Well, Christmas has come and gone, and another visit from the PetParents has ended. We had a lovely quiet Christmas, just Noise and Buggy and me. For dinner we went to our friends' house where we were fed a delicious meal of turkey, gammon, stuffing, vegetables, roasted potatoes, and gravy. Yummy! Noise spoiled me as usual on Christmas, although I like to think that he got a few nice things as well. :) We had several skype conversations with our families at home, although that certainly doesn't make up for not being there with them.
On Boxing Day we went to New Bond Street to exchange one of my Christmas presents (a Louis Vuitton wallet, needed to exchange for a different style), and discovered that apparently Boxing Day is the day when all the Asian tourists descend on the designer shops in London. We lined up outside the store for about 45 minutes to get in, then it was another half-hour or so before we were able to complete the exchange. We were the only caucasion people in the entire store! And the only ones not also carrying shopping bags from Gucci and D&G and Burberry. But it was worth it to get the exchange done and start using my lovely new wallet!!
The next day the PetParents arrived. Noise and I met them at Heathrow; they were only an hour late which wasn't too bad considering they were
2 hours late leaving Ottawa. You know, freezing rain, de-icing, and so on. We had a second Christmas then, as the PetParents had brought over presents for us from everyone at home. Thanks again, everyone!
We had a nice couple of days in London, visited the Tate Modern, walked around Winter Wonderland at Hyde Park, visited the Victoria and Albert Museum, ate home-cooked bangers and mash, and so on.
Then on New Year's Eve we headed out to the Cotswolds for 3 days. We stayed at the Lamb Inn in Great Rissington for 2 nights, including a lovely New Year's Ev
e dinner and party. And we spent time driving around the Romantic Road, visiting all the pretty little villages and towns of the Cotswolds. A great time was had by all, and we were lucky to have 2 days of sunshine despite the cold (for England) temperatures.
We returned to London on Saturday and delivered the PetParents back to Heathrow on Sunday, and thus ends another Christmas holidays. But it was relaxing and quiet and leaves us all with great memories.
And amidst all that I got the news that one of my best friends got engaged on New Year's Eve! Congratulations K! Can't wait to hear about all the plans and details.
But... at the moment there is nothing specific planned to look forward to, so I need to turn my attention to the next trip. We're looking at skiing in the 3 valleys in the French Alps next month. And that should keep me occupied for a little while at least. :)
