London
July 30, 2018:
We've spent the past 6 days exploring London. Here is a brief summary of what we've been up to:
Tuesday- got into our flat to drop bags, found our parking spot and went walking. Kensington and Hyde Park walk. Met up with James's parents at London Bridge and walked all along south shore of the Thames. Great burger for dinner and kids got to ride the swings near the London Eye (wait was several hours for the eye). Ice cream from a double decker bus and home late.
Wednesday- got to Buckingham Palace before 10 for a space on the gate to see the changing of the guard. Very pushy and obnoxious people around. Kids enjoyed seeing it all. Our kids have been battling some little bug with fevers and upset stomachs. Casey and James went to British Museum and I brought Julia and Molly home for some down time. It is very hot in London and walking the city while not feeling well is sapping their energy. We rejoined the group by St.Pauls a few hours later and went and sat for Even Song mass at 5:00pm. Afterwards we wandered into a nearby square showing Dirty Dancing on a big screen. We sat and had ice cream and beers and watched. We said goodbye to Donna and Lou who were flying home early the next morning.
Thursday- James took the girls into St.Pauls first thing to go up the dome and int the crypt. I went to wait in line at the theater for day of tickets. We got $20 tickets to see School of Rock that night. I met up with the fam after for lunch and we explored in Soho, Chinatown, Picadilly, Covent Garden, etc. The girls love watching the street performers. James met up with one of his old teammates from Romford. I took the girls up to Kings Cross to see the Harry Potter platform and store. We also went into the nearby fountains to cool off as it was 96 degrees in London today. We came home for a bite to eat, shower and off to the play. We all loved the show, but man was it HOT in there. I felt so badly for the main actor who is a heavy-set guy dancings and singing all over stage.
Friday- Had a slow morning after out late night at the play last night. We wandered over to watch the changing of the horse guard, then just ambled around Westminster, Big Ben, etc. Unfortunately a lot of Parliment and Big Ben are covered up by scaffolding. We went over to Tower bridge, cooled off in more fountains on the south bank, had lunch at a food truck festival by the Saint Katharine's Dock Marina, then made our way out to Greenwich to see the prime meridian. The heat has sapped every last drop of our energy so we came home to chill out for now.
Saturday- Today we took the kids out to Romford to see our old digs but mostly to go to the dog track. We didn't tell them where we were headed, they had to figure it out once we arrived. James and I used to go to the track quite often. It is very close to our flat, free to get in, and you can decide to bet or not. Today we stayed for about 2 hours and watched about 7=8 races. A race is only a minute long, then they bring the dogs in, get the new dogs ready, set the odds, etc. After they got a feel for it we let the kids each take a turn betting on the winner. On the last race before we left we all bet on our favorite dog. Molly and I finally won and we reclaimed almost all of our money. She was so excited! We made our way back to the train station with James stopping at a fish shop for fish and chips (he cannot leave a country without trying it's most iconic foods). When we got back into London I took the girls to Covent Garden to watch more street performers and do some souveneir shopping (their requests). James headed to the Army Museum. We came back to the flat and made dinner then went for a walk around Sloane Square.
Sunday- today we went to the world cup of field hockey which is being held in London. One of our old friends from when we lived here got us tickets. Unfortunately it was a cold and rainy day, but the kids were good sports and despite getting rained on a bit during the walk out to the stadium the weather held off for the most part. We saw Korea vs China who tied 1-1, then we went to the fan zone where the kids did some challenges to complete a booklet. They met a former Argentinian olympian (forget her name, but she's in the photo). We grabbed some burgers and dogs from the concessions and went back in for the second game, Italy vs Netherlands. This time we went right into the front row on the 50 yard line. We were sitting in the Italy family section. Holland absolutely demolished them 12-1. It was great to see high level hockey. We're back at the flat now and packing up.
