Guest appearances

We’ve had two friends from Australia staying with us for more than a week. Brendan and Grant are seeing the sights at a pace, along with Brendan’s flatmate, another good friend, John. As well as the regular tourist sights and sounds, they’ve fitted in at least one highlight Garry and I have yet to experience. 48 hours after landing at Gatwick they successfully queued for Wimbledon, securing tickets for the N0.2 court. Unfortunately Brendan came home with a shocking bout of food poisoning and spent the rest of the evening throwing up. Not quite the souvenir he's anticipated.


Last weekend Garry and I took the boys to Borough Markets, one of our favourite London experiences. We came home with a fresh Ostrich egg – a first for all of us. Later in the week it was transformed into a delicious leek and spinach frittata. It proved ideal for feeding eight hungry dinner guests, possibly the only recipe that requires the equivalent of 18 eggs. Our neighbourhood fox even put in a brief guest appearance.


I took our guests for a tour of Greenwich, including a visit to the Painted Hall at the Old Royal Naval College. It's been 18 years since I last saw the hall. We also wandered through the Old Royal Observatory. Something I've never done. I was surprised to discover a surviving segment of William Herschel's telescope on display. This very instrument was used to discover the planet Uranus, on March 13, 1781. Yet another piece of history comes to life in Europe.


Last Sunday we also made an early morning dash to Stonehenge and on to Salisbury before dropping John off at Heathrow. It was wonderful to be visiting old favourites with close friends. Stonehenge was as remarkable as ever, its bold shape backlit by intermittent sunshine. Next weekend we’re off to Berlin for three days. The boys will then be off to Paris for three days.