Wednesday May 31st we left hot Charlotte for a cooler London, but it took 3 planes to get there and we were exhausted by the time we arrived on English soil. We flew from Charlotte to Atlanta to Amsterdam to London. Our stop in Amsterdam was a bit surprising to us because we went straight into the terminal when departing the plane and not into customs/immigration like normal. We were very confused but continued toward baggage claim because we were taking a different airline to London we had to get our bags and then re-check in. So the immigration part was right before baggage claim, so I’m not sure what one would do if they didn’t have checked in luggage? Anyway, we got our bags, re-checked in, and had to go back through security and passport control to get back into the main terminal. Our gate ended up being right next to the gate we had arrived at 3 hours prior! One funny thing that occurred at one of the passport checks at Amsterdam airport was that the immigration officer held up his phone towards us with an image of the sun on it. None of us had a clue as to why he was showing us a photo of the sun, until he commented on Kyle who was wearing his sunglasses! At least he had some humor about it! Our plane to London City Airport, contained a crying baby the entire ride and then it was a little unnerving when a passenger decided to stand up and put on an assortment of religious garb and start praying right after the pilot had announced we were starting our descent, it took the flight attendants a good few minutes to get him to sit back down so we could land. His timing wasn’t ideal.

The rest of Thursday was spent napping on and off, unpacking, getting some food from the small market and eating a light dinner before crashing early. Our Airbnb is a cute two story townhouse in a village called Blackheath, which is situated east of London and south of Greenwich. Two bedrooms containing queen beds, with an extra single bed set up in one room for Braydon, unfortunately his feet hang off the end a bit. One bathroom-which is very difficult to get used to again. The kitchen here is tiny but very well decorated in a retro-English paraphernalia style; super cute. A living room with a desk for Paul to work at concludes the tour. We love that we can walk to the little village with lots of restaurants and shops, and a huge heath (grassy area) nearby.

Friday June 2nd we had a lazy morning then walked across the heath through Greenwich park to the Royal Observatory, stood across the Prime Meridian and saw the Shepherd Gate Clock, which was the first clock ever to show Greenwich Mean Time to the public. The interesting thing about this clock is twofold, one it has 24 hours on the face rather than 12, and it doesn’t change for daylight savings time, so at the moment, it’s an hour off of local time. We walked down the very steep hill towards the Queen’s House, Royal Naval College, Maritime Museum, etc. We walked fairly quickly through the Queen’s House, then got some lunch in Greenwich Market. We walked a good 6 1/2 miles on Friday, Paul worked that afternoon/evening and we ate dinner in.

Saturday June 3rd we were planning on taking the train into center city London, but there was a strike. Luckily there is an Uber boat that travels down the Thames River, so we walked over to Greenwich again to pick up the boat and ride it down the river under the London and Tower Bridges. We wandered through Covent Gardens, saw some areas that were Harry Potter inspiration points, tried some yummy cheese at Neil’s yard dairy, grabbed lunch at a place that has prepared Japanese fare for grab n’ go, then made our way across the river to the Southbank to watch a play. Neither of my boys (nor Paul if I’m being honest) wanted to see a musical, so we went and saw Witness for the Prosecution which is about a guy being tried for murder. The theater looks like a court room. It was a fun play and we all enjoyed it. Afterwards we were lucky enough to meet up with Paul’s cousin, Rachel & Dan and their son Elliot. It was so nice catching up with them again, it’s always a fun time when we see them.

Sunday June 4th Kyle and I went to the village church for Sunday Mass, it was very different from our huge mega Church that we generally attend in Charlotte, but we were both glad to have gone. We were all a bit lazy Sunday afternoon and it took us a while to get out of the house, but finally we walked to Greenwich again (this is just over a 1 mile walk by the way) explored different paths in the gardens/park and decided to check out the maritime museum. I hate to say it but the boys and I were not super interested in this and Braydon and I took off a bit early to go get ice cream. It was a beautiful day so everyone was out enjoying the sunshine, lounging in the parks, having picnics, playing football (soccer), etc. We found a cool pub on the water in Greenwich and decided to have a drink and play some card games. The boys eventually got bored of us and walked back to the Airbnb on their own. Paul and I stopped at a grocery store then took the bus back-I may not have mentioned that the walk back from Greenwich to Blackheath involves a VERY steep hill which my legs are quite sore from going up and down this hill, so I insisted we take the bus on Sunday.

