England

Relief floods through us when we land in London, a place enough like Melbourne to help us forget about the unpleasant feeling Poland has left us with. Instead of staying with potentially vicious hosts, or in a cold hotel room, we are staying with Sandra’s friend Flippa- the most wonderful, beautiful, generous and loving woman in the world. She should be just the medicine we need to overcome our hurting hearts!

She welcomes us into her lovely home with a huge smile and warm, exquisite cuddles. Sharon, who has not met Flippa before, falls as instantly in love as everyone else and our days are spent chatting, gossiping, giggling and comforting. We have a week until our flight to Venice, and plan to spend as many of the minutes between now and then relaxing and sharing in Flippa’s wonderful space.

A week, however, is a long time- and Flippa does have to go to work during the day. So, what do you think we end up doing with all this spare time in the city of culture? There are theatre shows and markets and festivals and performances and museums and nightlife and…

Food.

Ten dollars if you guess what the highlight of Sharon and Sandra’s time in London is! Well, not really- I mean, give us a break. It’s so very obvious, and we’re not made of money, you know!

Clearly, it’s food. We can hear the murmurs of surprise spreading through the audience there- it’s true, England is not usually associated with culinary splendour. What about France, you’re thinking, or Italy? Places where the point of food is to make it even more divine than the previous serving? Well, these places may have such insignificant things as the globe’s most renowned chefs and the planet’s best cuisines- but England, my friend, has something that nobody could ever compete with…

Quorn.

Quorn? you ask. What, like corn, but spelt wrong? No! Quorn is on a culinary level of its own. It is succulent fish, coated with black pepper and lemon-infused bread crumbs and grilled to perfection. It is tender chicken breasts, gently marinated in a honey-mustard sauce. It is moist cottage pie, with fluffy mashed potato topping a layer of rich, luscious mince. Put simply, it is a gourmet range of to-die-for selections.

Wait a minute, we hear you say. Aren’t the two of you dedicated vegetarians? Yes! And that’s the beauty of Quorn. This is a range that makes even meat-eaters jealous- vegetarian meals recreated with such perfection that Quorn’s red meat variety even makes us gag. Needless to say, we devour enough of the range to make up for our many years at home without.

In between eating, we do manage to head out to a market with Flippa, check out her mum’s awesome art presentation, make plans to kidnap Flippa and bring her to Melbourne, play on the laptop, share laughs with Flippa’s flatmate and best friend, and sleep. A lot. And we always return to eating!

The week is just what we need- our yummy meals, the time we’ve had for snuggles, the comforting day-time television, the unlimited naps, and our special moments with Flippa have combined to make us feel relaxed, healed, and ready for our new adventures in Europe.