Au revoir, Sarah!

IWith much wailing and gnashing of teeth (from the five-year-old) and many happy waves and fond wishes farewell (from the adults), Sarah has completed her stay on this side of the Pond and headed back to America. 

Okay. There wasn't really wailing and gnashing of teeth from Iorwerth. But there was a great many hugs, extracted promises to come back and visit him, and calls to Miss Sarah from our toy phone to check in. All in all, I think my houseguest went over well with the child. 

We rounded out her visit with a quite incredible New Year's. On the 31st, we managed to wrangle tickets to "A Winter's Tale" as performed by Kenneth Branagh's new theatre company. I have now seen Dame Judi Dench and the man himself performing live in a beautifully intimate theatre. And all I can really say is...wow. Just...wow. That was *theatre*, in its most pure, beautiful, and emotive form. 

We then met up with a PhD mate, grabbed dinner at a pub, and headed toward Camden Town for midnight shenanigans. We stopped at another pub (called The Spread Eagle, to Sarah's great amusement) and then climbed Primrose Hill for an astounding view of the city by night. Countdown to midnight and some fireworks exploded over the London Eye, and hello to 2016!!

I'm now preparing for my next round of fieldwork. I leave for Kuwait tomorrow. After Sarah's departure yesterday, I stole the child for one last frolic in central London before my extended absence. Today, I'm helping a mate with river sampling for data collection and dealing with last-minute errands. And then we are once again off and away! I'll next write from the Gulf. 

Hope everyone's new year is off to a fabulous start! Much love and best wishes for 2016 from London. :)