Having had a very big night indeed we properly crashed. Waking up with a bit of a sore head from the fun the night before, I was informed by Matthew I should look at my phone, which was said with a massive grin on his face. It would seem that being well and truly out like a light I’d somehow taken over the bed and it was too funny not to capture that moment.

Fortunately (or unfortunately) the weather was absolutely miserable on account of Storm Dennis. The wind was howling and the rain was coming in sideways. As I listened to the rain batter the windows outside I take the chance to just chill and basically sleep til lunch time. Matthew, forever the gentleman, offered to pop out on the hunt for coffee (without any luck), then again for another attempt, this time successfully, and finally grab us some comfort food. There are many options right on our doorstep, and thought that perhaps some KFC might help jolt me out of comatose state. When he arrives back to the apartment with a very soggy bag of KFC, we decide to stay in bed and pop on the TV. Sadly my gurgling stomach and alcohol induced nausea meant that I could only get a few bites into my food before putting it to the side and watched a show called Car SOS. It’s a program where they restore old vehicles for car enthusiasts who are down on their luck or having a rough time of it. It was hard not to be moved by the stories. In particular a lady who had an old Lotus Elise which she had planned to restore with her father, who unfortunately was very unwell with his 2nd bought of cancer. He had become too unwell to do the restoration. If that wasn’t tragic enough, she had also been diagnosed with a treatable by incurable cancer and her very sad car had been left in the garage collecting dirt and rust. The mother had written into the show on behalf of her daughter purely so she could see a smile on her daughter’s face again.
It was incredible to see the work they did, restoring it to like new, and the ‘big reveal’ was unable to be attended by the dad as he had been hospitalised. As they showed her car to her, it was very emotional indeed, and before the show ended they had her drive to the hospital to show her father who also broke down. As they filmed her driving around the streets with a big smile on her face, the credits began to roll, but sadly they displayed that both the daughter and father had lost their lives in the same year. A tragic story which had me welling up with tears. I can’t imagine how rough that would have been on the mother, but also knowing that cancer doesn’t discriminate and in some ways we are all touched by this illness in our communities and families.
After a couple of episodes of that and then an interesting few episodes of Come Dine With Me, I really needed to think about how to tackle the rest of the day. I decide an Ondansetron is in order to cure the nausea and look alive. It works a treat and we get ourselves together and head out for a quick drink at a couple of pubs. Knowing that we were not going as large as the day before. Taking some of our cards to chat through, we eventually decided to head home and relax knowing a night in was in order. Not before spotting some old school gas lighting, in a very iconic English backdrop.

The history in the UK always fascinates me, especially in an area like central London where the fusion of history and modern lives perfectly in balance. We take a mandatory selfie before setting off and decide to order in tonight and watch a movie.

The weather, while not as bad as earlier, is still pretty bleak, we head back to the apartment to settle in for the evening. We take the opportunity to video chat with my parents back home in Australia, and trawl Uber Eats for a place that can deliver us dumplings. A staple in my life.
There’s not much more to say other than we loved the food we got and decided to watch something very light, the Wedding Crashers. It’s such an easy movie to watch. I did, however doze off during it, and apparently as Matthew pottered around turning lights off and popping the dishwasher on, I hadn’t really moved much thinking that we were all but done for the night. After power napping it seemed that I’d got my second wind, so we poured a glass of wine and chatted till 3am. Probably also influenced by jet lag and the fact that I’d had a pretty lazy day and evening.
We eventually get off to sleep and set an alarm as tomorrow is Monday, and Matthew will be working a half day and we have some very lovely lunch plans. I sleep with a smile on face, still pinching myself that I am here in London.