Parental Invasion

Before Friday, it had been eight long months since I'd last seen my parents. And even though they live a few hours away back home, we never go more than a month without a visit, so eight months felt like forever. Needless to say, I was more than excited to welcome them to London Friday morning! I met them at Heathrow and waiting for them at arrivals, I felt the same excited jitters I had when I anxiously waited for my sister Heather to arrive in December. They will be here with me for a good, long three weeks, with two weeks spent on a European holiday and about one week total in London. Not wanting to waste any time and hopeful of adjusting their body clocks (Washington state is eight hours behind London time) we made a quick stop at the flat, then headed out to central London for a bit of sightseeing.

Mom and dad outside the flat

I'm proud to say my parents took to the bus and tube system right away and they're already mastering how to get around London! Quite impressive for a couple of small-town retirees. I suppose I really should give them more credit, though, as they both travelled extensively for work when they we're in the sales business for Nestle for all those years. Still, I was impressed by how laid back they were and how open they were right away to the busy hustle and bustle of big city life. 

Big City Life! Riding the Tube like experts!

We started out our afternoon with a visit to the Westminster area to see some of the most famous London sights, including the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, Westminster Abbey (from the outside)  and then a trek across the Westminster Bridge to the Southbank area. Of course we also stopped for a good, traditional English pub lunch. Fish and chips--with mushy peas--for them and a nice club sandwich for me (I think I'm officially "over" fish and chips). 

Together in front of the Houses of Parliament 

Don't let that blue sky fool you--It was freezing cold!

The folks were pretty exhausted after our afternoon out and about, so we headed home to the flat in the late afternoon so they could get some rest. We had big plans for Saturday--a trip to Greenwich! 

You have lots of options for ways to get to Greenwich, which is about 20 miles outside of London. We opted for the Tube and the DLR (Docklands Light Rail--a neat, modern overground train). The journey took a while, but we made it to Greenwich early enough to beat lots of the crowds. One of Greenwich's biggest attractions is the Cutty Sark, one of the last tea clippers to be built in the late 1800s. We weren't particularly interested in paying to walk around on board, so a few photos of the outside worked for us.

We stopped by the tourist information office and quickly checked out the museum there. Then we headed over to the Greenwich Market, which has lots of neat treasures and treats to buy.

After the market, we decided to go find a pub to grab a bite to eat. The pub we popped into was great and the bartender was the loveliest man! He took a special interest in us, gave us English bitters to sample and even made me a special drink because I wasn't feeling well with my chest cold. He asked me if I trusted him to sort me out, to which I said "of course" and this is what he made me:

Hot water, lemon, mint, single malt Scotch. Perfect for a chest cold!

Sampling some bitters 

Here's our fabulously friendly bartender

Drinking her first English beer in Greenwich

Not too shabby! 

After lunch, we wandered around for a while. Then my dad and I hiked up to see the Royal Observatory, which is where the Prime Meridian is and the famous Greenwich Mean Time Clock. The observatory is at the top of a hill in a lovely park, and from the top, you can see some amazing views of London from afar.

Walking through the park, headed up to the Royal Observatory

Sweet views of London!

My dad and I at the GMT Clock

The O2 theatre is the white blob with the yellow spikes. I was there a couple weekends ago for the big
Country to Country Tim McGraw concert.

Standing on the Prime Meridian 

Pops and I on the Prime Meridian

All the building in Greenwich are super cute like this.

Captain Jack Sparrow??!!

On the way back to London, we opted to take a Thames Clipper river taxi, which was a fun way to show my parents more of the sights of London. The boat was fast, easy and took us right where we needed to be in order to hop the tube to our next stop--a restaurant I booked for tea!

On the Thames Clipper

I found a great deal for tea through Wowcher.com, which is like the UK's version of Groupon or Living Social. They still have both Groupon and Living Social in the UK, but Wowcher has more uniquely London deals that I've found quite fun. Our tea was scrumptious! 

Yum!

After tea, we headed back to the flat to pack up for our big trip to Europe, which we were leaving for the next morning. After settling in and getting ourselves sorted and packed, we were feeling a little hungry again. So in true London fashion, we ordered a curry! My parents haven't eaten much Indian food (neither had I until I moved here), but they loved my local Indian takeaway place as much as I do. 

All in all, the day was a perfect introduction to British life!