Wanderers Anonymous: London Called, It Would Like Its Accent Back

And that's the wonderful thing about family travel: it provides you with experiences that will remain locked forever in the scar tissue of your mind.

~Dave Barry

My father is often right. Ask him to detail Lewis and Clark's exhibition, and he will almost nail it. Hand him a list of trigonometry problems, and he will gleefully not use a calculator. Ask him how to change a tire, and he will just do it for you.

Just never ask him to speak in a British accent.

So, really, never let him watch an episode of Julia Child, or take him to London.

But, as most of you already know, we went to London.

The famous Big Ben

London did not rain (until we left and Amanda and I were caught in a monsoon like deal as we sprinted from the taxi to the airport door). London was full of tourists. London was expensive. London had lots of shopping, lots of pubs, lots of places to eat fish and chips with peas, and from what I saw, no royalty.

I mean, I realize its the holiday and they are out in the countryside hunting with fox hounds or whatever it is they do, but there was a reason we stayed only blocks away from William and Kate's current residence (or as dad called them, "Bill and Katie").

Kensington Palace, current resident of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, and as well as a bunch of the Queen's cousins. Former residence of Lady Diana, and first residence of Queen Victoria (she grew up here). Picture taken from Kensington Gardens

Other than the numerous books I have read on British Monarchs, and the few tidbits my dear friend Isabel has mentioned, I really didn't know anything about England, or London. From the books, I pictured palaces and town houses housing royalty and ladies in waiting at every corner. From Isabel I pictured lovely looking men.

What I found was this:

1. People get confused when you ask for ranch with fries (I didn't ask, a sister did)

2. Walking Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park in the morning. A bit chilly, but absolutely lovely and you will meet more locals, and more local pugs.

3. Stumbling across Peter Pan was quite magical.

4. Seeing Platform 9 3/4 was not.

5. You can find first edition, British edition, Harry Potter books for super cheap if you don't mind a small rip in the corner.

6. Lovely food.

7. Quite nice taxi drivers.

8. Small hotels with cramped rooms have the best service.

9. Traffic.

10. I can't believe anyone ever actually lived in the Tower of London. Talk about fifty million winding staircases and super short entry ways.

London was wonderful, and so was seeing the family. I was handed more chocolate and DVDs and books for presents, and it was like I was home. Mom got to shop on Notting Hill, Amanda got her bloody picture next to the Harry Potter landmark in Kings Cross, Anna took some wonderful shots with her fancy camera, Dad hit his head on many a stone that King Henry VIII probably was too short to reach, and I found a city that seemed magical, foreign, historical, and spoke ENGLISH.