strangers in the night...

Tuesday 2nd November 2010

Let me begin by publicly stating that Tara, and her flatmate Lexi, are two of the kindest and warmest people I have ever met. On Monday evening they cooked me dinner and we shared a bottle of wine and discussed all sorts of things. It was the most random and strange evening. I had only just met Lexi, and Tara only 2 days prior, and there we were, having dinner as if we'd been friends for life. We closed the evening with a film, Drop Dead Gorgeous, a dark comedy based in Minnesota, the State within which Minneapolis lies.

On Tuesday I went along to the coffee shop that Tara works in (Uncommon Grounds, 2809 Hennepin Ave), and then went for a long afternoon walk into downtown Minneapolis. I walked down to the Mississippi river (two esses two esses two pees), and popped into a theatre called the Guthrie Theatre, a magnificent building designed by the french architect Jean Nouvel offering magnificent views of the city and river from the yellow tinted windows of its ninth floor.

Mississippi river from the Guthrie Theatre 9th floor

I returned back to the flat at about 6pm and there was another couchsurfer staying the night, from Australia. Just like the night before, I found myself having dinner with relative strangers and discussing all sorts. We went out for a few beers and I got on very well with Amied, Australian born with Afghan heritage. We couldn't help but laugh at the irony of the Jew and the Afghan, both with liberal views, sat discussing life in a Minnesotan bar into the early hours! He has been travelling since August 2009, but will be back in Australia next year, so we will hopefully meet again there. Then, to completely cap the night off, Tara asked the dj if he would play Hatcham Social (expecting him to be clueless as to who we were), instead he replied by saying he didn't have any with him but he'd bring some with next week. To say I was stunned would be a massive understatement. On the way back we got pizza. The shop owner was Polish. The pizza was good. But not as good as what Wednesday night had in store...