Match me if you can
The lovely Rachel is generally adored by her friends for being "beautiful, fun and easy to talk to". When she's not spending time with them she enjoys watching girly films, playing music, yoga, swimming and reading - one of her favourite books is Pride And Prejudice, and her ideal date would involve Mr Darcy, a lake, and that wet shirt!
Alex is a particularly active kind of person, enjoying a wide range of sports; from archery and rowing to skiing, scuba diving and snowboarding, it's quite astonishing that he ever gets any rest at all! Knowing this, it's unsurprising that his pet hate is faffing about. More of a cat person than a dog one, his favourite band is The Killers and he's interestingly 1/32nd Cornish!
Irony is a cruel, cruel torture. Everything was going so well this week! The couple were set up, the reservation at the Opium Den was made, there was nothing that could go wrong. However, by the time Sunday night rolled around, one thing was missing: myself. After making jokes about last week's couple ending up in A&E after they went ice skating, I had the misfortune to find myself strapped to a bed in there after an incident involving an open window and a few bottles of wine. While I was perusing the delights of the John Radcliffe, my friend Joe kindly stepped into my role of Cupid for the evening and oversaw Alex and Rachel's date at the Opium Den. Although my position meant that I was unable to witness any initial fireworks, tension, or the kind of chemistry not studied in labs, Joe tells me that there was some promising eye contact and immediate laughs. All that's left is to see what the couple thought of each other..
Rachel on the date: Alex instantly looked like someone I could get on with. He was attractive but friendly at the same time, immediately making me feel relaxed and making me laugh twice. The Opium Den was very nice, with good food and friendly people. As the date went on it got better as we got to know each other more, but it wasn't bad to start off with. We laughed a lot and had some things in common, like an interest in travelling and we both seemed to like getting out and doing things. We got on quite well throughout. After the meal we went to Thirst for a drink, and then Alex walked me back to Somerville. The date was lots of fun, and we had a really good time, so I'd say that "successful" would probably sum it up!
Alex on the date: I thought Rachel was really attractive and quite cute, a little reserved but still good fun! We soon found loads to talk about, and the date got better as we relaxed and found more common interests, which were travel, music and, unfortunately, rowing! The food was good, as was teaching Rachel about chopsticks. It was funny watching the photographer being a peeping Tom taking photos from outside through the window of the restaurant. The best part of the date was after the meal, when we went to Thirst as it was more relaxed. After that I walked her back, but I didn't get her number - but that was probably more down to my or our own cowardice than anything else! Overall I thought she was a lovely girl, quite timid at first but with a great idea of fun. Meeting someone nice was great, and I'm glad I went.
27th Jan 2005