After a lovely Christmas Eve in Kent, it was time to spend Christmas Day in Surrey with Dan’s mum. We had a beautiful day exploring our old village, spending time with his family, wandering around the local lakes and eating and drinking plenty (just as Christmas should be)! Sadly, there was no snow but we still had a beautiful day and another wonderful Christmas.
We were staying at the Copthorne Hotel London Gatwick, which was a nice enough hotel and we enjoyed being able to use the gym and sauna at the fitness centre next door. Our first stop on Christmas morning was a quick visit back to our old town, Crawley Down! Dan and I lived in the smallest flat in this beautiful village and absolutely loved our weekends and afternoons exploring the region. Living in a small, tranquil village in the middle of the beautiful countryside was a wonderful way to experience life in England. We were only 40 minutes by train to London and Brighton and 10 minutes to Gatwick Airport, which was so convenient for travelling Europe.
We stopped by the main street, the local pub and our old street! Life in England honestly feels like it was another lifetime ago, not less than three years ago! We made the most of our time in England but I do wish that I’d complained a little less… about the cost of living, the weather etc and just embraced it a little more! Being an Australian, we live for the sunshine, people are happier and I truly believe the cost of living is much less and the standard of living is much higher in Australia. When I think back though I don’t think about the endless dreary days, I think about our beautiful home, how much I loved my job and my friends and how many amazing places we were able to travel to. It’s an experience I’d recommend to any Aussies thinking of moving across the world!
After a quick wander and reminisce around Crawley Down, we headed to Dan’s mum’s house. She lives really close to some beautiful lakes where we had our Christmas morning walk! Our family tradition back home is to get up, have ham on toast and then take the doggies to the beach for a swim/walk! We then come home and basically eat, drink and swim in the pool all day. Pure bliss. Obviously we wouldn’t be doing that this year, but we had a beautiful walk around the lakes and saw lots of swans and ducks. I especially like to walk on Christmas morning before we eat ourselves into a food coma. The weather was so mild and beautiful, definitely no snow on the horizon but a lovely, clear day!
It was then time for presents, lunch (Dan’s mum makes an AMAZING roast dinner), Christmas movies and of course, plenty of mulled wine! Mulled wine honestly has to be one of the best things about a cold Christmas (other than snow of course)!
That was another Christmas done and dusted. It was lovely to spend it with Dan’s mum and his brother and we spent the afternoon curled up on the lounge in a food coma watching Christmas movies! It was a lovely Christmas, but I am very excited for a hot Christmas this year!
