Christmas 2006

We had a busy December with work Christmas parties and various Christmas catch-ups with friends. Work was also hectic - Anna spent a week working in Frankfurt and I was kept busy working on a number of deals. Anna's brother (coming to live) and sister (just visiting until Varsity starts again) have been in London for a month or so now, her parents arrived in mid December and her other brother and sister-in-law, Blair and Tanya, arrived from Canada just before Christmas. Needless to say - we had a big and very fun Christmas in London with a ton of presents and great home cooked meals cooked by the parents (possibly the best meals we have had since we left home!). As part of our Christmas presents to everyone, we booked a table at Jamie Oliver's restaurant 'Fifteen' for the Saturday night before Christmas. It was a brilliant night with awesome food and great service - the restaurant itself is very casual with a lively atmosphere, big stacks of fresh bread everywhere and fresh pasta being rolled on the counters as you walk in the door. We went back for breakfast later on in the week which was just as good as dinner and pretty cheap. We did a ton of touristy stuff around London with the family - went up the London eye, visited Westminster Abbey, had a look around Shakespeares Globe and wandered the Thames. Christmas day did not bring snow so there was no white Christmas for us this year but it was still wintery and very strange not to be heading down to the beach for the usual drunken afternoon swim. We missed those back home, but all in all it was a great Christmas and, being our first Christmas away from home, was made far easier given we were surrounded with family.