We devoted Saturday to the Heineken Cup final at Twickenham. A full house - about 70% Leinster to 30% Ulster. A very intense and open match that Ulster never threatened to win, despite the early closeness of the score. They abandoned their South African tactics (kicking and forward power) and ran the ball at every opportunity. Fatal against Leinster. As a Munster fan I could only dwell on a fruitless future as long as this team stays together. Twickenham is easy to get to but bloody difficult to get from - only way is back to Waterloo by train and everyone is decanted up a rat run with consequent queues and delays - polite police and patient horses separating the crowds.
We managed to make our restaurant by 21.00. Da Mario, north of Covent Garden, was a real find. A small family run establishment with delicious Italian food at reasonable prices.
On Sunday Sumosan in Abermarle Street was a different matter: waiters with attitude and nose-bleed prices. I'm not a fan of Japanese food anyway and get insecure when the table shares dishes. The clientele generally was young and Arabic. They were out of Sancerre, we were told, because the Chelsea crowd had finished it the previous night. I assume they meant the Russians in the executive boxes. As we were leaving Salomon Kalua from Chelsea arrived with his entourage - his Ferrari was parked just outside the entrance. Much scraping and bowing from staff.
