Last "Vacation" Weekend

Well, Tuesday marks my return to full time employment. While I'm excited, and looking forward to joining the team at Combat Stress (especially after a successful meeting day this past Monday,) I'm still a bit sad to see our "vacation" here in the UK come to an end. We've had a busy and eventful weekend, so I'll do my best to recap.

Last week on the recommendation of our only new "friend" here in the UK (our banker,) we tried a local Indian restaurant, Blue Mint. Like, REALLY local... it's a 5 minute walk from our front door at most. I'm not normally a huge fan of Indian food, but wow, this place is fantastic.

So much food!

On Friday, we went into London. We had plans to meet the Longhursts for dinner and drinks, but we figured we'd head in early to beat the rush hour commuters. Since we had some time to kill, we browsed around The British Museum, checking out various mummies and other antiquities plundered by the British Empire of old, finding amazing items at every turn. The central courtyard alone is amazing.

After that, we went off to The Tottenham, to have a drink while we waited for the Longhursts to arrive. Unfortunately for us, this pub is very centrally located, and it was about 5pm on a Friday. These two factors meant that the pub was PACKED with local and tourists alike. We did have some exceptional people watching while we waited though, and before long, the Longhurst clan arrived. We shared another pint (or two in some cases,) and then ventured out to find our Italian restaurant. All in all, a great evening. Anna even made sure we got home safe and sound.

Anna keeping an eye on the train schedules at Waterloo Station.

Saturday was a beautiful day here, so we did a bit of exploring. We initially set our sites on a garden show at a local school, but since we arrived 1/2 an hour before the doors opened, we decided to move on. We eventually found an amazing little park just South of Epsom town center where we did our best to soak up a bit of sunshine before moving off to have some lunch at the Bamboo Basket.

Epsom Park

After lunch, we discovered the farmers market in Epsom, where Anna managed to score a great deal on Carrots and Strawberries. Such a good deal, we're relatively certain the fruit and veg must have "fallen off the back of a truck," but hey, at least we got a great deal! At an rate, I was able to get this great picture of Anna "wheelin' and dealin'" in the market, right in front of the clock tower.

Photo not actually taken on the set of Eastenders

By evening, we were apparently feeling a bit brave, and figured we'd try out the "Tex Mex" restaurant around the corner. As it turns out, it was neither very "Tex" nor "Mex." We probably won't be back, but at least we can say we gave it a go.

Today was a bit more low key, we sorted out our online banking and budgeting tools (exciting!) and ran a few errands in between. To celebrate the end to our vacation, we decided to return back to Blue Mint one more time for another excellent Indian dinner...... and then off to the pub for one more pint, because why not?

Now we're back in the flat, enjoying a quiet evening. Even the station looks quiet tonight. Big week ahead, wish us luck!