Our base for this final leg was Hannah's parents' house, which they've newly completed after knocking down everything inside. The last time I visited it looked like a bomb site, but now that things like floors and walls have been added it exudes luxury with its underfloor heating, vast conservatory, and grandparents on hand to dispense childcare.
I split from Hannah and Pete again, popping to Devon (see above) to meet up with my old friend Andrew. We reminisced over a pub lunch, washed down with an interesting cider that remains "live" in the barrel; it keeps fermenting as they serve it, so they're not able to tell you how alcoholic it is. "I wouldn't drive after drinking it," was the barman's sage advice.
I stopped by Katherine and Scott's on my way home to find my eldest nephew and niece glued to their computers and playing Minecraft. I witnessed my niece sitting in the next room from her brother, sending him typed messages. Wouldn't it be nicer to walk in and talk to him face-to-face, I enquired. "When we do that, we get told off for shouting," was her entirely reasonable reply. Kids these days, eh?
We finished, as is tradition, with a couple of days with Meg and Ellen, and managed to sneak in a quick trip to London to see the incredible poppies at the Tower of London, find some Paddington Bear statues, and catch up with old flat-mate Caroline. It's twenty years (no!) since we all met at uni, so we put a pic of this monumental reunion on Facebook. Judging by the comments from fellow alumni about how we haven't changed, everyone is in as much denial about the passing of time as me.
And that's it! All that remains is a flight home tomorrow, so thank you so much to everyone for giving up your time, beds, sleep (Pete apologises for the jetlag), food, etc. to look after our itinerant family, Free board and lodge remains available in Canada anytime you want (please phone before arriving).
We're marking Pete out early for sporting greatness.
Grandma is game for a quick twirl on a roundabout.
Thankfully, there's another Granny around the corner when we have to leave the first.
Pete meets Paddington in London
The Shard, the biggest building in the EU!
Shard selfie.
The best coffee around, Ellen claims, and she wasn't wrong. She went on to state that it was as good as Blue Bottle, but that was taking it a bit far.
And what should go with the best coffee if not the best mince pies? They were pretty good too.
The poppy installation "Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red", marking the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War, visited by over four million people.
Tourist photo.
Meeting up with Caroline. We have aged since 1994, but only physically.
A final Paddington, down by the Thames. Please look after this bear!
