It felt GREAT to step off the airplane into 75 degree, dry weather after being soaked to the core in London. But don't let that comment fool you into thinking that we had a miserable, rainy week along the shores of the Thames River.
It was quite a roll of the dice to even take a trip to London at the end of November. There were so many sights that we wanted to see, so much to do outside. Our apartment was in the heart of London; a 10 minute walk to Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament, and Big Ben. There was a Winter Wonderland was going on in Hyde Park, complete with a German Christmas market (think mulled cider...), rides and attractions. And we can't leave out wandering the streets of Soho looking for interesting pubs after a night out at the theater. If the weather ended up being normal for London this time of year, the trip would have been a cold, damp disaster - or at the very least not what we had hoped for. Yes, it was taking a risk -- but come on...when have you known us to flinch?
Steve's sister Holly and her husband Kelly met us there, with their suitcases filled with somewhat random but much desired items for us such as racquetball racquets, college textbooks, Frangos, jeans, legos, and ink cartridges. Not only was it wonderful to be able to see them mid-year, but we love traveling with them and were delighted that they were able to join us.
The weather started out a bit drippy: our first night was spent wandering the immediate area in the rain looking for a restaurant. However, we woke up the next five mornings to blue skies and mild temperatures until the sun set. We spent a majority of our week outside, thinking every morning that the next day would certainly rain; the indoor attractions would have to wait until tomorrow. Unbelievably, "tomorrow" didn't come until our last day there. And once it started raining, it didn't stop all day, night..it was still going when we soggily boarded the plane. We got a real taste of what could have been, and it wasn't pretty.
Holly and I took the kids to see the Lion King at the Lyceum Theatre, celebrating it's 10th year there. The costumes and grandeur defied our imagination, the music was thrilling, and the boys were rapt with delight for the entire two and a half hour show. The larger musical numbers even had animals coming down the aisles! To to be fair, the boys would also add the priviledge of being able to drink blue slushies in the theatre during the show as one of highlights of the experience. And to be just as fair, my own excitement was evident when the lights came on at the end and there was no blue slushy anywhere on the floor! The whole afternoon exceeded our expectations in every way, and is included on all of our lists of favorite London memories.
Steve and Kelly saw the matinee show of We Will Rock You, a musical set to the music of Queen, while we were at the Lion King. Though I don't know any of the details, they apparently had a fabulous time as well and were impressed with the singing ability of the cast.
Amongst the best experiences we had in the city was the Royal London walking tour. The walk took us slowly from Trafalgar Square to Buckingham Palace where we would experience the famed Changing of the Guard. Our guide was animated, energetic, and above all not one bit ashamed to express his passion for England. As he defended the monarchy we got a dose of insight into why this seemingly outdated, seemingly irrelevant institution is still such a large part of the modern British identity. Our guide also had friends in the guard and after a quick cell phone call, he made arrangements for the kids to stand in the guard boxes, apparently something that NO ONE is normally allowed to do.
I'm not sure what Holly and Kelly would say about the food in London, but we greedily gobbled up every bite! In Saudi, our choice of restaurants on the compound is pretty slim and I can make better tasting food at home. Even in Al Khobar, our neighboring town, fighting the traffic and avoiding prayer time makes it's too much of a pain to be worth the marginal food. Therefore, you can be sure that when we are traveling, especially in places where it's safe to eat the food and drink the water, that we make the most of it! Some of our most memorable meals were authentic pub fish and chips with beer on tap, wine and cheese from a local deli, and scones with clotted cream at Harrods. Thanks to our wonderful sister and brother-in-law, Steve and I were able to have a night out and enjoyed an intimate dinner at a French restaurant as well.
As always (and I know you probably get tired of me saying this), the boys traveled like professionals. They continually amaze me with their willingness to walk all day, go on tours, and try new things. Michael even took the subway and city maps a couple times as navigator. That's my boy!
To see more pictures of our week in London, you can view my Facebook album by clicking
here (you don't have to have a Facebook account to view them).
