Fs for London

With a stop over in London, I vow to no longer lament the loss of non-stop flights (not so many places we can fly directly from Kyiv)….London was FFFFFantastic

Friendly:   2 crabby post-flight adults, 3 kids and 6 rolley bags is generally a hot mess people steer clear of……not in London!  On the tube heading to our hotel, we had no less than a ½ dozen commuters stop & help carry bags up or down stairs for us.  Sales clerks smile & strangers chat you up (oh how I miss that!). 

Even construction signs are polite……

Fancy: the buildings, sidewalks, grocery stores and airport all looked fancy.  Add the entertaining pomp & circumstances permeating things like the Buckingham Palace’s changing of the guards…..

…Wimbeldon being aired on a big screen in a public square

….with appropriately fancy chairs (not even corded down!)

The abundance of nice public rental bikes pushed several of us over the edge..

....ready to pack bags & move there!

Flag waving:  Given the Queen’s Jubilee (celebrating her 60 years at the throne) on top of the Olympics opening in less than a month, I guess it is not all that surprising that patriotism was in the air…..

….or that tourist shops are capitalizing on it…..

But hot damn, the Union Jack is really everywhere

Fried deliciousness: The fish n chips really was all I had hoped it would be and more…..

Foul Language: Given my own appreciation of colorful descriptors (‘shit ton’, ‘f@#$ nut’), the abundance of F-bombs & “Bloody Hells” cracked me up.  And ‘blimey’ – anything in a British accent sounds funnier anyhow

Fun: The city is bursting with fun things to do…..

Theater aplenty – we saw Shrek the musical with good friends from Kiev (back in the UK for summer)….

Major sites - given our excessive Chevy Chase European Vacation quoting “Look kids, Big Ben”, we prioritized accordingly......

(can you guess which kid came down with a fever later that day?)

After all that, Xavier reported his London highlight was our lengthy visit to the (relatively new & enormous) M&M World store!

He has an interesting way of showing his love given his 'mini altercation' with the red M&M 

....he reports he was just trying to open the M&M’s mouth to see the person inside.. 

... it looked a lot like a shove to me.  Mr. Red M&M quickly stepped aside to try to engage other more gentle fans!

Happy Monday.  Here's to fantastic detours!