Greetings from East Anglia!

Hello everybody, and greetings from Norwich. I am finally here, enjoying England, and tomorrow I will start the second half of my trip.
The days before leaving were very hectic, which is why I had to refrain from blogging for a while, but I'm here again!
The first five days of the trip were spent in Richmond, which is in Southwest London. Dea and I lived at the MacNabbs and were busy with the Jugend Musiziert-competition (or "festival", as the school so majestically called it). I have to admit the feeling was all a bit "been there, done that" since it was the seventh time I took part. This year, however, I didn't participate myself. I accompanied Annika and acted as a sort of phychological motivator for the girls, who did a great job singing. Yesterday, everybody left back to Finland and I took the train from Liverpool Street station to Norwich, where Sonja Vectomov came to meet me.
Sonja was my neighbour when I was about two, and I've seen her since only once very shortly. Still, it feels like we've been seeing each other every year and we're getting along very well. She lives with five art students, and yesterday I was taken straight from the station to the opening of an exhibition by Stef (short for Stefanie). Then, while Sonja had a haircut, I wandered the streets of this city, which has around 195 000 inhabitants. It was a bit of a disappointment, because everything closes here at six. When we got home, there was a sort of spring party going on.
Today, I visited the Norfolk Archive Centre, where I searched through countless parish records and census forms. The staff was very helpful and I got the records I wanted, but there wasn't any information on any ancestors of mine (although I can tell you I'm almost an expert already in the Halifax and Smith families after searching through their burials and marriages). In the end I found out I had been searching a wrong town, which is also called Hopton, but which is near LOWESTOFT, and not THETFORD, where my grandmother's family, the Everetts, came from. This means I am travelling to the Suffolk Records Office in Bury St Edmunds tomorrow. Hopefully my search will be more fruitful.
Lunch was enjoyed at Pizza Hut with Sonja. She was raving about the many Indian restaurants here, but they were all closed, so we had to do with a Super Supreme and Garlic Bread. After that, I spent some time in the shops and now I'm back at Neville Road.
Hope everyone is fine and see you all soon!