Good old Blighty!

English coffee is good! I know that’s a huge statement considering the history that England has of making crap coffee. Six years ago, the last time we spent any time here, most coffee bought in old blighty was instant and if you could find a decent espresso machine the person making the coffee would probably proclaim, as they made it, that they had no idea how one could drink such weak, bitter coffee and that they preferred Kenco instant. I would usually hang my head and prepare to argue that I should not have to pay for two coffees when I order a double shot. I would tirelessly try to explain that I was then paying twice for the (unhelpful) service, (chipped, tea) cup, (lunch room) décor, and (lack of) ambiance. Then grudgingly drink my bitter, weak, latte with cold, burnt milk and enough froth to make a pint of bitter proud. Still it still had the desired affect of preventing the future wife from leaving a grumpy old sod for another day. Now days it’s possible to wander into urban coffee houses in the Liverpool suburbs (some anyway) and ask for a double macchiato and be delivered a fine fix in a relaxing atmosphere. England has come along way! All that said, it is still possible to have a the old style experience with very little effort on your part. Having been in the UK for about a month now, in both London and Liverpool we are a bit confused if we’re in the right place. The heat for a start. I never really thought that I would consider the UK as a warm holiday destination, but that’s what it seems to be. We stayed in London at Uncle Eric’s house for the week, doing some shopping and sampling the cheap (!!!!!!) beer and amazing diversity of cheap (!!!) food. There are not many kiwis who would consider London and the word cheap in the same context. Travelling opens your eyes about life and Iceland opened our eyes about expensive!!! We spent a day with cousin Kieran doing a whistle stop tour of London city and the usual tourist haunts. It was good to finally see him again after about six years. We’ve been staying at grandmother Cec’s place again, enjoying a roof over our head and wondering around one of the largest building sites in Western Europe, sometimes known as Liverpool. Some rich Lord noticed that there was no monster shopping complex in this part of the country and decided to knock down half of the city centre and build one. Since he happens to own most of Liverpool, that’s just what he did. It’s been a month of catching up with relatives and sorting and organising. Ben’s Mum has been in the UK and it has been great catching up with her. We are off to Greece during October and have got work running a chalet in Austria for the northern winter, in a resort called St Anton.