London is where I was born and grew up. When I return, I expect to be greeted with constant rain, buses that are always late, and obesity

Nothing could be further from the truth. I have discarded my coat (temporarily). The buses are preferable to the lack of airconditioning on the underground. And there was a constant stream of joggers and cyclists on the Thames footpath.

Thursday lunchtime, and I was in the centre of royal Kensington. I am jabbering away in Hebrew with an Israeli diplomat, when suddenly our conversation is interrupted by a passerby.

It was an elderly man. At first, I thought he was speaking in Hebrew. But no, it was English. He repeated his question:

“Could we direct him to the Iranian embassy?” (which was down the road).

As my friend said afterwards, the surprise took away our laughter. You never know!