Last week, the fam took its first sightseeing trip. Rather than fill the house with more crap we don't need, Joe and I decided to go to London for a few days. By train, it only takes an hour and 15 minutes to get to the London King's Cross station, so we kenneled the dog and off we went.
Our first day we arrived late in the afternoon. After we checked into the hotel (free due to my Holiday Inn points), we took a cab to Oxford Street on our way to Hyde Park. Oxford St is a major shopping district, so you can imagine the scene two days before Christmas. It was absolutely packed and both me and Joe felt like we had to rush, even though we had nowhere in particular we had to be. The one really nice thing was that many of the department stores had lights on the outside and were all decorated for Christmas. Too bad I couldn't really enjoy it...
Once we left Oxford St, we went to Hyde Park. During the holidays, they host a "Winter Wonderland" right in the middle of the park. There was ice skating, carnival rides, a German Chris Kringle market, and of course lots of food and drink. We had such a good time! Benjamin had never seen such a sight so he was quite interested. Obviously, he was too small for the rides, but I think he still had a good time. Joe and I celebrated by eating cinnamon pretzels, crepes, and lots of mulled wine. Happy Christmas indeed!
The next day Joe and I set out to see St Paul's Cathedral and the British Museum. Our first stop was the cathedral, which was amazing. It is rather stunning if you ever get a chance to see it. There are a lot of famous people buried there as well as several I have never heard of. While Joe ran off to use the facilities, Ben decided to follow in his footsteps. So my lovely baby has had his nappy changed in the crypt of St Paul's. How many other babies can say that!
When Joe returned, he put Ben in his front carrier and we walked the several steps to the top of the dome. I'm not sure how many steps it is, but I did get a little dizzy going up and down.
From there, we ventured on to the British Museum. The museum has a tremendous array of treasures, including the Rosetta Stone and a few genuine mummies. Unfortunately, Benjamin reached his maximum fun limit at the exact minute we went inside. So after a few minutes of screaming, Ben and I went back to the hotel for a nap. (Yes, we both took one.) Joe stayed on with the agreement that I would return later, which I did.
Our last day in London was also Christmas Eve. Our plan was to take some pictures in front of Big Ben and go to Westminster Abbey. We had tried to go to the Abbey last summer, but it had closed 30 minutes before we arrived. Needless to say, we were really looking forward to it. After taking our pictures of Big and Little Ben, we walked to the Abbey...closed on Christmas Eve. What?! So we tried the Cabinet War Rooms...also closed on Christmas Eve. For our last ditch effort, we decided to stroll to Trafalgar Square and visit the National Gallery. Turns out that is also closed on Christmas Eve. Guess we should have planned that better.
Overall, our first family vacation was wonderful. I can't wait to see where we go next!
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