Lansdowne Club

At the RAC dinner, I ran into Fiona, a girl I'd known from previous events and gotten on well with. She suggested that at some point I come out to her club, the Lansdowne, for their Younger Members drinks night. Tonight was apparently the night, so I was looking forward to seeing Fiona and seeing what events were like at the Lansdowne.

I met Fiona in the lounge of the Lansdowne, and we went into the bar where Fiona got me a white wine, and then we grabbed a table to we could sit and chat. We were joined relatively quickly by Stephanie, a girl I recognized from various Inter-Club events. After a while, another Stephanie, the sister of a young man I know from the O&C. (Her brother, it must be said, is one of the most impressive young men I've ever met, he has a maturity beyond his years. Apparently he was identified in his youth as a reincarnated llama, which given his presence, I can't help but feel there is a bit of truth to).

We mostly engaged in a lot of girly chat, and I got to talking to Fiona about dating, and I can't help but think that she understands me exactly. She's 36 and still single somehow, which I don't quite understand because she's so absolutely lovely.

As usually happens, I got to telling everyone about the hash, and they all seemed excited to come. So both Stephanies gave me their cards so that I could send them information about the run. Interestingly, when I got home I realised that they had both given me social calling cards. There was no business information on either card, and one was simply a black card with the girl's name and her e-mail address on it. It was so funny, as I'd always heard about social calling cards, but I'd never known anybody who had them. And here's I'd been given two on one evening!

Fiona then took me on a tour of the club, and I will admit that the pool and the sports facilities were absolutely outstanding, although if I can make a claim for the O&C, I think our dining facilities are better. I'll be looking forward to taking Fiona to dinner at the O&C then!

I was absolutely amazed how at this Younger Member's night, people kept stopping by to say hello to each other, that it seemed to be a true club where everyone just stopped by to get to know each other. After a bit, we were joined by loads of other people, including this chap named Theo who mentions that he's going to play polo the next morning. I started asking him about it, and of course it comes up that I play. Then this girl Sophie, who I had seen before and thought was loud and brash in a most delightful way, sits down, and turns out she plays too, much more seriously than Theo. Sophie and I proceeded to bond over polo, eventually causing me to feel the need to apologize to Fiona, as Sophie and I are obviously doing the usual chatter in polo conversation that nobody else understands! Fiona claims she's fascinated by our unusual conversation, although I can't help but wonder if she's just being kind!

On the whole, I'm generally amazed at how all of the younger members at the Lansdowne just seem to know each other or be social and say hello. We were eventually joined at our table by quite a few guys that are not all that bad-looking, making me wonder if I'll ever see them at Inter-Club, or perhaps I need to join the Lansdowne!

After two bottles of champagne, I've missed the last Tube home, so I say my good-byes to Fiona, and Theo and Sophie see me into a cab to get home. Overall though, a lovely evening and I'm looking forward to seeing everyone again soon!