It just occurred to me that I never ever wrote about my trip to pretty little London this past spring. How could I pass up such a perfect opportunity to tell everyone that this trip made my year. Maybe my last 4 years, to be honest. We had been talking about me going to London long before Lexie ever left (to live in London) in April of 22. But it just wasn’t working out. Finally in a divine swoop, God made it possible for me to go. All excuses and obstacles totally off the table. I booked my ticket and began packing my carry on. I mean who can afford the luxury of checking on a bag these days? Plus, if I was short on clothes I could always wear Lexie’s and I did.
From the moment I landed at Heathrow, or I should say the moment Lexie found me at Heathrow, that girl kept impressing me with her joie de vivre. I mean what’s not to enjoy? I know we are in Britain not France, but still. This girl set her sights on London and made it happen and was living the dream. And she shared that dream with me for two weeks. The main intent of my going to London was to spend time with Lexie and live her life with her. I told her I didn’t need to go to all the usual tourist traps and sights (We had been there together before), I just wanted to spend time with her in ‘her’ London. And truly she does have a London that’s all her own. Because it’s her unique way of living and enjoying London that is different from anyone else.
She took two weeks off work to be with me so she figured we should probably do more than just sit around her lovely flat with the claw foot tub and the quaint larder and secret garden. As luck would have it, I arrived the week of the King’s Coronation, so the city was awash with bunting and lunch specials and block parties and Coronation sales. The whole shebang. Let me say, right at the outset, what a classy place London is. Britain is! Frankly, it makes Canada look brash and rude and unrefined. But I digress….
We scoped out the Coronation parade pathway the day before the Coronation but decided not to go anywhere near the mobs the day of. So we joyfully watched the whole thing on the telly. It was pouring rain anyway, and we just stayed in and ate breakfast and watched the coronation in our PJ’s. When I thought of all the royal fans that had lined the mall with their tents in the days leading up to the event, I was quite happy to be warm and dry.
Some of my favorite memories are those of walking through the Hampstead Heath which is basically in her backyard. It’s a huge park on par with Central Park in NYC. It’s lush and green and boasts bathing ponds for both men and women (separately). On the far end from Lexie’s location is a gorgeous park of flowers called the Pergola. We had intended to tour Kew Gardens but the day we arrived there was cold and rainy and again, we weren’t too keen on seeing it that way, so we visited the Pergola on a sunny day. A suitable compromise. I also loved going to the M&S Food Halls. Such lovely food, displayed and prepared. We walked Nottinghill one day, and Kensington. Went to Harrods and to Peggy Porschen for tea and a cupcake. Sauntered past oodles of gorgeous colored homes with just as colorful doors and lush greenery. Went to the Portobello Market. The Columbia Road flower market was a feast for the eyes and nostrils on an overcast Sunday morning. Followed by a Coronation service at St. Pauls in the afternoon. Going to a movie in London is a much different experience than here in Canada. It was much more novel. Everything is better in London, right? Strolled through Liberty of London on a separate day, visiting all four floors made of solid wood recycled from two huge ships. Fortnum and Mason was a culinary treat for sure. Everything presented in British perfection. We saw a theatre performance of the Lion King. You can’t go to London and not go to a show. We’d seen it before but not in London. And I was just SO impressed with the animals the first time I saw it, I thought it had to be better in London. I was not wrong.
One of our early days we made a trip to Brighton – on the ocean. It was the first stop on our way to Lansing, which is where Lexie lived with her dear friend, Heather, for her first four months in the UK. A pretty little beach town with all those colorful beach houses lining the shores. I’ve always wanted one of those but what would I do with it living inland in Calgary where it snows 6 months out of the year?
Probably my favorite memory will forever be of the thoughtful and quaint trip Lexie booked us to the Cotswold’s and Oxford. She rented a car and booked an AirB&B and off we went. It was as if she was the mother and I was the daughter (I know that will happen one day but I didn’t think it would be this soon). She expertly drove on the wrong side of the road and took me to two lovely little villages the first day. We picked up dinner at a M&S Food Hall on the way and retreated into our cozy little cottage for the night. Next morning we drove off and made an unplanned stop at another village in the Cotswold’s. It was too cute to pass by. On the way back to London we stopped at Oxford. Oh Oxford. The feeling of being somewhere important and historical I will never forget. It was beautiful and I felt my IQ go up just walking on those hallowed cobblestone streets. The pomp and circumstance of it all.
Just being with Lexie made everything amazing, even if it was pouring and cold, which it was half the time. Watching movies in bed with her laptop propped up on her window sill. Did I mention the church bells that chimed on a regular basis? We could hear them through her window. So peaceful to wake up to. I loved the double decker bus rides from her place to downtown. Normally, she would have taken the underground and minded the gap, but she let me ride the buses so I could get a wonderful view of ….everything. The architecture, the vegetation, watching the people and the outdoor markets everywhere. Gasping at the way people weaved their bikes in and out of traffic lanes with buses weaving every which way as well. She lives in an absolutely gorgeous upscale area (thank you Lord), with a wonderful roommate and a great flat with all the amenities (minus a microwave and a dryer). They dry their jeans on the heated towel rack in the loo. We walked over to their little neighborhood bakery for breakfast a few mornings and picked up food at the local grocers on our way home. AND Lexie made me some amazing meals while I was there. I’d been waiting all my life to be at one of my kids’ places for dinner and here I was. On my last evening we dined on the roof of Lexie’s building.
I wanted to stay forever. But I knew I would just be cramping Lexie’s style. She has a life to live and I had better let her get to it. But I was so blessed and am so grateful to get to share those two weeks with her. Two weeks that I will never forget. I’m not crying. You’re crying.
The Red Plaid Apron 