Faces from home

Matt's sisters Claire and Lara came over to Europe during the summer... The plan was to spend a few days in London, before going their separate ways around Europe- Claire and her boyfriend Shane would head to the Greek Islands and Ibiza for a bit of sun and fun, and Lara, Ryan (Lara's boyfriend) would rent a campervan, pick up Lara's friend Bel and the three of them would drive around as many places in Europe as they could within 4 weeks. However, in the middle of it all, we'd meet up with them for a week in Croatia.

Caught up with them at the St Georges Pub on Borough High Street. Despite being summer, the days have been slightly chilly. Oh, but how good was it to seem them all! I mean, it didn't hit me how much I loved being in Melbourne and around my friends and family till I saw their familiar faces and heard their voices in person. I must admit, I got a little teary eyed- at least till the first round of beers! Franga and Amy rocked up a little later, and we all went across the road to Tas, an Anatolian (Anatoly being a region of Turkey) restaurant, which Matt and I had been to before. It was spacious, cheerful and had a wide range of food that catered to the various dietary requirements of everyone in the party. Veggie casseroles to platters of grilled meats... yum.

I'd taken the next day off from work to hang out with Claire, Lara, Shane and Ryan. We took one of the hop-on, hop-off London Bus Tours... Checked out Westminster Abbey from the outside, Big Ben, a quick tour of Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park (where Claire tried to make friends with every squirrel)... Lara, Ryan and I did some quick shopping along Oxford Street while Claire and Shane went over to Madame Tussaud's. We then all lost each other in Topshop but managed to meet up, in time to head home. I think we might have headed out to Clapham, later that night, as Claire and Shane caught up with their mates who were over in London.

What else did we do? Met up with Lara and Ryan to check out the Tower of London, my first time ever... We had a great guide- the Ravenmaster! (For those of you who might like to read up on what a Ravenmaster does, click here) The tour was so interesting- he told us all the stories of the famous "guests" at the Tower, pointed out all the various buildings and what they were used for. He also gave us little snippets of what life in the Tower of London was like then, as well as in the present day. He even pointed out all the ravens around the place, and referred to each by name (would you expect nothing less from the Ravenmaster?!). We finished off our tour with a gawk at the Crown Jewels. So shiny.

Anyway, the girls and their respective partners soon had to catch their flights to the rest of Europe- I THINK (and Claire and Lara, you can definitely correct me here) that all four of them first went off to Amsterdam.

Was a fun filled couple of days exploring London along with them, with the best bit yet to come.... Croatia!