I was very tired off the plane as I hadn’t slept. Plus next to a teenage boy who took off his shoes (slightly stinky) and another one who seemed not to feel well, and did that thing where he wouldn’t get out of the seat to let you get past, but instead expected you to squeeze past. Personally, I think it’s better to just get up. More room, less bum in your face, and a good chance to stretch your legs.
Luckily it was very easy to get to M&L’s place and I was even met at the tube station! They were awesome hosts and I spent the day napping until the evening. M cooked a lovely meal and I was impressed by the cheapness of Boursin, which is a spreadable cheese-ish thing that is much more expensive in NZ. Also the strawberries are better here, much juicer and sweeter.
I met up with Little Sis that evening and we had a good gossipy catch up. Great to hear about her work and see a family member again. Then we had Turkish tea and baklava with M&L. It was a fantastic evening and a great welcome to London.
The next day I took a train to Leicester. I was picked up by Maid of Honour L and off we went to Bride2 and Groom2’s house. Mackerel was there and we got to packing picnic baskets for the fete style wedding in a few days. It was wonderful to see more familiar faces and catch up.
MOH L was staying at her parents’ house. It is very cool as it is on a Canal and has a cherry tree and strawberry bushes that I raided this morning. She normally stays in Singapore (jealous!) but visits back home sometimes. Her parents were currently on vacation in their canal boat! Which meant she had room for 2 couples to stay for the wedding too. On the day of the wedding it was a house full of very cool lovely people. Found out couples were organising a Harry Potter convention, but we would be out of town for it.
The days run together, but I think the next day Mackerel and I went around Leicester shopping and visited the New Walk, the Museum, and Jewry Wall.
New Walk is a long old street that has been maintained for strictly for pedestrian purposes only for 200 years.
The museum was small but had an interesting ancient Egyptian section with 4 mummies, although one was on loan. It was weird to think about human bodies being put on display and loaned out. There was also a lovely, eclectic art display section and we saw an exhibit of Picasso’s pottery.
Jewry Wall is a site that had been occupied at different times and built upon since before medieval times. There is a church next to it which was built from the brick remains of the Roman Bathhouse that you could still see.
Later in the day Svendlemouse and Star arrived and it was good to catch up. Then all the girls headed off to Lush for an excellent hen’s night. We got info on all their products and had either a facial or a food scrub done. Then we spent out 10 pound voucher and a lot of people spent a bit more to get the excellent goody bag. I bought these teeth tablets which you use instead of tooth paste (kinda like chewing a weirdly flavored sherbet then brushing your teeth with it) and a body wash that smells like cut grass. Then we had excellent Chinese buffet for dinner. A great night.
