England: London Part 1

 We got to go to England! I have always wanted to go there since I was little. My uncle, Innes, married my Aunt Kathy (Dad's sister) when I was about 8 and he was from England. I always thought it was cool and he would send post cards from their trips. Because of Innes and Kathy's diligent planning, generosity and my parents' we were able to all go as a family. We are incredibly thankful for the ease in which they help us travel as a family. 

Day 1 was travel day. We flew overnight from Cleveland to London through JFK. All of us slept on and off except Levi who got a solid 6 hours on the flight over. Sadie was super excited for plane dinners as they were a new, elevated experience from plane snacks. I vouch for eye mask now to sleep on planes. Very helpful! 

passport check!  

very tired on car ride from airport to hotel; Innes arranged a car to pick us up which was very kind and made navigating on day 1 easier than taking the Tube or a taxi with all our luggage

On official Day 1 we hit the ground running to help us adjust to the 5 hour time change. It was 10am when arrived so we planned to stay up as late as we could to get on their schedule. We left our luggage at the hotel, Pestana in Battersea, until check in time and Innes and Kathy took us out for breakfast. Then we took the water taxi to Embankment. it was a great way to see the city from the water. The Mackillops also arranged for us a speedboat ride on Thames which was a fast and fun way to get to see London. My cousins, Ian and Alex, and Alex's boyfriend, Avery joined us. 

After the boat rides, we walked to Buckingham Palace passing Big Ben, government buildings, 10 Downing Street (Prime Minister's House) and then back to Battersea for ice cream. It is custom for the ice cream in London to come with "flakes" or chocolate shavings rolled and placed in ice cream. 

Mom and Dad went to Buckingham Palace on their last night and I am inserting some of her pictures here as it was beautiful! 

That night just the 5 of us got delicious Indian food from Cinnamon Kitchen close to our hotel in Battersea. 

On Day 2 it was just the 5 of us and we woke up to the housekeeper knocking on the door! We slept a solid 12 hours which was needed. We hustled out and rode the water taxi again to the Tower of London for  our morning tour.  The kids really enjoyed the tour as it was fascinating to learn the Tower of London had served as a fortress, palace, prison, and even a zoo at one point since originally being built 1070s. Sadie had learned about William the Conqueror and the Battle of Hastings so this was particularly interesting to her. Leighton loved reading all the info on artifacts. Levi was happy that we all got our own individual headphones for audio tours. I enjoyed seeing the infamous crown jewels up close and learned that after the monarch was dissolved in 1649 they burned and destroyed all royal jewels and artifacts except a bird and spoon. So all jewels now are post 1660s....

As we left the Tower of London there were great shots of Tower Bridge (not to be confused with London Bridge) and of course fish and chips for lunch. 

Then we took the Tube to Westminster Abbey. We unfortunately couldn't get in due to being booked for the day. So we rode a bus over to Notting Hill to roam a different area of London. It was very could to see all the iconic London buildings and the history but the city was a very big and busy place. There was also new, modern buildings mixed into the skyline. It was nice to go to Notting Hill and see such a cute neighborhood with no agenda for the afternoon. We had donuts, saw the famous Notting Hill bookstore from the movies, tried a coffee shop, and roam their market. The kids preferred the bus as their mode of transportation because they like to ride upstairs and look out the window. I agree it was neat and I appreciate that all their buses are double deckers still (just updated). 

Notting Hill

We had sunshine (no slickers needed the entire trip!) all week and by late afternoon the sun and walking had everyone looking forward to dinner. We had dinner with the Mackillop family. They took us out to a Pub in which we enjoyed British food and toffee bread pudding for dessert.

Hangry Leighton 

Wes tried to rest his eyes before dinner but with children.... no such luck