spent the afternoon in a park in Tunbridge Wells. Sitting in the sun, talking about old times. It was such a nice and relaxing afternoon, despite the best efforts of Harvey, her friend's rather energetic dog that came along.