Both of us had already spent a bit of time in London, so it should have been a familiar and comfortable place to start the second leg of our travels. Instead, we found it a bit of a reverse culture shock. We had spent so long in Asia that the high prices, sour faces and materialistic surroundings made our heads spin!

Despite the shock, we were excited to find Aidan's parents waiting for us at Heathrow Airport. They have come over for seven weeks to catch up with us and Aidan's sister, Emily, who has been working in London for the past year. With Andy and Rosy helping with some of our luggage, we all jumped on the tube and thundered off to Kings Cross Station.

We had barely walked a hundred metres from the station when Emily bounded out of a little English pub to give us a big hug! We all had a good yarn over dinner and a couple of pints, before parting ways for some much needed sleep. We definately needed it after a draining couple of flights all the way from Bangkok!

The weather in London was surprisingly balmy for October. The streets and green spaces were filled with people out getting their fair share of vitamin D. We heard a few complaining about the heat, but without the 100% humidity we had gotten used to, it seemed pretty comfortable to us. We made the most of the sunshine by roaming around Camden Town markets and Hampstead Heath with Emily and her friend (also Emily, who she has been working with for the past year). It was strange to see all the same souvenirs in the markets that we saw all over Asia, only imported and selling for ten times the price!

For lunch, we decided to feast on all the goodies we had missed. We bought bread, wine, cheese and berries and had a picnic in the park surrounded by half naked English people trying their best at getting a tan.

In Regents park, we stumbled upon a small roda of Capoeiristas. Like most, they were welcoming and we joined in with the game. We were definitely a bit rusty, but it was great fun and almost felt like home again! We topped off a great day with a few drinks and some grooving with all the backpackers in Camden Town!

We finished our weekend in London with a lazy, slightly hungover day in Hendon with Emily and the family she has been looking after. Her charge is a boy called Si with Aspergers Syndrome. He seemed like a handful, but absolutely adored Emily. As Em is heading back home to Australia in February, it will be sad for them to part, but we suspect also a slight relief.

On the way home we checked out Harrods, the huge glitzy department store in central London. We recognised a few of the exotic fruits from our travels, in the vast international foods section, and spent a while searching for the 'Kids Shoes Department', where Aidan's mate, Marty, worked a few years earlier.

We're now about to board a cheap 'Ryanair' flight to Italy, to meet up with Aidan's parents again. It's hard to say whether the budget airlines are worth the hassle, when we've just spent the night sleeping on a wooden bench in an airport cafe, waiting for a 6.30am flight from Stansted (which is probably closer to Wales than London!). Ah... Europe.