London: Arrival (Saturday, April 13) and Day 1 (Sunday, April 14)
London! We're in London. The "we" this time is bigger: Andrew, me, Lucia, Greta, AND Mom and Dad. We left Saturday morning, and arrived in London late that evening. By the time we got to our apartment in Bloomsbury, it was almost 10pm. Andrew and I ran out to find a grocery store and brought back sandwiches for dinner. Everyone went to sleep. It's a great apartment, by the way--a hotel-like apartment from a company Sonder. Way better than a hotel, though, with a full kitchen, three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a huge living room. Perfect for all six of us, and super modern. Plus a perfect location, right down the block from the British Museum. Andrew always finds the best places for us to stay.
We started our first London day with sub-par pastries we'd picked up at the grocery store, but it was for the best, since of course it was hard for the kids to get up. Sunday was a big sight-seeing day, and we started with the London Eye. Mom hadn't planned on going on, but when she saw how truly slowly the wheel moves along its path, she changed her mind. We spotted all the big landmarks and even the Google building where Andrew spends his time when he's in London for work.
Next we got some snacks (candy) and walked to Buckingham Palace, where we saw some guards marching around and lots of beautiful tulips. We walked through St. James's Park, where Greta was charmed by a sleeping swan. She spent the rest of the walk pausing to draw sleeping swans in her notebook.
We walked through Trafalgar Square, where the girls tried (unsuccessfully) to climb the lions, and wound up at the National Portrait Gallery. What a great museum--we barely scratched the surface. Every portrait had a story behind it. L&G are excellent museum-goers, but we obviously couldn't stay as long as we would have liked, reading all the informational tags. I've been inspired to create vignette-style informational panels for my Portraits of Strangers gallery in my attic stairwell.
Next we went to a hellscape called Hamley's, a giant toystore, where the selections, I have to say, were underwhelming, and priced exorbitantly. It was especially chaotic because "demonstrators" were showing off various toys throughout the store--gliding planes, shoe-wheel things, huge bubbles. Invasive, attention-grabbing toys. Through skillful parenting and guidance, we were able to steer the girls to an admittedly stunning display of marbles of all different sizes, and let them each fill a small cloth marble bag. They're pretty great marbles. They've been playing with them any time we're at the apartment, making up elaborate rolling games on the smooth floors. Worth it. Perfect souvenir.
Next stop--Foyles, where the kids, Andrew, and I bought books. By this point we were pretty tired, so we had a little downtime at home after all that, and then set out once more for dinner. Andrew and I had plans to find a Sunday Roast somewhere, and found a great one at a place called The Porcupine in Leicester Square, in operation since 1725. We snagged a table in the upstairs dining area and had a lovely meal. My roast chicken was fantastic. Fun and very atmospheric.
And then--home. According to Mom's step counter, we walked eight miles on Sunday. The girls didn't complain once. A great first day.
I'm going to include lots of pics at some point, but for now...just a post.
We started our first London day with sub-par pastries we'd picked up at the grocery store, but it was for the best, since of course it was hard for the kids to get up. Sunday was a big sight-seeing day, and we started with the London Eye. Mom hadn't planned on going on, but when she saw how truly slowly the wheel moves along its path, she changed her mind. We spotted all the big landmarks and even the Google building where Andrew spends his time when he's in London for work.
Next we got some snacks (candy) and walked to Buckingham Palace, where we saw some guards marching around and lots of beautiful tulips. We walked through St. James's Park, where Greta was charmed by a sleeping swan. She spent the rest of the walk pausing to draw sleeping swans in her notebook.
We walked through Trafalgar Square, where the girls tried (unsuccessfully) to climb the lions, and wound up at the National Portrait Gallery. What a great museum--we barely scratched the surface. Every portrait had a story behind it. L&G are excellent museum-goers, but we obviously couldn't stay as long as we would have liked, reading all the informational tags. I've been inspired to create vignette-style informational panels for my Portraits of Strangers gallery in my attic stairwell.
Next we went to a hellscape called Hamley's, a giant toystore, where the selections, I have to say, were underwhelming, and priced exorbitantly. It was especially chaotic because "demonstrators" were showing off various toys throughout the store--gliding planes, shoe-wheel things, huge bubbles. Invasive, attention-grabbing toys. Through skillful parenting and guidance, we were able to steer the girls to an admittedly stunning display of marbles of all different sizes, and let them each fill a small cloth marble bag. They're pretty great marbles. They've been playing with them any time we're at the apartment, making up elaborate rolling games on the smooth floors. Worth it. Perfect souvenir.
Next stop--Foyles, where the kids, Andrew, and I bought books. By this point we were pretty tired, so we had a little downtime at home after all that, and then set out once more for dinner. Andrew and I had plans to find a Sunday Roast somewhere, and found a great one at a place called The Porcupine in Leicester Square, in operation since 1725. We snagged a table in the upstairs dining area and had a lovely meal. My roast chicken was fantastic. Fun and very atmospheric.
And then--home. According to Mom's step counter, we walked eight miles on Sunday. The girls didn't complain once. A great first day.
I'm going to include lots of pics at some point, but for now...just a post.
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