London Calling

Papa Hill Makes a Visit

After a long break (and some convincing from Brian) I am finally taking a turn at writing for our blog.

So, here it goes.

My dad arrived on Wednesday the 14th of February for a week long visit. We missed Thanksgiving and Christmas with him so we were excited to have him here. Our Valentine's celebrations weren't too glamorous, but we did manage to open a bottle of champagne with the lasagna that I had made ahead of time.

Both Brian and I had to work on Thursday and Friday so Dad entertained himself with a trip to the British Museum and a double decker bus tour through London. During those two days Brian was on a marathon for work. By Friday night he was laid up in bed with a fever, sweats, and a relentless cough. Dad and I love him dearly, but the party had to go on. On Friday night we headed to Shepherd's Market for dinner at the famous Polish/Mexican place. It's true! You really can have borscht and a burrito!

On Saturday we left Brian home with some Lemsip and headed to Borough Market to check out all of the amazing food stalls. We bought stinky cheese and sniffed all of the yummy breads and pastries. I led him by the "freak show" stall where they have sharks and eels on ice beds and bleeding rabbit and deer carcasses for sale. After an hour or so we meandered along the Thames and stopped in the Tate Modern to check out their slide exhibit and use the loo. From there we crossed the Millenium Bridge and headed to St. Paul's Cathedral. Afterwards we were ready for a little sitdown and a cup of tea.

Our friends Jordie and Kim were in town visiting an old friend of Jordie's. We had originally planned on meeting them for dinner but with Brian's condition we shortened it to a few pints at an organic gastro pub.

On Sunday I was back to work, so Brian and Dad traveled the 800 yards to tuck in at our "local" for an afternoon football match. We had planned to then head to Hampstead Heath for a traditional Sunday roast but the trains weren't running. Damn weekend "engineering work". We ordered takeout for Brian and headed to a restaurant in Islington instead.

We scheduled the Imperial War Museum for Monday. The Basement and 1st Floor cover World Wars 1 and 2. From there you move upstairs to Genocide and the Holocaust. Holy smokes! Not exactly a cheery pick-me-up. But nonetheless, very interesting and worth the trip. Just bring your snot rag and valium.

After a stop at home, we headed down to SoHo to one of our favorite chain restaurants - Wagamamas. Yum, yum, and more yum. My preference is one of their noodle dishes (#44 Chicken Udon Noodle) but Brian goes for a soup (#21 Chicken Raman). Dad enjoyed his food, but I'm not sure that he was sold on the uber modern cafeteria-style that they have going on. From their we headed to see Chicago. Wow! Those people can dance, and they have FIERCE bodies! The singing was fair to good, but the dancing was outrageous. I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't seen it. Now I want to rent the movie to see Queen Latifah in the roll of Mama.

For Dad's last day we decided to get out of the city. He had never been to Oxford (and neither had I) so first thing Tuesday morning we hopped on a train. Having been to Cambridge, I knew that a walking tour can be very informative and fun. We arrived around 11, had a snack, and signed up for the 1 o'clock tour. Our guide was very informative and according to dad, "cute". She led us through a few colleges and showed us various points of interest - e.g. where Lewis Carroll supposedly got inspiration for characters in Alice in Wonderland. Our tour guide also pointed out the oldest pub in the city. We took note, and returned after the tour. A few pints later and we were ready to return to London.

On Wednesday morning we bid farewell and helped him in to a black cab heading to Paddington Station. Not only did Dad manage to escape one of the biggest snow storms that upstate New York has ever seen (4 feet!) but I think he also had a fab trip to London Town.

Anyone else care to visit?????

posted by Brian and Kirsten Hennigan @ Thursday, March 08, 2007