The night they got in, we went to a pub called "The Volunteer" for dinner. Mom had fish and chips, served with mushy peas! gross. And Frankie very much enjoyed her first public cider (since she'll be 21 in April). Her and Bobby are cheers-ing below. She's already planning her 21st bday celebration abroad...
While Bobby and I were at school/work during the day, mom settled Frankie into school, shopped and explored the city. Frankie moved into her place on Thursday and quickly made a great group of girl friends. I think they have been going out at least 4 nights a week- ahh, the life of a student abroad! (btw - she's arriving in Dublin for the weekend as I type) Each night we'd all meet up for late dinners and plan out the next day. I made mom a list of London activities to do while she was here, and I swear she must have crossed off every one.
On Saturday, we went shopping on Portobello Road which is about a 2 mile long street that has shops and market stalls all along it selling everything - antiques, clothes, art. Mom bought some gifts and a beautiful necklace for herself as a London treat. I got some jazz cd's and a huge loaf of freshly baked sourdough bread for Bobby (which he loved). Then we walked around Buckingham Palace, Big Ben and along the Thames River to my office.
Saturday night all the girls went to see the Sound of Music. When the lights went up at intermission, the three of us turned to eachother with tears in our eyes - it was so good. We were singing our favorite songs all weekend! We even waited at the stage door so Frankie could get her picture with Maria, who come to find out, won a UK reality TV show to get the role! Here's us on our way to the theater waiting for the tube...
The next day we went to a Sunday roast at the Prince Bonaparte pub in Notting Hill. It was a leisurely meal, complete with bloody mary's, rib eye roasts, parsnips, roasted potatoes, and yorkshire pudding. Then, shopping again, at Primark - my new favourite store, pretty much because it's the only place I can afford!
Monday started a really long, hectic week for me. I stayed over near the client site in Reading, England (ha!) on Tuesday night, and got back between 9 and 10pm the rest of the week. Frankie started classes and Judes did much more exploring. Tower of London (where they keep the crown jewels), Spitafields market, changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace, National Portriat Gallery, Tate Modern museum, Windsor Castle, and St. Paul's Cathedral...just to name a few. From what I heard, there were some very nice Londoners who helped her find her way around the city (thank god). But most of the time she'd just wander and see where she'd end up.
Friday night after work we went to an amazing Moroccan restaurant called Momo in Picadilly Circus (Kim D & KT - on the same street as Strawberry Moons...memories). The atmosphere made you feel like you were at a souk. At one point during the night, the waitstaff started clapping and dancing to music and served a shot (we think) to one of the guests! And believe it or not, we tried the wild pigeon for an appetizer. It actually tasted like hamburger. As my dad pointed out, we could have gone outside and had it for free.
Saturday was mom's last day in London. We went to Borough Market for lunch (another daring meal - I had and ostrich sausage and mom had wild boar sausage with warm pepper sauce) and then we went up to St. John's wood. We went to go watch Bobby's cricket practice at Lord's cricket ground, which is very famous here. Unfortunately, his practice was cancelled so we couldn't heckle him, but we did buy him some "whites" at the gift shop - what they call the uniform.
Sidenote - Bobby not only has joined the cricket team, but also the foosball team. He had practice at the pub after school last week. In April, he's going to Paris to compete in the MBAT (MBA tournament) in both sports. I will be there with my camera.... :)
Saturday night we all went to dinner at a gastropub in Islington. Mom tried dover sole, which you can only get in England I guess. It was an early night because her flight was at 9am the next day. We did manage to stop at King's Cross station and take a few pictures of all of us pretending to jump through the wall at Platform 9 3/4. I guess it's a big Harry Potter thing - where they leave London to travel to Hogwarts?? The pics came out great though - I'll post them soon.
We had a lot of laughs and I'm so impressed with all the sightseeing that mom did! Now back to reality....Although Frankie already came over for dinner last night - we love having her here!
No comments:
Post a Comment