On 2 July, Delia's sister, Minta, drove Baba to the idyllic Star and Garter Hotel in Richmond, overlooking the Thames, for tea with her mother May, her grandmother and her mother's companion in their apartment at the hotel.1 All three "ancient ones" doted on the Ancient One as though he were a favorite nephew. Baba was so busy in London that he had no free time to relax, but even in the midst of the intense activity, he did not forget these three kind, elderly ladies. As Age noted, "The Oceanic One is always in search of drops and enthralls and attracts them to enable them to seek to merge in the Ocean's waves."
After a stroll through Richmond Park, Baba, Kitty, Delia, the mandali and a few others boarded a red double-decker bus and sat on top of it for the ride back to Kitty's house. The next day, Baba went to Will and Mary's cottage in Halstead at two in the afternoon. Among those he met again was Winifred Forster. On the 4th, Baba had lunch at Krishna Veer's restaurant.
Baba and the mandali left London on Thursday, 5 July 1934 and were driven to Dover by Mrs. Ford, along with Dick Capel Smith's father. Baba wanted and needed rest, but the woman pestered him with questions throughout the two-hour ride.
Norina, Kitty, Minta, Delia and Quentin arrived in Dover by train, and Baba and the mandali boarded the ferry with them to cross the English Channel. Arriving in Ostend at four in the afternoon, they had a pleasant stroll around the town before boarding the Brussels Express for Zurich at 6:30 P.M. Baba had often traveled lower class, but this time he found the wooden benches of third class to be uncomfortable and it was evident that he was not able to rest properly throughout the night.
Footnotes
- 1.The Star and Garter Hotel was later re-named the Petersham Hotel.