Lunch with Jackie Onassis

The pandemic has been responsible for many things, most of which have been pretty appalling. There have also been, for me at least, a number of bad by-products, not least of which has been the rather stark sense of isolation I have had.

Okay, okay, I know - I have a wonderful family and two amazing cats - but I have always been somewhat of a social person and pretending otherwise just hasn't lessened the feeling of, well, not loneliness exactly, but rather exclusion.

Julia is a fine example. A wonderful friend who lives not far away - but someone I haven't seen since our Christmas party in 2019. That is insane. You get caught up in your life and your own routine and things drop off. Shocking - and very avoidable.

So I gratefully accepted her offer of lunch and we went to a new place for me, Caffe Mio on Wellington. Sat out on the terrace for a couple of hours, being fussed over by waitresses and hearing the ins and outs of life as only Julia could relate it.