Goodbyes and Reunions

Wednesday afternoon saw us wandering the city of London. Quite a lot of the sights were familiar this time, but my sense of direction leaves something to be desired, as always.

We wound up in a pub in Spitalfields, which has a resident cat named Lenny and dusty bottles of booze lined up above the red velvet curtains. I played cat-loving-tourist while Robin and Andy had a beer, but I suspect Lenny preferred the cat treats the regular bar-goers carried above my attempts at friendship.

A couple of doors down is Mooshies Burger Bar. All vegan, all tasty, nothing healthy about it. My "Fillet-om-fish" was actually crumbed eggplant, scoffed down with cheesy fries and chickpea bites (which tasted like chewy falafel). We finished off with a peanut butter and chocolate brownie, which won the prize for best brownie to date. Unfortunately the food coma hit me around 8pm, which is a dreadful time to go to bed when your body is still on Australian time. Thank you to

my Australian friends who were happy to chat at my 4:30am.

Thursday was the first family reunion, where we met at the cemetery to raise a stone at my grandfather's grave. Living most of my life on the other side of the world from my grandparents, it was a harsh reality seeing my grandmother and grandfather buried side-by-side. The visual impact of the graves made the loss so much more final. It was an honour to be there to give, what felt to me, a proper farewell. It does feel like the end of an era now, with no grandparents left, and my cousins and I are now the second generation, instead of the third.

The afternoon picked up as I was able to spend some time with my family. The kids have grown so much in the short few months since my last visit, and as always, there is never enough time to catch up on everything. I'm very much looking forward to the wedding this Sunday, and glad to be sharing a happy occasion with family, as well as the sadness of today.