Verrans Big Bike Ride: London from Rob

Well London has turned on spectacular weather for our few days. Clear blue skies, no wind but still cold so one needs to put on extra layers. Had the opportunity to go to the top of NZ House with Corisha where we had amazing views over London and where we could get our bearings. Walked through James Park to Buckingham Palace, then onto Big Ben before navigating the Tube system home. Have really enjoyed catching the double decker buses and trains - only walked in the wrong direction once when coming up to ground level. Took in Les Miserables at the Queens Theatre on Tuesday evening which was awesome. Even made me have goosebumps. And Tracey and Corisha took us to a great Thai place afterwards. Had dinner with Jill's nephew, David on our last night at a little restaurant overlooking the canal, which was great.

Rob and Corisha at top of NZ house

Dinner at the Eagle

Caught more trains to Bristol on Thursday to see John. Had a typical Pub lunch at The Penny Farthing and caught up on all his news. He has absolutely fallen in love with his new life in Bristol and already talking about extending his time if possible. With his birthday on the 28th and our absence for Xmas we went shopping for new shoes, coats, icebreaker, umbrella etc - all much needed. Went and saw his hall of residence " Wills " which he says is the best in every possible way. We feel very lucky that he is so happy. Luckily Jill has old family friends in Bristol just down the road from Wills, so we stayed 3 nights with them. It was good spending some time with them as well as seeing John. We had a great last lunch at Jenny and Pete's and Arthur and Anna and Lara and Sasha came down from London, and John fitted us in between rugby coaching in the morning and hockey in the afternoon.