London exploring
Thursday: Bill headed to IBM for the day and the kids and I headed out to find the meeting spot for our walking tour. I love walking through this city—there is so much to see everywhere. We stopped at the Marble Arch on the way, cut through Hyde Park part of the way, and then made our way over to the meeting spot (Green Park tube exit). We were trying a new walking tour and decided to explore the Mayfair area. We showed up and it was a fascinating group of people—we were the youngest and the only ones who had never been on one of these tours. Small group, less than 10 people and very interactive. Let’s just say thank goodness these folks knew their history of the movers and shakers of old London money because I did not.
The kids were excellent and participated when called on—the guide was great, perfect job for him and very engaging for all ages. We all agreed that mom and her teacher friends would have loved this tour. We learned about the history of the Mayfair area, saw Grosvenor Square, Berkeley Square, Shepherd Market, Claridges, Loulou’s/5 Hertford St (where Harry and Megan apparently met on their blind date), many of the embassies and private residences of ambassadors and so much more. We saw where John Adams lived and thankfully the Americans on the tour were on their A-game and were able to answer correctly when asked who was the first US Ambassador to Great Britain in 1785. Melina was called on to answer one of the historical questions about a guest at a dinner in 1837, and without skipping a beat she correctly answered Queen Victoria. I was so impressed! All this history is sinking in. We saw the houses where George Handel lived from 1723 on and Jimi Hendrix lived in 1968-1969. I love these tours and you hear all kinds of stories along with the history—whether they are true or not, they are entertaining.
After the tour, we headed to the closest department store (our default stop) for the bathroom as Zach ate and drank his way through the tour so he was in desperate need. Headed to a late lunch afterward — kids wanted sushi and thankfully they had a vegan option for me. Walked home down Oxford Street so Mel could get some shopping in and then headed home.
Friday: This was our big Tower of London day. When we were here in December we didn’t have time to go in so we only saw the outside and bought tickets to go back the 24th of January. Tickets are pricey ($85) so I assigned the kids a project—-both were to research a person who was held prisoner there (Zach chose Elizabeth I and Mel chose Anne Boleyn) and then each one would be a tour guide on the day we went. The kids have been working on it and practicing being a guide (they are learning a lot from the all the tours we have gone on) so we were all looking forward to the day. Bill was coming with us so it was a full family event. In December we stayed right by the Tower of London, but now, staying in Paddington we had a bit of a walk—about 4 miles—and I wanted to be there at 9:30am.
All started off well and of course along the way we saw so much more that we made mental notes to return to on the walk back. About mile 3, I started to not feel so great—my body felt very heavy and I felt a headache coming on. We popped into a cafe and I bought an oatmeal and ate while we walked and had some water. Didn’t help. We made it to the tower and Zach started to melt down. I am not even sure over what as I was seeing spots by that point and taking in all the possible places I could discreetly vomit if needed. I had to walk away from his meltdown because I had absolutely no patience or energy to deal with anyone or anything but myself at that moment. I tried to rally because we all were really looking forward to this day. The kids had done so much research and we’d heard their reports so many times that seeing it in real life was exciting for all of us. I had been as a kid and loved the crown jewels so couldn’t wait for the kids to see them.
We made it to the Mint and to the Beefeater tour (the kids can tell you where that name came from) but then I was done. I couldn’t even stand straight. We headed to the cafe for a tea and to see if I could just dock myself there for a couple hours. It wasn’t happening. Melina, as excited as she was to be there, offered to take me home. I would have gone solo, but honestly, I wasn’t sure I could make it so I was grateful she was coming with me. She asked if we could go see the crown jewels before going and we did. We were SO lucky—no lines, we breezed right in, saw them and headed out.
But, before heading out we stopped by the ticket center. Of course there are no refunds but I was able to apply the $85 we had already spent toward a family membership. I paid the additional $40 since it would easily cost us that for Mel and I to go another day, and now we have a year membership. Hoping to go back Monday or Tuesday—or maybe both. Anyway, it took Mel and I over 90 minutes to get home. We tried to get an uber. No luck. There were no taxis either and I couldn’t do the tube—I needed to be able to get out at a moment’s notice because I was so nauseous—so we started walking. Finally we got an uber and the remaining 3 miles home took forever. I went straight to bed and slept while Melina read, worked on homework and had a tutoring session with her math tutor back home. She is so self-sufficient and I was so appreciative that she took care of me. I felt awful—both physically and for ruining the day we had all been looking forward to so much.
Bill and Zach stayed at the tower and then went to HMS Belfast—-something Zach had been asking to do for weeks. He loved it. They got home late and had a great time. A few pics from Friday, not many due to the shape I was in but will post more of the tower after we go back. Once again, counting my blessings for the fact that we have such a great place where I could just curl up in bed and sleep.
