Living the retirement dream

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More Family in London

As noted in our last blog our greatest joy is having family and friends visit us at our various homes around the world. This blog covers the visits of six more family members. The first three arrived on July 17 from Salzburg flying into Luton airport. Elden and Evelyn Steen came with Evelyn’s 15 year old sister Sophie. We attended their wedding in August of 2021 flying from Boston to Munich just for a long weekend with Covid still flourishing around the world.

Evelyn and Elden are world travelers so they did most of their London sight seeing without us needing to go with them. We did however watch the movie Notting Hill together one night and then went there the next day to see the places where it was filmed. For those of you familiar with the movie this is where Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant scale the fence of a private garden in Notting Hill.
The Scene from the movie.
Portobello Road in Notting Hill is home to one of the most famous and historical street markets in the world with over 1,000 antique dealers selling everything imaginable. It was also the movie site of the book store that Hugh Grant owned where he first met Julia Roberts.
We took them on a nice walk to Richmond and had a great meal at this pub.
Spent a nice day in Kew Gardens where an exhibit of artist Marc Quinn’s 17 stunning stainless steel and bronze sculptures which reflect the viewer to show a link between nature and humanity.
Shortly after Elden, Evelyn and Sophie’s visit our daughter in law Sofi arrived with our granddaughter Bhavanii from Stockholm where they had been visiting Sofi’s family. They had devised a plan where Bhavanii stayed with us while her parents exchanged places with Geoff coming to London while Sofi returned to North Carolina to take care of the two younger girls. Bhavanii had been unable to visit Amsterdam with her sisters as she was still in school and Geoff wanted some alone time with his oldest daughter.
Our first outing was to Whitehall to see the Horse Guards Parade. These guards change every hour on the hour from 10am to 4pm.
We were able to book a tour of Buckingham Palace for them which they really enjoyed.
Had a nice walk exploring Kew Gardens.
This is the tree top walkway in Kew. This canopy towers 18 meters above the ground giving magical views of the garden
The Temperate House at Kew is an iconic landmark which allows you to travel the world as it showcases 1,200 species of flora from Asia, Australia, the Americas, and Africa.
We enjoyed one on one time with Sofi.
We also enjoyed our one on one alone time with this princess before her Dad arrived.
We took her into London central for lunch and Theatre.
She really enjoyed Wicked and we bought her this shirt as a souvenir. She went to Mama Mia with her dad later but liked Wicked better.
London theatre is always so amazing.
Geoff arrived to join his daughter and spend a week with us.
Sandy took Bhavanii to have her nails done.
Pretty in pink.
While Geoff explored Kew Sandy and Bhavanii played a game of scrabble in our garden.
On the tube to explore Shoreditch and Brick Lane. Mind the Gap!
Located in East London Shoreditch is the city’s quintessential trendy district known for its vibrant street art, fashionable bars, and alternative atmosphere as well as its diversity in population.
Brick Lane is famed for its brilliant curry houses and Indian restaurants.
Translation of above arch.
More bonding time.
Also in the East End of London is Spitalfields Market another top destination for shopping and eating. This market’s history dates back to the 13th century.
A day on the town in London with Dad.
She took this selfie on the London Eye Ride.
View from The London Eye.
Geoff took Bhavanii to the famous Madame Tussaud’s London Wax Museum. It is interesting to know that Madame Tussaud was an art tutor to King Louis XVI’s sister and she got her start by making death masks of executed nobles and her former employers, the King and Queen.
Geoff singing with Queen.
Perhaps Geoff enjoyed the wax museum even more than his daughter. We would say he had a hulk of a time.
Although maybe not.
Sandy and Bhavanii went to the Victoria and Albert Museum to see the free exhibit of Taylor Swift’s famous costumes and outfits worn by her during her UK tour. There were a total of 13 spread throughout the museum.
Back to North Carolina for these two. It was a very special visit for us to have them come to London.

And now we have a few weeks to ourselves to just live our leisurely life and explore our immediate surroundings and also greater London as we feel like it.

Living our retirement dream

One response to “More Family in London”

  1. Jamie G jr Avatar
    Jamie G jr

    Thanks mum and dad ! We had a fun and relaxing time with you

    Reply

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