It’s London baby!

Does anyone else always hear Joey Tribbiani whenever you say the word London? It can’t just be me who has to add “baby” every time I think of London. Anyway, Friends nostalgia aside, I spent a fabulous five days in London with the kids and my parents at the start of our big trip to England and Spain this winter. First of all, the weather was glorious as it was of course summer in London. While driving from Heathrow airport to our Airbnb in the early evening we passed many people enjoying an after work drink, spilling out of the pub onto the pavement and makeshift tables out. It brought back such warm memories of my life in London in my twenties, living it up without any real responsibilities (ie children). What bliss! Or at least that is how summer in London will be forever be preserved in my memories. (No need to worry about completely factual memories of your youth as you get older. What fun would that be?)

We stayed in an area of south London called West Norwood. This is just south of where I lived for a big part of my time in London, Herne Hill, so I was somewhat familiar with the area. There was also the added benefit of being close to some of my old friends. Our airbnb was a three bedroom townhouse and was what I would call an “authentic” airbnb. Clearly the owners lived there normally and had just vacated for our stay - the cupboards and closets were full and it was kind of strange, but then I tried to keep reminding myself that this was the original intention of Airbnb. Maybe I would have liked some space to hang my clothes in the closet… but at least they had some coffee for us to use in the morning. Anyway, it was fine for our needs - it had a lovely big garden that we were able to enjoy, and was a 10 minute walk from a train station, lots of buses, and a good selection of pubs and cafes. Really, what more do you need?

Enjoying a cheese and veggie platter in the garden of our airbnb.

The kids and I arrived from Heathrow after a painstakingly slow taxi ride (nearly an hour and a half!) at around 6 or 7pm. This felt sooooo long after 24 hours of travel and I was dying to get out of the taxi and see my mom and dad! Luckily my parents had arrived a few hours before us and had stocked up on some groceries and things for when we got there. Once we finally arrived it was so beautiful to see the kids and my parents reunited after a year and a half, and the best part was that the kids acted as if no time had passed since they'd seen each other, falling straight into normal behaviours with their Nannie and Grampy. 

At this time of year in England the sun doesn't set until after 10pm, so it was probably pretty late before we all went to bed. I'd hoped the kids would sleep in, but with the sunrise at 4am, there was no convincing Ollie that it was not yet morning when he woke around 4:30am. The first few days were like this... Ollie getting up ridiculously early and jumping on me, crying out "it's morning mum! It's morning! The sun is up! Get up!" To be fair to him, it is hard to believe it is not morning with the bright sun shining in your bedroom window. Thank goodness when we left London to stay with Andy's parents they had blackout blinds on the windows which helped the kids sleep in longer.

On our first full day I went on a school visit to The Harrow School, a 450 year old independent boys school with alumni such as Winston Churchill and Lord Byron. I was fortunate to have been put in touch with them through a contact in Australia and was there to learn about how they cater for high achieving or gifted students - which is my new role at my school in Melbourne. It was a very informative and worthwhile visit and I was lucky to be able to get the chance to visit this school while on our holiday, as of course I had some grandparents around to watch this kids!

While I was at the school my parents took the kids into the city. When asked what they wanted to do in London they kept saying "see Big Ben!" I have no idea where they got this from, probably Peppa Pig or some other British cartoon, but it was reasonably easy to get into the city from our airbnb so off they went. By all accounts they had a wonderful time first on the double decker bus (a highlight in itself, the kids never tired of riding the buses in London), and seeing Big Ben, the London Eye, and playing in the Millennium park on the South Bank.

They came back to the airbnb early in the afternoon and Ollie feel asleep as soon as they got on the tube to come home. My poor dad had to carry Ollie all the way back, no easy feat, that kid weighs a tonne and feels even heavier when he's fast asleep!

The next day we met up with my friend Jamie, who happened to live right around the corner from our Airbnb. He has Fridays off with his two kids so we met up for brunch and then to a nearby playground. While walking to brunch Jamie and I were laughing at how different our Fridays were compared to when we first met nearly 15 years ago. I don't think we could have imagined 4 kids between us and spending our day at a child-friendly cafe and a park! 

Next we headed to Brockwell Park, in Herne Hill where Andy and I lived when we first moved in together. There is a great little water play area that was perfect for the weather (so hot!) and the kids. Also I was feeling pretty tired and jet lagged so managed to get in a little snooze in the shade… still feeling like I was living a life of luxury having two other adults around to watch the kids with me!

Looks like I'm not the only one who needed a snooze!

That night I managed to meet up with two groups of friends. First I attended a retirement party for an old colleague. It was a total surprise for him and most of my other ex-colleagues which was really fun. They all work at the school where I had my very first teaching job 16 years ago and I have such warm memories of them all (a few of who I still keep in touch with!)

Next I headed to Brixton to meet up with my dearest London friends, Jamie, Guillaume and Will. And as it happened one of my other closest friends, Kristin, who is also part of our "Brixton crew" but now lives in Toronto, was also visiting. It was so great to be able to catch up with these guys. I’m always so nostalgic for my twenties in London when I see them. This was a really wonderful night and one of the highlights of my trip. A warm night with the sun setting around 10:30pm, sitting outside a busy London pub with good friends. Bliss.

On Saturday we had a slow morning and then headed south to Crystal Palace Park. There is a collection of dinosaur statues from the 19th century that I knew about, but never actually saw when I lived in London, and I thought the kids would enjoy them. I was very surprised to learn how old the statues were - they’ve been there since 1854! They depict what scientists thought dinosaurs looked like back then. Pretty interesting though I think me and my parents were more impressed by them than the kids. 

On the way to the park on the top of a double decker bus. So fun!

The whole time we were away the kids thought it was hilarious to make this face in photos:

We had some lunch and a play in the playground before heading back to the Airbnb. We got caught in the rain while making our way back, and just like that the weather turned - our hot London weather was over for now!

That night was my friend Jamie’s 50th birthday, so I had another night to spend with my friends. And how nice that I happened to be in London for this milestone birthday. Looking back I remembered Jamie’s 40th, which was about 6 months before we left London to move to Melbourne… how quickly 10 years has gone by!

On Sunday we went to see Frozen the musical. We were meant to see it last year in Melbourne, it was Ella’s birthday present from my parents. However it was cancelled due to Covid so it was great to be able to finally take her. We took the train into the city and walked along Embankment to the theatre district, where we passed many colourful statues of the Queen’s corgis. 

The musical was pretty good but long for the kids. I’m not sure Ollie was quite old enough to be there, he was a bit restless during the first half but then perked up once Olaf was involved. Ella actually fell asleep in the last 10 minutes, during the last number and then all through the applause at the end she was out like a light!

Pre-show selfie

It was rainy on the way back, and very busy on the bus. Ollie sat next to me, enthralled by everything he saw out the window. "Mum! A crane! A tower! Rubbish!" he excitedly pointed and shouted at any and everything. Oh to be four years old again! 

We also passed by our old flat, the place where Andy and I moved in together. Right above a Sainsbury's, now that was convenient!

The next day Andy’s dad came to pick us up to take us down to Portsmouth, for the next leg of our trip. Here's Ollie with grandad - seeing him for the first time since November 2019!