Our London Staycation

Are we residents or tourists? We’re not sure. 

Walking across the Millennium Bridge
on Kathy's birthday 

We’ve been here just over three weeks now.  We’ve seen a few typical tourist sites (more about them below), but we’ve mostly hung out with granddaughter Hazel, hosted dinners for her parents (Shanti and Alan) and their friends, and we have enjoyed the brief company of daughter Skyler from Boston.  

4.5 Kelemens at Kathy's 69th birthday
 party.  This was the first time that the
four of us have been together in three years.

Hazel has been both a joy and a challenge.  She’s warmed up to us nicely, especially with all the fun toys in our Airbnb.  It’s been so fun watching her vocabulary, physical skills, and intellect grow by the day.  

 

The joys of self-discovery

After a bath, looking
for Mommy

And who doesn't love to
splash in a puddle?

But she is very opinionated and now she’s become wary of us, as we can be her abductors who take her away from Mommy and Daddy.  She prefers ‘Nanna’ over ‘Grandpa,’ but we employ a ‘divide and conquer’ strategy and she is easily distracted. 

 

A long half-day at the zoo

Pub night with Skyler, giving Shanti
and Alan a much needed night
off.  We have yet to eat fish and
chips.

All of us have been mildly sick to one degree or another, to the point where Hazel cannot attend day care, or Shanti and Alan can’t get any sleep.  So, we are happy to help out and host her overnight, not losing too much sleep ourselves, but for our persistent allergy-related coughs and sore throats.  Our hats go off to single parents everywhere, as we don’t know how they do it alone.

 

Hosting an all-American barbeque for
10 of us, plus two babies.  China, Italy,
Ireland, UK, Poland, and the USA
were all represented.

We haven’t done as much sightseeing as originally planned, but that’s just fine.  While our house is old and dilatated, we love our neighborhood, about a 25–30-minute walk to Shanti and Alan’s place.  We are on a quiet street, but there are numerous mom-and-pop shops nearby for just about anything we need or want.  A few of the proprietors have befriended us and it is easy to strike up conversations.  Even some of the wine and liquor shops sell fresh produce.  We love the ethnic diversity of the area and hope to patronize some of the hole-in-the-wall places serving food from all over the world.  But meanwhile, it’s been fun to cook for ourselves with all these wonderful ingredients and eat in the backyard.

 

Enjoying London views from the
37-story Sky Garden skyscraper.
(Actually, it is rather dwarfed by
its newer neighbors.

This is our fifth trip to London since 2010 when Shanti was a grad student at the London School of Economics.  And it’s the first time we’ve seen some of the popular tourist sites.  
Our favorites were the Borough Market and the Winston Churchill Underground War Room and Museum.   But we also liked the Tower of London, the History of London museum, and the Tower Bridge.  Our least favorite was the Hampton Court Palace where Henry the VIII lived lavishly at the expense of many others.

 

Churchill's bedroom in the 
underground bunker.  Everything
was left exactly as it was, including
the original four sugar cubes from
a colonel in the map room.

Hampton Court Palace.  Originally built for
a cardinal, then it became one of Henry the VIII
and his six wives favorite palaces, and William II 
expanded and renovated it.  

London Tower Bridge

The engine room of the bridge

Where Henry the VIII's 
wives and others were 
beheaded

The White Tower within the
Tower of London, where we
got to see the crown jewels.

What’s next?  We get Hazel for a full day Saturday (as I did last Saturday) when Shanti and Alan look at some homes about an hour from here in the suburbs.  The prices for a three-bedroom home make Portland’s nicest neighborhoods look cheap by comparison.  London, with its high prices, noise, pollution, congestion, and suitable housing is wearing them down.  And us, too.  But on the positive side, it has plenty of nice parks and eateries, ethnic diversity, high energy, great public transportation, and lots of history.

 

On the 28^th we vacate our Airbnb and go to Bath, for a couple of nights, then Oxford, then back to London on the 4^th for two nights.  Originally, we were planning to hike the 100-mile Cotswold Way trail, but the logistics got too complicated, accommodations are scarce, and we didn’t feel in shape to go 15-20 miles a day.  Maybe on our next trip with more advance planning, conditioning, and the right packing.

  You can see more contemporaneous photos and posts on Facebook and Instagram.  But until our next blog, cheerio!

 

Outside the Tower of London,
about to be attacked by a raven

What We Can, While We Can!

 

Free in London

 

16 month old Hazel Hampson kelemen

Today we passed our third Covid test of the past seven days and no longer need to quarantine at our London Airbnb.  No more daily visits or calls from the NHS checking in on us.  We are free to wander about London together and anywhere else in the UK, but we still need to take one more test in two days and one 48 hours before we return to the States in early September.  

 

We were allowed to leave
quarantine to drop off our 
samples 2 miles away. 

The system works well,
but one has to be meticulous
about the procedures for drop
off and registration.

          

Getting here was a hassle, with our long ago-booked flight being canceled three times in the past few months and diverted to Huntsville AL because of Atlanta thunderstorms.  Our luggage arrived 48 hours after we did, but all is well now.  We are here to spend time with Hazel, our 16-month grandchild.  My how she has grown in so many ways since we last saw her in early May. 

 

That kid can really go through the blueberries!

And lots of other things

Our B&B for five weeks is a two-story town home on a quiet street in a very convenient and diverse neighborhood. It has child locks, a back yard, a nursery, and more toys than Hazel has ever seen in her short life.  Plus, a decent kitchen (important!) and a good bed (very important!). We love the mom-and-pop shops nearby.

Ours is the one with the giant palm bush

T

 

Around and around the block
until she falls asleep

So far, we have hosted Hazel for two sleepovers, and the first one gave Shanti and Alan their first chance since March 2020 for a date night.  And it was a reminder of just how much time, patience, sleep deprivation, and energy it takes to raise a toddler, especially for a Covid baby who hasn’t had much experience with adults and new situations.  That said, she’s an independently minded and charming toddler who has warmed up to us and who brings us much joy. 

Off to day care with Daddy

 

Special delivery by Mum Shanti

We celebrated our Freedom Day by going for a long walk together, a tapas lunch, and a visit to the well-done Museum of London history.  Best of all, it was free.  Also, a very quiet dinner alone tonight.  Going forward, we’ll drop Hazel off and pick her up at day care off and on (she needs its structure), go to parks with her, and host her on weekends so Shanti and Alan can resume their house hunting in suburbs about an hour from central London.  While it’s certainly not walking the Camino de Santiago or driving cross country, this is shaping up to be a very unique and fun trip for us.

 

And speaking of driving cross country, we never had time after we got home from our 8600-mile trip on July 2, but it was enjoyable and scenic, even northern Iowa and Nebraska.  We had a flat tire our last night, but better in camp than on the road. Even when we are unlucky, we are lucky.

 

Spencer and brother William on our deck

Just before we left, we hosted Skyler and Spencer who drove cross country from Massachusetts. Three of Spencer’s four siblings stayed across the street at an Airbnb and joined us for wine tastings and some fun meals together.  It’s so fun to hang with 30 somethings, and boy can they eat!

Skyler, Spencer, & Ry Ry heading back to Boston

                           “What We Can, While We Can”