December 27, 2003

• God I love England!!! Have I mentioned this yet? It is just the neatest place, with the most delightful people and endless places to explore and see. I think I have easily topped over 200 photos now! By the way, Megan's tummy seems fine now and she is eating normally, well and normally as she eats. Apparently it was just upset from all the traveling.

  
  

  Monday we took the train into London, then the Tube from Paddington Station to a point very close to Buckingham Palace, or "Buck House" as the locals call it. Unfortunately it was the first day of rain since arriving, along with a cold breeze and lots of walking with Becca and Megan, so it was a bit hard at times. We did have umbrellas, but it hard to take photos while holding one, I discovered. We did manage to see Big Ben, Trafalgar Square, the Houses of Parliament and the Palace from the outside and we toured the inside of Westminster Abbey. Becca was not impressed with Westminster Abbey and thought it was gross to have a "lot of dead people" in a church. By then, Megan's feet hurt and she claimed they felt like "spiders" and Becca showed us how her tennis shoe was coming apart and getting water inside. Oh dear!

  
  

  We took a taxi to Harrods' because I had heard so much about it and I was terribly curious to see what it was all about. We learned that Harrods' used to have a motto that they carried everything, and if they didn't have it, they would get it. I believe that now! The place is HUGE! We did visit the shoe department and get new play shoes for both girls, after which Megan claimed she could walk "faster" with her new shoes. Then a quick trip through the toy department, which left both girls drooling, as we reminded them that Christmas was just around the corner.

  
  

  For lunch we met an online chat friend and had a nice lunch at Pizza Express, a chain in the UK that seemed very un-chain-like. I think the British have chains down better than the US. Lunch was very good and it was nice to dry off and warm up. Finally we went back to the tube, took that to the train station and then the 2 hour trip back to our friends house. It was really fun and both girls slept hard on the trip home.

  
  

  Christmas Eve was magical. Joe's grown children, and daughter-in-law-to-be arrived and it was really nice to meet them. Ann made the most amazing leg of lamb for lunch that had everyone drooling! Then we took a trip to a little village called Chipping Campden to walk around and look at the building and Christmas lights. Here is a village that people still go to a butcher for meet, a produce store for fruit and veggies, etc. How lovely!

  
  

  In the evening, we went over to the pub that I posted a picture of, some blogs back, called the Fleece. Father Christmas was coming and we surprised the girls with that! He even brought a sack with small, but modest toys for each child there. Megan's eyes were glowing, but Becca no longer believes in Santa, so she was not quite as excited, but seemed to enjoy it anyhow. This was followed by singing Christmas carols in the pub by a warm fire. It was the most special way to celebrate! After the pub we returned home and opened gifts. This is the tradition in Joe's family, as he is originally from Germany where they open things Christmas Eve. Joe and Ann wanted to go to midnight mass and hoped I could go along, but I needed someone to look after the girls. One of his kids agreed and Megan went back to sleep, but Becca insisted she could stay up and go. So, with a lot of hesitation, I said yes, expecting her to pass out long before then. About 10 pm, Christmas carolers came around to the house and sang three songs for us, again a very magical moment that seemed like something that really only happened in books. Midnight came and Becca did indeed stay up and she sang almost all the Christmas carols. At one in the morning, we headed home, the weather changing to very cold and windy, we snuggled in our beds, with visions of sugarplums dancing in our heads.

  
  

  To be continued...

  • 4:20 pm
  • 7 Comments