Last words

So I have been back in Blighty for 4 days now.

I am staying with my parents till Tuesday when I get back into my flat.

So far the weather has been good,  and it is genuinely lovely to be home. Fish and chips never tasted so good - nor did Heinz beans.

Fish and chips you are divine

I met up with a number of friends at a pub in London yesterday and that was great. So nice to see and catch up with everyone (although as ever with events like this I didn't get to chat to anyone nearly enough). I have been making a number of dates to go out to dinner with people and have a proper catch up. I am sure that will keep me busy over the next couple of months.

Oh beautiful pie I have missed you!

People have been asking me what the best bit of my trip was, and it is genuinely hard to pin point. The central coast wine country was super, as was Palm Springs both times I went. But overall it was all a fantastic trip, and I am so pleased that I did it.

If you get the opportunity to have an extended time away from work I would highly recommend it. Spending months in one place really helps you get a sense of what it is truly like, and what it would be like to live there. 6 months in LA (and surrounds) hasn't put me off the place at all.

I don't know what the future holds, but for now I am really happy to be home and am looking forward to spending the summer in London. I will start looking for work next week, and I'll let you all know if I am still so enamoured by our capital city come September...

Thanks for reading my blog, and I hope you have enjoyed reading it as much as I have enjoyed doing all the things I have been up to! Now I am off to enjoy the rest of my birthday!

Final week in DF

So my final week in DF was lovely! Apart from spending as much time in the swimming pool as possible, I:

Went to St Regis for their unlimited Veuve champagne brunch again. This was lovely and by mid afternoon there were around 20 odd people there in our group! I was restrained yet again with the unlimited bubbles, and I can't thank Zantac enough for their pre-emptive qualities!
Next time I will make it to the Four Seasons who have better food apparently, but also have unlimited Tattinger which I am rather partial to! It was another fun afternoon, particularly the part when a friend who was a bit squiffy slid under the table, and another friend said as quick as a flash: " 'X' has literally drunk himself under the table!" Good times!

The best chilaquiles in Mexico

white chocolate and passion fruit mousse and some blackberry thing (that wasn't nearly as nice!)

smurf flavoured macaroons

Tuesday was my friend's birthday and we went out for lunch at a lovely French cafe right near where we live. It is a training facility, so the service was very very slow, but the food was pleasant enough, and the wine lovely. The outside space was super. Cakes and beer followed back at the apartment, with a few friends popping round for a catch up.

Then Wednesday was time to go. I had bought my leaving date forward a couple of weeks to help my friend out on the flight (more of later).
May 1st was Labour day which had the biggest demonstrations I have seen so far in the city. It shows some dedication to march on your day off work! The first wave in the morning went on for about 2 hours and thousands of people marched down Reforma towards the Zocolo. It was pretty darn noisy. Our shopping mall downstairs had riot police lined up all the way along it, in case things got a bit out of hand I guess...

I met some friends for my final brunch of chilaquiles. These are my fave food thing from Mexico. Tortilla chips drowned in a green slightly spicy sauce with cheese, sour cream and shredded chicken over the top. Delish! I will miss them.

Then off to the airport early evening to try and get an upgrade so I could sit with my friend and her 8 week old baby to help them out. Alas there was nothing doing. They wouldn't upgrade me for free, and I couldn't afford the £250 to pay for an upgrade to premium economy, so I sat back in cattle, whilst my friend had to struggle alone in Prem. 

I went to check on her a few hours into the flight, and there was an empty seat right next to her, along with a number of other empty seats available! Bad form from BA for a silver and a blue loyalty customer. They were kind enough to let me sit up there for landing, but I think that was only so I could help my friend with her bags and they wouldn't have to! I have always loved BA, but a letter will be written. On this occasion I felt they were pretty mean. The reason they gave for not upgrading me was catering needs. As if I would have complained about getting an economy meal in premium if they had upgraded me for free! Food was not good in economy, but film choice was pretty good. Alas I had seen a lot of them.

And then after a sleepless flight we touched down, and as is BA's habit, they said those words: "..and if you live in the UK, welcome home!" I am a bit soppy about this, and it always makes me tear up!

Mum and dad were there to greet me at terminal 5, which was lovely, and I said goodbye to my friend and headed off to the majesty of Watford in glorious spring sunshine...