Vienna and London.

I've been waiting for summertime to come

                                 Walk on beaches lying in the sun,

Music playing people everywhere,

No need to worry the tequila is here,

And when the sun goes down we are having fun'

Cause there will be a party going on.

- Heat of the night, Aqua

It's funny how Austrian I feel when I touch down in Vienna. Especially because I can hardly speak the language and have only been there a handful of times, but, the pride and love I feel is indescribable. I leave each time more eager to learn about the history, the language and return soon.

It was also really cool being in Vienna with my Mum and Stepdad. As I had visited just a few months before I was able to tell them and show them things I had enjoyed there.

 

Schonbrunn Palace

Dinner at a Heurigen

As always the food was AMAZING!!!

Tony enjoyed his time in Vienna so much, he did a dance to show his excitment! 

It was just fantastic to be around family with my family. 

Once again they were so welcoming, accommodating and thoughtful.

After tearful goodbyes we left Vienna and headed back to London for our last few days together. It was wonderful but went too fast.

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Back in London I embarked on taking my parents to all my favourite places. I was so excited and ready to go full speed. However, most days we didn't leave till after 11am, as they needed to sleep and relax...ahhh, they are getting older!

The first place I took them was back to Hampton Court. I love it there! Full of Tudor history and so many exciting and interesting things to do and see. 

They have a new Bedchamber exhibition, that takes you through different royal beds and how they were used. It was very well presented and so fascinating! Beds were crucial to portraying ones status and often presented in public as one would show off their Ferrari, Jag, Lamborghini or Aston Martin. 

At the end of the day though some of us were so tied we passed out with the town drunks.

Harrods food hall has to be my favourite place for lunch in London. Everything you can imagine and such fresh and quality food. We feasted and shopped!

Mum and Tony were separated by time at Greenwich...

...and I went back to University for the day.

We went for a walk down Oxford street and a stroll through Seven Dials to complete our day. I think we covered London shopping well with Mum and T buying things from the cheapest and most expensive shops in London.

Having completed History and Shopping, it was time for culture.

As an early Christmas present I took my parents to The Swan (a traditional London restaurant) and then to the Globe Theatre to see Shakespeare's The Tempest. 

It was fantastic all round. The food and the show were surely London's finest!

As morning woke us the next day we headed down to Borough Markets (the best London food market) for breakfast.

Later, we went on a tour through the Clink. The prison that gave all other prisons their name!

It was quite full on and more creepy than I imagined. I found it quite interesting that Queen Elizabeth I ordered more torture than any other monarch! What really freaked me out was a torture technique where they forced the victim to take in huge amounts of water (that was often unsanitary and may contain faeces) until the point they threw up or died.

On their last night in London we dropped Tony off at a pub and I took Mum to see The Bolshoi Ballet's Swan Lake at the London Royal Opera House.

We loved it! 

Later we met up with Tony for delicious deserts at Häagen-Dazs. 

It was so good we all licked our plates clean! 

On Thursday the 15th we boarded the train together, knowing we had different stops. Theirs would take them back to Australia, mine to Ireland and once again we would be on the opposite sides of the world. Suddenly my gut was in my throat. I returned to that boy 7 months ago, farewelling my parents at the airport as I left them for a world unknown. I tried to remind myself I knew this world now. I had friends, a house, work and a routine. But as always rational thought has no place in emotions!

Both holding back tears Mum and I hugged, kissed and I exited the train. I watched Mum and Tony be taken away by the train and I forced a smile as I waved goodbye...

As always I am sending you all some cheeky lovin'

Joey!