For those who don't know, Paul is Matt's best friend – he was best man at our wedding.
We've missed them both so much!! They have come to the UK for 2 months, and for the first few weeks are staying in Bristol.
They got in on the 2nd, and rang Matt once they were settled in Bristol. On Saturday 3rd they came to Cardiff, and did very well to stay awake. The weather was wet and windy – what a nice introduction to Wales for Liz and Paul. We spent the day wandering between pubs and talking – so much talking and catching up on all the news and gossip. It is so good to see them again.
We both had a tough week at work, made bearable for Matt by taking the Friday off to go to Bristol and spend the day with Liz and Paul. Well, Paul mostly.
And here's a selection of some of the places they went....
The next day they both came to Cardiff and we went up to Llandaf to have a look at the cathedral – which was closed to the public for a regimental memorial service to mark 1 year since the withdrawal of UK troops from Iraq. So rather than get despondent about that, we walked back in to Cardiff, through Llandaf Fields in the sunshine, and watched kids playing football. We stopped off at the Cadno for lunch, then meandered in to town. It's amazing – it's as though we've just picked up from where we'd left off. Cool.
Matt took the following Friday off again, and spent it with the Sheedys again, then that Saturday they were back in Cardiff. We managed to get in to the cathedral this time! Sunday was lunch at the Halfway, with Matt having a disagreement with Hobgoblin. Very messy, with Matt coming off second best.
That week Matt to Luxembourg for work, so Kathy treated herself to a meal at Cibo. And was suitably spoilt by the staff. Made up for the craptacular week she'd had, where she'd nearly quit. That weekend the Sheedys were back in Cardiff (again), but we headed out to the Blue Anchor for lunch – it was a great day.
Then we finally reciprocated by going to Bristol on Sunday. Poor Matt picked up a tummy bug some time that weekend, and had a couple of days off work to get better for the following weekend.
The reason for that was because we were going to London. Again. To do a pub crawl for Matt's birthday. Again. This time it was the Circle Line. Theoretically this should have been easier than the Monopoly Board, but not so. But you'll need to read the other blog to learn about that.
We went up on Friday and in a startling wave of pre-preparedness decided to find the first and last pubs, plus an alternate should the last one be closed. Good thing we did, because getting to the last pub was a bit tricky. After a curry we decided on an early night.
Saturday, after an suitable breakfast we went for a walk, up to Buckingham Palace and past the Grenadier Guards. To our amusement, some new recruits were just finishing off drill when the Sgt Major shouted out “Is anyone missing a bear skin hat?” 2 guys rushed back and picked up their hats, accompanied by appropriate reprimands from the Sgt Major. Then it was off to Victoria Station for the first pub and the start of the crawl.
Sunday dawned and we were in surprisingly good health. After breakfast we walked back to Buckingham Palace,
past the memorial to George VI
then up to Trafalgar Square
and along to Chinatown for dim sum. Mmmmm. Back to the hotel, back home, and that was it. Dinner was at the Conway, and another action packed weekend (and month) was over.
No comments:
Post a Comment