London

We hadn't been in London long when I felt I was smiling too much. It's not like I was walking around with a big, toothy grin or anything, but I guess it's customary in the States to give a slight smile when looking at a stranger to let them know you're not a serial killer. All I was getting in return was the slight raise of an eyebrow. Ooohkay, I guess Londoners don't smile. Like, at all. They don't even smize. I had an uneasy feeling I was surrounded by possible serial killers.

For some reason I thought the Brits would be charmed by our having a daughter named Ireland, especially since it was close to St. Patrick's Day. If they weren't smirking, they just kind of looked at her quizzically. The only open comment we ever received was, "So she's the trouble-maker, eh?" Memo to me, memo to me, Londoners aren't the biggest fans of the Irish. Introducing Sydney Pippa didn't go any better. They looked at me like I was just another wannabe.

They're also kind of, uhm, rude. This was a bit of culture shock as we were leaving the airport and a woman totally clipped Liesel with her luggage. She barely even turned around to see if my little girl (now sprawled on the pavement) was ok. Throughout the day we were shoved and pushed aside often. Our ride on the Underground wasn't exactly unpleasant, but passengers seemed to be tolerating us more than anything. It was around this time I really came to understand there are people who plain don't like Americans. I admit, I thought we'd get a pass because of the girls who were adorably dressed and on their best behavior. Nope. I was happy and relieved to finally get off at Trafalgar Square. After a bit of searching, we found the office for the double-decker bus we'd booked. 

When we made the reservations, I assumed we'd spend a day on the top deck enjoying all the sights of London. But it was a tad chilly. And I was exhausted. And being driven on the left side of the road with a crazy bus driver was throwing me off. I've driven in many major American cities: New York, LA, Chicago, DC, Boston, etc and I have NEVER seen aggressive driving like this! At one point a crippled man with a cane crossed the road in front of us and our driver didn't even slow down. I was sure we'd crash at a dozen different times. Anyway, once we settled in the seats on the lower deck and I got off my aching feet, I refused to move. Besides, the upper deck was absolutely packed and the older girls were engrossed in their kiddie packets. 

The tour went by in a blur. Every city has it's draw and apparently for London it is the royals. The tour guide pointed out many locations where royals stayed, where their clubs were, where they ate and where they did just about everything else. And for the record, JK Rowling is considered a royal. I think he pointed out where she parked her car once. By far the coolest thing I saw was the shrapnel damage from the Blitz. Next time I visit London I'm going to examine this up close. It was mind-blowing. 

Everyone was starving for lunch and Brent asked a tour guide for a recommendation nearby. He pointed out a local pub where again Brent took the reigns and suggested we share the bangers and mash. Oh my, that was SO delicious!!! It was warm and comforting and filling and tasty and oh how I inhaled it. The sausages weren't spicy which brought out the flavor of the sauce and made the dish even more tasty. I could have licked the sauce off the plate it was so yummy. 

We changed diapers, discovered Sydney had been sitting in a blowout for a while, and had the girls use the restroom. Ireland yelled from a few stalls away that she didn't have any toilet paper so I wadded some up and tried to hand it to her from the next stall over. She didn't immediately grab it from me so I waved my arm around and said, "Hellooo!!! Here ya' go! IRELAND!!! Take the toilet paper!" Then from a few stalls over her tiny voice said, "Mom, I'm over here!" Horrified, I realized I'd been waving a wad of toilet paper at the feet of a complete stranger. Then I was a little incredulous that said stranger never said a thing! An older woman finally emerged from the stall and gave me a grim expression when I apologized.

Time was sparse and we realized we couldn't fit in the boat tour like we'd hoped. We headed to the plaza behind Tower Bridge. There were some pigeons and Brigitta fussed a bit, letting me know they scared her. "Don't let those stupid birds scare you! Watch this!" I raced the stroller right into a lazy flock of them and they went flying in every direction. Brigitta laughed heartily and soon I was careening wildly, chasing anything with feathers off the ground. When I stopped to catch my breath and looked around, everyone was staring at me. Like. EVERYONE. Old people, school kids, other tourists. Everyone. I guess spontaneous fun is kind of frowned upon in London... or maybe pigeons are endangered over there?

We took some quick pictures near Tower Bridge. Just being near that landmark made me inexplicably happy. Our tour guide noted that yes, many people had been locked up and eventually killed, but you had to BE somebody to be sent to the Tower of London. They didn't send just any offender there, it was reserved for the wives of Henry the VIII and such. It was an interesting spin on capital punishment.

There's a building in this plaza that had a water feature coming down the side. It was so very cool to look at with London in the background. I urged the girls to touch the cascading water and snapped away while Brent's patience was wearing thin. He was concerned about getting to the airport in a timely matter and I wasn't helping. I begged for one more photo off the reflection of the glass and we were off.

As we rode back on the train, exhaustion set in for Liesel, Brigitta and eventually, Sydney. I tried to reconcile my expectations of London with our experience. Perhaps it's my love of Austen, Downton Abbey, and all things Kate Middleton, but I thought everyone would be dressed in Burberry and unfailingly polite. London wasn't as fashionable as I thought it would be (although Brent points out we were in the extremely touristy areas... things look a tad different closer to Canary Wharf where you find the business professionals). The locals were just short of out and out hostile to us. Everyone's pants were tight. Random, but true.

However, London is a very cool city. The food was fantastic. I couldn't get enough of being called "Love." Getting to see everything with Brent, who had been there on a study abroad, was amazing. All in all I was excited for the layover on the way back.

I was so excited to find a drinking fountain I had to take a picture. I'd never realized how accessible water is in the US.