On Christmas Eve, my family from Sheffield came down ready for the next day. Christmas Day followed much the same pattern as usual. After waking up, my brother and I open our 'Santa' presents with our parents. After breakfast with everyone, we see the neighbours for some mulled wine and minced pies. This year it was our turn to go over to the neighbours so we spent a couple of hours there and exchanged presents with them as well. The 'men' then all go to be pub around the corner, while the 'women' are busy getting the Christmas dinner ready, and sorting out the presents ready to open them after eating. When I was younger, I used to be near breaking point at this time, as it would be nearing 3pm and we STILL hadn't opened any presents yet! However, as I've gotten older it has become a lot easier. I might even go so far as to say that I quite like the big present opening session after lunch... In any case I definitely prefer it to opening all of the presents in the morning, as it makes the day last a bit longer and keeps the excitement a little more. Christmas dinner was lovely, and everyone wore the obligatory paper hats while eating. By 4pm, it was FINALLY time to open the presents! As tradition dictates, we start with the youngest and go around in age order, each opening one present at a time. This year, we were all finished by about 6pm, which is pretty good going for us! We had a small dinner, and then I introduced my family to the 'Hat' game, and Mafia, both of which went down a storm! Highlights include my brother describing Nando's as 'an urban chicken shop' and when my Grandad was the Mafia. He was doing really well, and it was down to the last 3 people. I was the narrator and said ,"Mafia, please wake up", but he didn't hear properly so said "Huh?", of course revealing himself to everyone. After the games, we watched the new Michael McIntyre DVD before slowly heading to bed. A great day as usual, I had an excellent hoard of presents, as well as eating farrr too much!
Between Christmas and New Years, the main events worth mentioning are the girls night out in Kingston, and long overdue catch ups with two of my oldest friends, Alice and Danielle. So, I'll start with the first. Katie, Christina, Cecily and I got all dressed up and headed into Kingston for a girly night out. We had many many cocktails at Lloyd's, chatted up some 15 year olds and a farmer and son, and then went briefly to a club before hitting Subway and heading home. It was a good laugh as usual, and great to see them all again. I then headed to Uxbridge to catch up with Alice. We had a long lunch in a nice burger place and then did a bit of shopping together. We worked out that it had been over a year since we saw each other last, but as with all good friendships once you're together again it feels like no time at all has passed. I saw Danielle later that week as well, as always a great to just sit and talk and laugh together for hours.
Steve came down again the day before New Years Eve. On New Years Eve itself we went to Richmond to the PANTO!! (Tickets were Steve's present from my parents) and saw Aladdin. There was lots of audience participation and the usual incredibly bad jokes including the first time Aladdin walks on stage and they ask him where he's from. He replies, "Somewhere really really boring", and they answer, "Oh yeah, Staines." Hilarious... Afterwards we headed into central London and had a really nice meal together. It was quite a small restaurant, and there were lots and lots of huge candles, which had gathered all the wax from when they'd been burning previously. It was very romantic and we enjoyed a delicious meal together. We then went to Embankment to watch the fireworks. I think Steve could see a lot more than I could as there were huge crowds by the time we got there, but it was quite a good atmosphere, and a way of bringing in the New Year that you've got to try at least once.
Steve stayed until I flew back to Salzburg on the 6th. We had a nice relaxed week and went on a couple of nice walks, to the cinema to see Life of Pi, had a belated Christmas visit from more family (Uncle Roy, Aunty Wendy and Uncle Eddie), went ice skating at Hampton Court Palace, and Steve and I went on our very first double date with Stanze and Jonny - lots of food, and lots more cocktails! Before I knew it my 2 weeks at home were over and it was time to head back to Austria. I'd had a lovely time at home, enjoyed lots of catch ups with important people, and was looking forward to making the most of the last month and a half in Austria. A very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year indeed!
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