THIS IS MY LIFE: LAST WEEKS IN LONDON

"How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard." Once again this quote by Winnie the Pooh became so relevant in my life. Leaving London was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. With to my visa restrictions I always knew that I was going to have to leave eventually, but when it actually came to the time to make that move, it proved very difficult.

Once I returned from my summer travels and normality had sunken in again (6.30am starts i'm looking at you here!), I began to realise that I could count the weekends I had left in London on my fingers. This, and the fact that I had just spent a month travelling and exploring new things, led me on one last surge of exploring London in an effort to tick off a few more things from my list.

Katie and I went to a balloon display at Covent Garden where an artist had covered the roof with white balloons to represent a heartbeat. We checked out Ledenhall market, the inspiration behind Diagon Alley and climbed the Monument to the Great Fire which had a great view over the city from a new angle.

While the kids were still on summer holidays I took the girls to the Aquarium. We had a great day out on the tube, checking out Big Ben and the London Eye. I wish we had gone on more adventures like this one, but it was hard when thy had such a tricky and tightly packed schedule. After 6 weeks without seeing Lucas, we went to pick him up from Gatwick Airport, and wow, he grew up a lot in that time! I saw a completely different side to him that I had rarely seen up until then. The kids headed back to school and I had some time on my hands to begin to sort my life out (Life Admin).

I celebrated my 23rd birthday in London. Katie surprised me with a black cab ride to a hotel where we had high tea with unlimited champagne for two hours, with a tea stand of sandwiches, scones and cakes. It was so nice to dress up all fancy and is something I will never forget (and the unlimited Champagne was very dangerous!). We went to a rooftop bar in Oxford Street to watch the sun set before heading out to Clapham to dance the night away.

Katie, Andrea and I went to Richmond Deer Park for a picnic . It was a bit of a disaster to begin with as it took us a long time to get there and then began to rain halfway through our picnic of cheese, crackers and wine. Fortunately it was a small shower and we managed to get extremely close to a whole herd of deer. Ellie returned to the UK after Greg's wedding in Brisbane and it was nice to spend some time showing her around London. It was so good to see her again and I hope we can do some more travelling together again soon.

Another adventure was the sky garden on the rooftop of the Walkie Talkie building. It had to be booked a month or so in advance, and Katie and I were very lucky with the weather. It was a beautiful day, clear blue sky and we could see as far as Wembley Stadium in the north west and Greenwich O2 Arena to the south east. After enjoying a cider in the sunshine we decided to venture out to the Royal Victoria Docks in Greenwich where there is a cable car that connects the docks to the O2, across the river Thames. It was pretty scary, because you were so high off the ground but was a cool thing to experience.

Because of the Rugby World Cup, a Fanzone was set up in Richmond Park and Katie, Andrea and I decided to go and watch a match out there. There was a full grandstand set up with massive projectors showing the games. The atmosphere out there was great and we watched Japan beat South Africa. New Zealand played Argentina a couple of days later and we went to an old theatre that had been converted to a bar in Clapham. Kiwis in London had organised a screening of the match where you could get pies and NZ beers while watching the game surrounded by kiwis. I dressed up with NZ flag tattoos on my cheeks and the NZ flag as a cape. It was great fun, and we had a real kiwi pie!

I then went, dressed for the rugby, to Gatwick Airport to meet Bonnie, the new Au Pair. We got on so well right from the beginning. We talked and laughed the whole way home (3 train rides). We spent a week together while I showed Bonnie the school routine and gave the kids some time to get used to her and the idea that I was leaving.

On Sunday, a week after Bonnie had arrived, I finished packing up my things and had to say my final goodbyes to the Rasmussen household. We had a nice big lunch all together, with Katie too and they gave me pandora charms, one from each of the kids, which was so special. I had such an unique experience over the past year being an Au Pair. There was a few tears and moments of weakness, but it is the happy memories that will last forever. I am already wanting to go back and visit them. Alice was bawling her eyes out and it was so heartbreaking! I ended up crying just as much as her, if not more. It was really horrible. I knew I couldn't stay forever though no matter how much I wished it.

I moved all my things to Katies house, where I was supposed to stay for two nights. I ended up staying a week. I had no job and no real plans which caused me to have a bit of a mental breakdown. Despite the fact that I was running out of money I couldn't resist the opportunity to go to Cardiff and watch the All Blacks play Georgia in the Rugby World Cup. It was cool to be back in Cardiff and I got to show Ellie and Andrea around and see everyone in Walkabout.

I was fortunate to get a job offering at the Russell Hotel in St. Andrews, Scotland. I was orginally planning to move to Edinburgh but had to make a dramatic decision of how the next chapter was going it start. Leaving London was really hard. I loved my time there so much and considered it home. I have some amazing memories from my time there that I will remember and reminise about for the rest of my life.

"Sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in your heart." - Winnie the Pooh

I hope this has inspired you.

LARISSAJODEE x

#friends #aupair #celebrationsandevents #lifestyle #bucketlist