Catching up with family in Blighty

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After the looong flight from NZ we were very glad to get back to terra firma. By the time I'd grabbed a sim card for the phone Ani was waiting for us in the faithful Rover and whisked us off to Kew for champagne and orange and a stunning breakfast. Feeling replete we then wandered through Kew Gardens admiring the daffodils prior to lunch at the Coach and Horses on Kew Green. Good food and jet lag finally took their toll so we retreated to our hotel room and fell into a coma for about 12 hours.

The next morning, following a full English breakfast, we made our way out to Buckingham to catch up with my uncle and aunt who promptly fed us then took us on a walk through Buckingham stopping on the way at the Garage, a very smart pub, for an ale or two then home for more excellent food.

Day 3 I caught up with my cousin and his wife and daughter, my first cousin once removed, I'm reliably informed. It was great meeting up with family again over yet more glorious food and wine.

Day 4 and it was back to London in the knowledge that the French rail workers had decided to strike putting paid to our Eurostar dreams of having breakfast in London, lunch in Paris and dinner in Barcelona. After a lot of queueing at St Pancras to confirm that trains were not running I arranged to cancel our tickets and booked a flight out of Gatwick for the next day instead.

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