Hello! Hope you are all enjoying a lovely Christmas! Ours has been slowed due to Covid (the No. 1 thing I hoped would NOT still be a thing this Christmas) but here we are. Feeling grateful for being together and excited to see our extended family when we are able. I intend to start writing again more soon (I said that eight months ago), but thought I would pop in with a quick post of something I hadn’t yet shared.
In the spirit of Christmas, here are pictures from our first trip to London, all the way back to December of 2018. We were only a few months into our time in the U.K., and we were so excited to take the train from Crewe to London, arriving at London Euston on a Friday night with high hopes. It was a beautiful weekend in the city, and so fun to look back on – can you believe how little the boys are??! It doesn’t seem that long ago. Hope you enjoy a look back at Christmastime in London.
These photos crack me up – straight from school, to the train, to the Tube trying to find our hotel…Nate’s hunger and tiredness was very real. Meanwhile, Bennett just read the paper like an old man who could not be bothered. Luckily, we found a new to us, hole in the wall restaurant called Pizza Express! (We later learned this is a very common chain in every city in the U.K. A unique London find, it was not. But it hit the spot.
The next morning we headed to the Tower of London and it was an AMAZING!!!!!!! (Nate helped me out by typing that last part, but it really was pretty cool.) This fortress was initially built by William the Conquerer in 1070s and has a storied history filled with royal history, death, and more. Here’s a link for more. Now, it’s still an impressive fortress and keeper of the Crown Jewels, which we weren’t allowed to photograph, guards, armory, ravens and more. We enjoyed a few hours here and were soaking in the history of London. It also provides an amazing view of the Tower Bridge, an iconic symbol of London.
As it was our first trip to London, we had to make sure to hit some of the most popular destinations. We walked over to Big Ben, which was covered in scaffolding – in fact, I think it still is, so maybe our next visit to London we’ll see it without! We like to call the first photo below Big Ben, little Bennett.
Then, a ride on the London Eye, a huge ferris wheel on the banks of the River Thames. The boys loved the view, and I love that it was enclosed so I didn’t worry about them going anywhere. We rode with a large group of women visiting from somewhere and they were so excited and loud that it made us both excited along with them, and also wishing we could take the decibel level down a notch to enjoy the awesomeness of the view.
After our ride, we grabbed treats, walked along the River Thames, wandering through a Christmas market. (What do I miss most about England at this time of year, besides our friends of course? Christmas markets. And mulled wine.) Then we hopped back on the Tube over to an area we had heard had beautiful Christmas lights, Regent Street. I can’t remember; I believe we might have been to Oxford Street too where I know there are some as well, but at this point, we were overwhelmed tourists. It’s interesting to look at photos before crowds were a concern, they were just mildly annoying. We hopped out onto a bustling, crowded, gorgeous London street and tried our best to take it in and take some photos. It was everything we had imagined, and more. Beautiful London at Christmas.
The next morning, we took the boys to the famous theatrical West End for a classic British performance. Shakespeare? Yawn. Les Mis? No. Julia Donaldson’s Room on the Broom? Absolutely. The boys loved the show, though not as much as the creative street performers.
After the show, we split up for a bit. I walked and wandered over to some of the expensive shops of London, at least for me! I wandered into Harrods, bustling with Christmas shoppers. It was an overwhelmingly large store and I wanted to see everything while not being able to afford anything. I squeezed my way through the toy area, the market full of shoppers and diners, and then up through the household goods area – holy expensive vases and dinnerware – before finally finding the Christmas area. I then made my purchase, a single Harrods Christmas ornament, with the year: 2018. It hangs on our tree today.
Then, I wandered over to Buckingham Palace, to see if the Queen was in. I believe she was already at her Sandringham estate. We would be back, for a more official summer tour.
The boys headed to the British Museum, specifically to see the Egyptian artifacts. Bennett had been learning about ancient Egypt in school, and was excited to see the Rosetta Stone, an inscribed slab that became the key piece in unlocking the hieroglyphic script.
We met back up and found a Vietnamese restaurant for dinner. It turns out the boys like noodles of all flavors. Finally, we worked our way back to Euston for the train ride home. Our first trip to London had been busy, educational, beautiful and overwhelming. We couldn’t wait to come back … but that night, we were happy to arrive back to the quiet countryside.
Thanks for strolling down memory lane with me. I hope you all have a lovely Christmas and a great start to 2022!
Tosa to Tarporley 