London - part 2

London is such a beautiful city. I could easily come back here and stroll these streets for a lifetime. Plus, the British are some of my favorite people on the planet, especially for their dry sense of humor that arose during any tour we did. 

One of our tours, the Tower of London, was full of stories. I knew almost nothing about it except some references to “beef-eaters” and that Tom called it the “Torture Tower.”

Anyway, I won’t spoil it by telling everything that happens there. You should definitely go, especially if you enjoy the Crown Jewels, royal intrigue and a history of fancy people getting executed throughout the centuries. 

One thing to consider when you are traveling to London is that there is probably going to be a fair amount of walking involved and much of that on cobblestones or other “historic” surfaces. 

By the time we had finished our tour of the Tower of London, I had already hit my 10,000 steps. Most of this was just from walking to and from public transportation. 

So, scheduling a medieval walking tour immediately afterwards was perhaps not the best of our plans, when considering the needs of the younger kids and the, um, older folks. It was, however, an amazing tour. 

We walked from the Tower of London, crossed the Tower Bridge, meandered through Borough Market, saw the Shard, the Globe Theatre, and then crossed the Thames again by way of the Millennium Bridge. 

So, by the time we arrived at our ultimate stop of St. Paul’s Cathedral, we were fairly limping. 

Luckily, our arrival at St. Paul’s coincided with Evening Prayer. We went in (tip: entrance to St. Paul’s is free for those attending services), and had a sweet and holy rest stop.

Don't be fooled by this smile. She is done!

Afterwards, we only had enough energy left for a cute bookstore-inspired pub, and then a much needed Uber back home. No more walking today!

The next day, Tom and the boys got up early to go visit Platform 9 and 3/4 at the King’s Cross station before the daily crowds hit. 

Then we spent the rest of the morning at the Natural History Museum.

The creepy fish exhibit was a family favorite, but so was the collection of hummingbirds. 

One of the sweetest joys of traveling is being able to make new friends, but also to reconnect with old ones who now live in faraway places. We got to meet up with a dear friend of mine from when I lived in Los Angeles. It’s been over 20 years since I’ve seen Alex Cardwell, but it felt like yesterday that we visited India together for the first time.

You can’t share the experience of your first Indian train ride without bonding with your fellow travelers. And our first was 36 hours long, from Chennai to Mumbai in a 2nd class sleeper car. A lively church group, who accompanied us, enjoyed how enthralled we were with all the sites, the food and the monkeys. Our new friends also taught us how to wear a sari. So you know … bonded. 

These days, Alex lives in Cambridge (doesn’t that sound lovely!) but took the trip into London to help me introduce the family to the delights of afternoon tea. 

My parents, as well as Jimmy and Sammy, had not experienced a “proper tea” before, which for those of you who likewise haven’t had the privilege, Afternoon Tea is a lot more than just drinking tea. Don’t be fooled by the tiny cuts of sandwiches and miniature pastries. I’ve yet to finish a tea where I didn’t feel like I needed to be rolled out of the restaurant.

So, on a great tip from our buddy Nate, we got reservations at “The Orangery” at the Kensington Palace Gardens. Yes, that’s right, we had our tea at Kensington Palace. 

Proper, indeed!