Surprise!

I opened the door at lunchtime today to be greeted by our friend Pree, a completely unexpected visitor.

Then out jumped more old friends from my time in Edinburgh - Suzy & Philippe up from Kent, Si & Pippa from Copenhagen, and Mary-Rose and Paul from Stockholm - what a wonderful surprise!

It was a fantastic weekend - we'd seen them at the wedding, but this time we had much more time to catch up properly and enjoy each other's company. After lunch in Magic, my favourite local cafe, we wandered through Christchurch Meadows to The Head of the River for a couple of lovely pints in the sun - how often can you do that in mid-October?

Inevitably the rain came, but we still enjoyed a little college tour from Philippe, and ended up at a Chinese restaurant and karaoke bar, blasting out some old favourites - Si memorably nailing Shaggy's Boombastic...

Inbetween times we squeezed in some fancy cocktails at Raoul's, whose urinals are illuminated by this amusing sign: a bit of drizzle couldn't dampen our spirits, and nothing could dilute this wonderful surprise!