We have just returned from 4 exciting days in London. The girls are fast asleep and I'm drinking a nice cuppa tea while I sit down to share the first bit of our trip. Barry and I made the decision to make this visit all about the girls (a Roman and ruins free itinerary!) by taking advantage of all the city has to offer for kids and let the girls make some of the choices about how we spent our days. Lily still can't quite get over the fact that there is a country in Europe where people speak English, and with that great accent she recognized from the tapes used by her English teacher at school. Grace has informed me that she will be moving to London when she gets older and hopes I can make it out to visit her...I think her first taste of crumpet soaked with butter helped seal the deal!
Here the girls are in Piccadilly Circus heading towards the top secret desination on our first evening in London: "Mamma Mia"!
The girls were thrilled! There was lots of discussion on how the play differed from the movie. Afterwards we headed back to our Kensington hotel neighbourhood and ate Indian food in a nearby restaurant - what a treat. Indian food is much harder to come by in Southern France.
The first sight on Grace's "London to-do-list" was Big Ben. I think the girls had seen it on the kid's show "Are We There Yet?" - a family favourite when we are in Canada. This is were we headed on Saturday morning.
From Big Ben we headed across the road to Westminister Abbey as Lily wanted to see where "the prince and princess are going to kiss on lips". We were given clipboards and a children's questionnaire to fill in that was so much fun to complete as a family and took us to many of the most interesting sights. Upon completing them, the girls headed into the gift shop and were rewarded with a large chocolate coin. Among the throngs of tourists in the Abbey, there were also crews of technicians getting geared up for the big event.
That afternoon we met up with a friend that I hadn't seen in 20 some years (hard to believe!) who lives in London with her husband and young son. We played in Hyde Park and then headed to a pub for a drink and a visit. A memorable first 24 hours in London!
More London news to come...
Great blog - wish I had been with you!! Loved Lily's remarks about speaking english and also how Gracie will be living there when she grows up. Man I love those girls :) Can't wait for the next news update - perhaps I will just re-read this one again :)
ReplyDeleteI can imagine how thrilled the girls were to see Mamma Mia in a live show. It's so nice that they were able to visit Westminster Abbey and see Big Ben, too. They'll be able to watch the big wedding on TV now and really relate to where it's happening. Finally a real, live Prince and Princess to watch after visiting all those empty palaces and castles in France.
ReplyDeleteLorne