Monday June 5th started with Paul and Kyle taking a run. Of course, Paul has been running every day, but unexpectantly so has Kyle. Braydon and I will stick to all the walking! We were able to take the train (no strikes) into London today to tour the Tower of London. The Yeoman Warder tour was very good. Our guide made it quite humorous by excitedly elaborating the torture and be-headings that occurred at the Tower many centuries ago. Neither boy was interested in taking the tour but both were very glad they stuck around for it at the end. The line to see the Crown Jewels was very long, so Kyle pulled up a picture of them on his phone and said, ok good enough, I’ve seen them we don’t have to stand in line! We then headed back to our Airbnb on the train, the boys and I stopping at a big grocery store to pick up some supplies as Paul made his way to start work. Our mornings tend to go by quicker in England because of the time difference, Paul has to start work at 2:00, and we are not morning people, so we don’t get too much into a weekday morning.

Tuesday June 6th we ended up renting a car to drive to Oxford, it turned out to be a lot cheaper and easier than the 3 plus trains we would have had to take to get there. We took a Footprints Tour of Oxford, led by a student currently enrolled at Oxford University, so therefore she was able to take us into some of the Colleges that are part of Oxford University. We all enjoyed the tour, Kyle and I more than Paul and Braydon, but mainly I think they were just cold. (Braydon wore shorts, whereas I had my beanie, gloves and coat on!) The girl was very informative and we learned a lot about the history of the city and the University. We were lucky to be there on Exam days, where the students who were taking exams had to wear a certain black and white uniform, some even had gowns on. They had flowers in their lapels, white signifying first exams, pink was somewhere in the middle and red meant they had completed all their exams! Another thing she told us about was the Bullingdon Club, which is a private club of very wealthy students who are initiated by a tap on the shoulder saying you are invited, then they would proceed to destroy the students room including tearing up their sheets and leaving one jar of thick English mustard which must be eaten fully by the student, then he is officially in the Bullingdon Club. One tradition of theirs is to go into a restaurant eat dinner then destroy as much as possible without harming a person, then leaving enough if not double the amount of money to pay for the damages. Boris Johnston was one such member. 😉 A very prestigious college is All Souls College where only the best of the best get in. It is an academic research facility. Currently there are 80 Fellows of All Souls, with only 7 in residence.

After our tour of Oxford we drove to Paul’s Uncle Nigel and Aunt Jane’s house in Bampton. For those who followed the blog last year, you might remember that Bampton is the town Downton Abbey was filmed in, including the church Mary was married in. We had a lovely visit with them and Paul’s cousin Robert and Felicity. We had a lively debate/discussion as to whether a certain painting in their living room had water, mountains or sky in the background. How many Brits does it take to close an old fashioned German camera? 5 plus help by an American teenager (Kyle) using Google!

Wednesday June 7th after spending the night and a leisurely morning at Nigel and Jane’s house, we drove the 2 ½ hours back to Blackheath and our Airbnb so Paul could start his work day. Kyle decided to check out a local gym, so he and I walked down to Greenwich. While he worked out, I walked around and chatted on the phone, did a little grocery shopping and then took the bus back. I made baked potatoes in an oven where I have no idea what the controls mean, I searched online extensively, but couldn’t figure out how to know what the temperatures were. One knob has S1-9 on it and the other knob has big flame and little flame. I lit them both and turned both to the middle and hoped for the best! They did cook, so I must have done something right, but I really don’t think I needed both oven’s on. Oops! The struggles of cooking abroad continue.

Thursday June 8th Our last full day in London. We took the train back into center city, walked around Buckingham Palace, then down to Harrods, Paul’s choice. His childhood memory of Harrods is when he got separated from his grandparents and found the big Lego section, boy was he disappointed to walk into fancy handbags, smelly perfumes and other expensive designer items we have no interest in! We finally made our way through the maze to the Lego/toy area and what a let down it was, since the area is so much smaller than his memories. It was interesting to see everything though, so not a waste of time. Paul had to head back to work, so the boys and I continued walking around Hyde Park, we saw some baby ducks all huddled together which was adorable. We also saw a fox, which I thought was a dog at first. Then Thursday evening I decided to attend a yoga class at a local studio. It was a fun and challenging class, I’m sure I’ll be sore tomorrow!

That completes our first week and our time in London, England. A few thoughts…my shoes are not working for me and I wish I had something else, not sure what, but another choice would be nice. Also, I wish I had another sweatshirt to wear, because I’ve worn the same one every day! Even though I read reviews and thought that the Internet would be good here, Paul is struggling with the Wifi situation for work. I’m not exactly sure how to rectify that for the rest of the trip.