Saturday 20th, Sunday 21st. Heading North

---

Having stayed up so late with Bree on Friday, Saturday morning was a bit sluggish to say the least. In fact I passed on the morning completely and went straight through to the weekend. Bree was also struggling but at least managed to venture outside, even though it was only for a manicure.

I guess I was struggling, it had been quite a run of busy days starting with the overnight flight from New York to Frankfurt, and it felt like I hadn’t really stopped since then, so I managed to justify an idle day.

At 6pm we met up with Layla, Hayden, Layla’s brother John and her mate Ross near Liverpool Street station. I worked near there for 2 years, but don’t remember ever visiting a pub called ‘Dirty Dicks’. We all had a couple in there anyway, then strolled over to Brick Lane which is London’s Curry Street. Almost every building is a restaurant, and I’d forgotten how much they try to lure you into each one - especially if you’re wandering around looking undecided which we certainly were.

We ate so much food, loads of pappadums then loads of different curries, washed down with a couple of big bottles of Cobra, and all for less than 20 quid….brilliant.

Vibe Bar was also somewhere I wanted to go back to, but there was a queue outside and it was cold, so we kept going. Past Brick Lane’s famous 24 hour bagel shop (been a real while since I was there, in a cab, in the middle of the night). We wound up in an underground bar which I guess was Mexican (kind of) and downed a few margueritas. Bree and I were really flagging, but thankfully it was Layla and Hayden, fresh off the plane that morning, who were first to admit defeat, but I was also happy to call it a night.

Even finishing early, by the time we’d got home and I’d wrapped my presents it was still pretty late.

In contrast, Sunday required an early-ish start to make sure I got to Kings Cross and got on the train I’d booked. Not the best way to start the day, it was a 10 minute walk to the station with all my bags, then 20 mins on the tube. The booking was really confusing, the train overloaded, I managed to get on but had to stand outside the toilet for the 70 minute journey………which was nice.

Sydney, San Francisco, New York, London, and now Grantham. I’d never been to Grantham before and hope I never have to again. My folks met me there, of course great to see them, and took me to my Aunty Lynda’s house where Uncle, cousins and their other halves were waiting for me so they could all tuck into Lynda’s monster Christmas dinner.

Richard and Deborah are recently redundant and loaded with payout, so they’re heading off soon for a very lengthy spot of travel. Martin and Catherine were already booked for a 7 week trip starting straight after xmas. I guess I’ve got no room to be jealous though, I’ve now been away for well over 4 weeks and it’s still more than 2 until I’m back in the office. With my folks only just back from India, that leaves Lynda and Robert are the only ones in the family who aren’t really big travellers I guess.

I wasn’t really on top form over lunch though, I really am feeling pretty burnt out and in need of some proper rest. I slept for a fair while in the car, just couldn’t help it.

So now I’m back in Yorkshire. It’s cold and dark - not too cold though - but it’s lovely to be back. My folks still live just a few hundred metres from my old school so Richmond’s always the place that I guess I’ll call home. Their house has changed a fair bit while I’ve been away, they just can’t stop themselves meddling with it. But all good. We just had a lazy night. Hopefully the next few days will be a bit more relaxing.

---