We had decided to spend this last day doing last minute souvenir shopping in the morning and left the rest of the day open for whatever. We went to the place we had arranged to meet with Alison and Rachel, and waited for a while. Karen was very unsurprised, as Alison is evidently always late. Still, it wasn't a bad wait as we had a place to sit down and there was a Starbuck in the area of Harrods we were waiting in, so I could get a snack. They did finally come, not too terribly late but still late all the same. We spent most of our time in the Harrods shop in the basement. Nicki got some fun stuff for the many people she "had" to buy souvenirs for. It's at this point that I realize that I haven't really been thinking about getting people souvenirs, but then just as quickly decided that poor grad students can't really afford such purchasing if they want to eat and being in a place for three months makes one less of a tourist and more of resident of a place.

Having purchased all the Harrods stuff we needed or could afford, we took the Tube to Regent's Street to go do more shopping there. Nicki and Karen loaded up on pashminas, and I got one for myself as well. Since Karen wanted to get some of her china pattern, we popped into Selfridges but were all annoyed when they didn't have it anymore. We also went down to Marks & Spencer to get mom the robe she wanted and to take one last look for ourselves. After all this shopping, we were all feeling more than bit peckish, so we went downstairs to their café and had a nice lunch. At this point, Nicki, Karen, and I were plain worn out. After all, we had been going, going, going for almost ten days at this point. So, we went back to the hotel, and Dom went off with Alison and Rachel. When we got back to the hotel, I helped Nicki pack. It sure was a good thing that I was there because Nicole Hager has no idea how to pack a suitcase. She's definitely of the shove-it-in-there school of packing. I, on the other hand, who always take way too damn much stuff with me, have learned how to pack very well. Happily, everything fit in her suitcase. Of course, my bag somehow got a lot bigger over the course of the trip.

Having packed both of ourselves, we went off to pop into the V&A shop one last time but were sad to discover that it was already closed for the evening. The weather had randomly turned absolutely beautiful, so we rather enjoyed the walk. Everyone was out and about because of the weather, and there was this lovely sort of happiness at seeing the sun that seemed to be in the air. We had a very nice dinner at this lovely little café. The weather was so lovely that I suggested we go to Trafalgar Square and sit for a bit. As we were walking back to the hotel, we decided to take my stuff over to Bloomsbury.

Although I had been insisting that I could carry it all back by myself, I was very happy to have Nicki help me with my somehow heavier bag. By the time we got over to the Centre, Nicki was pretty tuckered out and wasn't quite up to going over to Trafalgar Square. So, I walked her back to the Russell Square station and put her on a train back to Gloucester Road. Luckily, the public setting of our goodbyes prevented Nicki from crying too much. Even though I was dead tired myself by this point, I was sorry to see her and all her "Co" go.