New Boots for a New Year

We made it – we survived the apocalypse! 

Whew!  Now I don’t have to worry about finding out if Cam and Mitchell will ever get a baby on Modern Family, or finishing The Passage trilogy, or die wondering if anyone will ever start producing Twinkies again.  Seriously, American junk food companies, get on that!

We had grand plans for New Year’s Eve.  Well, I did.  Dad and me – we were on the same page.  Everyone else, not so much.  David wanted to stay home and finish up our week-long Walking Dead marathon.  He bought me Seasons 1 and 2 as a stocking stuffer so we forced the fam (including Mom) to watch a few episodes before bed every night… and even with all of the axes/shovels/gunshots to the head, Mom got hooked.  So she and Elizabeth were with David.

In the end, we compromised.

I signed us up for a fun-filled day of activities and by 5:00 we were too exhausted to even think about fighting through the crowds of thousands on the tube and along the river to watch the fireworks from Embankment.  So we went home, made Frito Pies, watched the Walking Dead, pausing it at 11:59 to spend a half hour watching the fireworks in our neighborhood and on TV while sipping our special Fortum and Mason champagne we’d been saving for a year.

We spent the morning of NYE on a Charles Dickens walking tour.  We met at the Christmas Tree in Trafalgar Square and spent the next two hours wandering around central London.  We saw the foggy street that Dickens was walking down when he got the inspiration for Scrooge’s creepy door knocker in a Christmas Carol.  We saw the church his father and mother were married in, which we walk past all the time on the Strand and never knew about.  Dickens’ former office is now a coffee shop and the factory where he worked as a boy is London’s token TGI Fridays.  I’m sure the person eating the basket of onion rings near the window was asking himself why 20 people were standing outside staring at him… kind of took away from the history of the tour.

Besides Charles Dickens, we learned a lot about London in general from the tour.  Along the Thames, there is a bust of the man that cleaned up London’s sewer system, saving countless lives.  It sounds like a low job, but by cleaning up the river, he prevented who-knows-how-many epidemics from springing up.  To give you an idea of how disgusting London was a mere hundred years ago, the smell got so bad during one hot summer that MP’s were passing out during Parliamentary sessions.

We also saw the entrance to the Ministry of Magic from Harry Potter, one of the Turkish bathhouses Watson visited in the Sherlock Holmes’ novels, and an alleyway outside a theatre where one of the city’s most famous actors was stabbed to death after a performance.

In London, people don’t really put up Christmas lights on their houses or flats.  So instead of driving around looking at the lights (like we would do in the states), in Europe you walk along the streets to see the lights and store displays in places like Harrod’s and Harvey Nichols.  We started at my office on Oxford Street and made our way to Carnaby Street. 

From there, we walked to Regent Street and through Picadilly Circus to see the store windows at Fortum and Mason.

The day after New Year’s, David had to go back to work.  We woke up a bit earlier than usual also and headed to Buckingham Palace to witness the Changing of the Guard.  I’d never seen the Changing before (I know!) but I had seen the parade during the Queen’s birthday last summer, which was a lot better.

Usually in December and January, it’s pretty quiet around the city.  But this year with the Olympics, Queen’s Jubilee, and mild winter, there has been a constant flow of tourists.  The tube was really crowded, especially during rush hour, and it was Mom’s constant fear that she’d get stuck outside the closing doors and have to make her way home alone.  For those of you that don’t know my mom, she has a terrible sense of direction.  One time we found ourselves running to get into one of the Underground cars and as we were flying down the stairs, Mom was crying out, “This is my worst nightmare!”  Oh, Mama, you’re so silly!  We would never leave you…

We got to the palace about 20 minutes early and it was so crowded that we had to stand across the street.  After a couple of marches and songs from the band (including the theme to Mission Impossible – what?!), we made our way to the gates, but we were still a few rows back and didn’t get the best view.  Dad will just have to make another trip over here to see it again up-close! ;)

An hour later, we were walking through Hyde Park to get to Kensington Palace.  David and I had been before when it was being renovated, but now most of the wings are open so there was a lot more to see.  My favorite is still Queen Victoria’s apartments.   This summer, they’ll also open a Modern Royals exhibit featuring gowns worn by Princesses Di and Anne. 

Elizabeth kept her eyes peeled for a glimpse of Kate Middleton, but unfortunately she wasn’t home.  I think she spent that week with her family while William was on duty in Wales.  Sometimes she takes their dog, Lupo, for walks in Kensington Gardens or you can see them leaving/entering the palace in their car, but we had no such luck.  Sorry, Elizabeth!

We didn’t do it during their last visit, so during this trip, we had to have traditional afternoon tea.  We booked a slot at the boutique hotel Montague on the Gardens and got dressed up for our sitting.  When the staff first brought out the trays of finger sandwiches, scones, and desserts, the Kurzwegs were fooled into thinking it wasn’t nearly enough food.  But after a couple of hours, we were all stuffed.  As you finish each tray, the waitress will bring out more.  And with the unlimited tea, it was more than enough.  Elizabeth’s favorite was the raspberry macaroon and she was thrilled when she found out she got as many as she wanted.

On our final day, we used my Secret London guidebook to take a walking tour around St. Paul’s.  I picked up this book at work during one of our book fairs and it’s been great!  The book contains over 20 miles of walks around the city and they uncover lots of little-known places off the beaten path.  That’s how we found Windsor Castle pub in Notting Hill and on Friday, we had lunch at a pub on our route called The Olde Mitre.  

The pub dates back to 1546 and inside, in the corner of the bar, is a tree trunk that Elizabeth I danced around as a little girl.

Mom and Dad dancing just like Queen Elizabeth

The total walk was around 2 miles and on it we saw the Newgate execution bell, a crypt chapel beneath an old Roman Catholic church, a Victorian livery hall, and a medieval building preserved inside the basement of one of London’s top law firms.

In the Catholic crypt

Dad admiring the medieval home inside a modern office building

With all of the walking we did over two weeks, it wasn't a surprise to find Elizabeth’s boots were completely destroyed! 

Mind the Gap!

American shoes do not stack up against European ones, because almost everyone in America drives (instead of walks) to get where they’re going.  Elizabeth is one lucky lady, though, because Mom and Dad bought her new Hunter wellies to get her home! 

Just like Kate!

It was a great trip, and we were sad to see everyone go.  We had a lot of fun celebrating the holidays with the Houses and Kurzwegs!  To see all of the pictures from their visit, click here.