Yahoo for business trips to places like London! Abhi and I got to tag along with Keshav a couple weeks ago for a week of leisure in London. The weather was great and it only rained once. It was rather disheartening when we arrived back to a weeks worth of rain here! I was expecting that on the trip. Abhi and I just had fun going around town with no real set agenda. Since I have already been there, I was just thinking we could hang out and do whatever pleased Abhi and just enjoy the city. K and I truly wished we lived in a city like London so we just try to soak up all the city life while we can.
Abhi was happiest riding the Tube everywhere. Being on a train everyday multiple times was enough to make him the happiest toddler in London. Plus seeing all the boats in the Thames and the double decker buses, airplanes, and a couple of backhoes here and there, he couldn't ask for anything more! He was so pleasant to everyone too, always saying hi to everyone. The people were very friendly too, always talking to him and happy to see him.
We arrived on Saturday so we had the rest of the weekend with Keshav before he had to work on Monday. I was soooo tired from the overnight plane ride so I had to take a nap. You don't get much sleep with a tossing and turning toddler in your lap. Abhi was rested, we were beat. K was nice enough to take Abhi for a walk around Earl's Court, the neighborhood where we stayed the first night and I got to catch up on a couple hours sleep. I can't remember exact events after that for the evening but I do remember going to Kennsington Park, excellent Indian food (chaat to be specific - indian street food that is hard to get around here), walking in the area of Parliment, London Eye, etc...on the Thames at night, and then Abhi not sleeping until about 3am. I tried to get him to sleep for 4 hours, it was rather nightmarish but finally he went down. The mistake we made was letting him sleep through dinner. It was so nice enjoying dinner with K while Abhi slept in the stroller but we paid later!
Sunday we took the boat out to Greenwich which is a little "village" just outside the city. It is a quiant little place known for shipping and the prime meridian. They have a great market and a beautiful park. We just spent time in the park, ate some lunch, and ice cream. Abhi learned how to lick an ice cream cone properly and was enjoying it very much! We came back and hung out by the London Eye, there was lots of entertainment there. Abhi and K rode the carousel.
The next three days we were on our own. Every morning (except Wednesday - by that time we needed to sleep in a little) we got up and went to the train station to see Keshav off to work. Not only for that, but to have croissants and coffee. I miss those couple of days of pain au chocolat for breakfast. It is probably a good thing not to live so close to all those French bakeries!!!! So, for the next few days we walked and rode the train all around until I was too tired and had to head back to the hotel for a rest. We did the London eye and Abhi enjoyed that seeing all the boats from the air. We also played in any park we could find so Abhi could have time out of the stroller. He was so good and patient!! One afternoon while he napped in the stroller I headed to the Tate Modern museum and walked around. I walked down the Thames, they have great walking paths that go forever. Another day we went to the Natural History Museum. Abhi enjoyed seeing the animals and dinosaurs. Wednesday I was planning a trip to Stonehenge but after finding out they would charge me 30 pounds for Abhi also, I decided we could see it later when he will actually know what he is seeing. Plus, it was a 2 hour bus ride and I wasn't sure how that was going to go. Being pregnant and holding him on the plane was a little uncomfortable sometimes (the little sibling got first tastes of taking a beating from the older brother). So we went to Ks office and had lunch with him. Then headed out to St. James park (right outside Buckingham Palace) and played for the afternoon and ate ice cream.
The plane ride back was tough but all in all we had a great trip, I am so glad we went. I think Abhi had a fun time exploring new things. He really is a good traveller.
Pregnancy update: I am now 22 weeks along, although I look a lot bigger than I did at 22 weeks with Abhi!!! It is hard to believe there is still 4 months left!!! Things are going great with my pregnancy now that I have gotten over the initial months, allergies - bad early spring ones, and bronchitis that lasted for 3 weeks. We had the ultrasound last friday and everything looks great with the baby. The baby was moving around like crazy but we got a couple of pictures of the face. And no, we do not know if it is a boy or girl...we will all find out in September!!!
1 comment:
Loved hearing about your London adventures! I went to graduate school in Leeds and London became one of my favorite cities.
Glad you had a great time! And glad to hear that all is well with the baby!!
(PS - Annie's new favorite word is Abhi!)
Cara
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