For the first time in six years of living in London, both my parents came to visit me. My father, despite being almost 60 had never left Australia before. It was my Mum’s third visit to London, having previously lived there in the 1970’s and spending over a month with me in 2005. She was my original inspiration for the big move, having spent most of my childhood poring over her travel scrapbooks.

If you’ve noticed a slow-down in the blog posts lately, it’s because we’ve been up to a bunch of stuff and I’ve been run off my feet. Here’s what we got up to:

• A walk around Hackney, London Fields, Victoria Park and Regents Canal in order to keep them awake after they arrived at 6am (Yes, I had to go pick them up!)
• Lots of London sightseeing, they did an open top bus tour, went on the London Eye, saw Tate Modern, Tower Bridge and the Tower of London.
• Went to see Australia perform dismally on the first day of the second test, held at Lords Cricket Ground. We did lunch in style with a three course picnic with wine and cheese provided by Villandry. Ashes Flickr Set.
• Drove up to the Lake District, staying in Avon Wood at Windemere Lake. Lake District Flickr Set.
• Spent Dad’s 60th Birthday at Beun Ayre restaurant, Broadway Market. I don’t think I’ve ever seen steaks that big before in my whole life.
• Mum and I went to the V&A Museum of Childhood, located just in Bethnal Green whilst Dad went to see the Imperial War Museum by himself!
• Went to the Dove Club’s Belgian National Day Celebrations at the Dove in Broadway Market. Proceeds went to St Joseph’s Hospice located in Mare Street.
• Mum and Dad travelled on the Eurostar to Belgium. From there, using their Eurail passes, they spent time in Brussels, Gent, Luxemberg, Basel, Zurich, Munich, Innsbruck, Florence, Pisa, Bologna and Ancona before catching a Superfast ferry to Patras. They then had to endure a seven hour train journey to Athens!
• Brad and I met Mum and Dad in Athens before catching a ferry to Naxos, the largest island of the Cyclades for three lovely nights. Lots of sightseeing, sitting on the beach and greek food. Highly recommended. Flickr Set.
• Mum and I went to The Sanctuary spa in Covent Garden for an evening spa, massages, facials and thai foot therapy. Bliss!
• Went to the Saturday Market held on Broadway Market in London Fields. Top marks but now my Dad thinks I’m a bit of a hipster.
• Drove my Dad to Silverstone Raceway, for his 60th birthday present, which was a 2 hour driving experience in a Formula Ford. The smile on his face after was worth every penny. Flickr Set.
• Mum and Dad went to the Science Museum, originally to check out the F1 exhibition that was on but it turns out their permanent collection held a lot more interest.
• Attended the Smarkets Launch Party. Congratulations Team Smarkets!

The day after the Smarkets Launch Party, it was back on a plane (feeling rather shabby if I’m honest) to Perth via Kaula Lumpur. It’s been another whirlwind week catching up with family and friends, as well as walking my dog Brandee. I wrote this en route to Sydney, where I had a few days there with Brad’s family before flying back to London via a stopover in Hong Kong.

You know what they say, no rest for the wicked!