27.12.17 - Na descida todo santo ajuda

Hello from snowy Isleham, where we're recovering from a Xmas binge before heading to Paris.  Before that we were in London, where I met up with Gaby and Zila and sought refuge in our Kentish Town Airbnb, before heading into town for a typically masterful review at a posh curry restaurant.

The next day we went for a stroll along the Thames, followed by duck confit sarnies in Borough Market and a trip to Buckingham Palace, past Westminster and on to the London Eye, where I brushed off my tour guide patter and took lots of pictures. We then ended up in a service at Westminster Abbey, before heading back to recover.

The next day we went to Abbey Road for the zebra crossing pic, and Baker Street for the Sherlock Holmes pic, then on to the Natural History Museum for a whistlestop tour round all the dinosaurs, hollow planets and earthquake simulators, through Harrods and on to Oxford Street, where I dived into a nearby Fopp as Gaby rampaged through the Marble Arch Primark, and we ended up eating Icco's pizza before heading back to bed.

On Saturday we got a double-decker bus from Victoria to Notting Hill Gate, mainly to look over the fence into the Queen's back garden, and wandered down Portobello Road and back to Borough Market for fish 'n chips. After another stroll along the South Bank we went to the Hyde Park Winter Wonderland, where Gaby forced me to go on a rollercoaster for the first and hopefully last time, and we ended up in a thoroughly bizarre alternate universe of lederhosen-clad cover bands on revolving stages. But it was fun, I suppose.

The next day we packed up and dragged our bags to Ely, for a quiet night in with the parents and grandparents, then we were up the next day for an early-morning service at the church, followed by a Xmas extravaganza featuring the extended family (including Tom all the way from Japan), much exchanging of gifts and simultaneous translation, foie gras and champagne, a huge feast in the conservatory and finally, the Queen's Speech for the benefit of our foreign guests.

The next day we made the most of the sun by popping over to Cambridge for a tour along the Backs, and through the town centre, then back to Henar's to play the name game, wrestle with the small children and down tea, before heading back in the driving rain. Everyone is going their separate ways today and we're off to Paris later, although our plans to sightsee Ely have been thwarted by inclement weather.

My phrase of the day translates as "on the way down, any saint helps", which I thin means something like "any port in a storm".  I thought it was suitably Christmassy.

'Til the next installment I bid you adieu,

Fred-Nosed Reindeer