Lots of love for London

When John and I spent the year in Cambridge, we took advantage of its close proximity to London (45 minutes on the fast train) and saw many museums, plays, music performances, and more. But we never saw it from a kids' perspective, and we never actually stayed overnight there.

We did both of those these last four nights, and it was a great reintroduction to a great city, allowing us to see it in a completely different light. First -- who knew there were so many kids' things to do in London (and that many, including ALL of the museums, were free)? Everywhere we turned we found parks and playgrounds and things to climb on and paths to run on. While I still don't have a great desire to live in a huge city, if I ever had to, I think London would be the way to go.

And by staying with friends who live in London, we got to see more of the city, and at a slower pace, than we ever did during our breathless daytrips in 1996-97. Our hosts were Ravi, whom we met almost 20 years ago at university, and his amazing wife Kavi, their two sweet boys (ages 1 and almost 3), and Kavi's lovely parents. They pulled out all of the stops, cooking amazing meals (with many dishes from India, but others from France, Italy, Thailand and Sri Lanka), showing us their beautiful neighborhood, and welcoming our big noisy family with a kind of generosity and warmth you just don't see every day. Adding to the fun was that Kate and Liv LOVED "taking care" of  the newly-walking Adi, while big brother Anirud quickly fell under Jack's Pied Piper spell (and would do anything Jack suggested -- thankfully, Jack used this power for good and not evil). After a week of having just each other as playmates and the few toys we have in our luggage, it was just the thing all three kids needed.

A few fun highlights -- Ravi teaching Jack to eat mango "the Indian way"; Jack asking for more ghee (clarified butter) for his rice and broccoli; Livie stating clearly, as we talked about returning to Ely, that she liked this (London) house much better, and it even has a baby; going to a Bikram (hot) yoga class with Kavi; baking a tarte aux pommes on the last night (which felt great not only because it turned out, but also because we had spent four days eating incredible concoctions from Kavi, her mom, and Ravi, and it was fun to be able to prepare something for them); watching Jack and Ani (and John and Ravi) happily play Wii Sunday morning; and so many, many great conversations around the table.

And London itself was wonderful. Highlights included seeing the water lilies at Kew Garden; discovering the giant dinosaurs at the Natural History museum with Jack; going from a slightly disappointed mood as huge crowds kept us from seeing much at the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace to delighted moods as we met a school group from Calgary and then walked down to Trafalger Square and had a picnic and played on the lions; discovering that the little tea shop in the crypt of St-Martin-in-the-Field still offered tasty treats, and seeing the fun the kids had as they made brass rubbings; going from a slightly disappointed mood (again) when we discovered that the Victoria and Albert Museum of Childhood was not actually located at the Victoria and Albert Museum -- to a delighted one (again) when we found out that the big non-kid museum still had a special kids' event that took little ones around the museum and then had them do a fun craft all afternoon; seeing Platforms 9 and 10 at Kings' Cross and wondering if we could head to Hogwarts if we returned on September 1; riding a double decker bus and the Underground (a thrill for all three kids); and playing in different parks all over the city.

A lot of these suggestions came through a friend on Facebook -- the niece of a dear Lethbridge friend I have met just once, but who sent some great ideas along (including the names of a place to get picnic food, good walks to take, and more) that all were just right. Thanks, Shannon!

And now we are back in Ely. John left London for his Denmark conference early this morning, and the kids and I left Ravi and Kavi's house at about 10 a.m.. We walked to the bus stop, took a double-decker bus about a mile or so, hopped on the subway for 12 stops, took a LONG walk underground to the train station, found out way on two trains, AND splurged on a taxi to arrive back to the house in Ely in the rain about 2.5 hours later. In between the worry about crowds and commotion and missed connections, I simply marvel when I step back and watch all three kids as we travel. They are so much savvier at 4, 4, and 7 than I was at 20 and visited London during my semester in Dijon.

Who knows what adventures await them in the future?!

Well, the kids and I need to walk and get our groceries. I'll post pictures when we are back -- or later tonight.