Canadian Visitors

Last weekend found us in London, again, to see Brent’s cousin, Dan and his ladyfriend, Wendy. It was pretty good to see them, not only because they are family, but also because their Canadian accents were the best sounds these ears have heard in quite some time.

We started out by meeting them at our hotel – the Jurys Great Russell Street. The hotel was very nice and half a block away from the British Museum. However, our rooms were not ready yet, so we decided to head for a pub to catch up. Dan’s introduction to English ale didn’t go well for him but he recovered nicely. A short while later, we checked into the hotel much to Dan and Wendy’s delight since they had been up at the crack of dawn to fly out of Paris. After these preliminaries were finished, we took the tube to Green Park. We made our way through the Park (which, surprisingly in warm weather has hundreds of lounge chairs set out). Really quite nice. We headed to Buckingham Palace and then down The Mall. After that we made our way to see Westminster Abbey, Big Ben and the Parliament Buildings, Covent Garden and finished at a pub there. It was quite a lot to see in one afternoon and we probably tired our guests out after their early start. After we had enjoyed the pub for quite some time and got caught up on all the family stories, we made our way to the Med Kitchen for dinner. After an enjoyable meal we headed back to Bloomsbury and enjoyed another pub until we couldn’t stay awake any longer.

Day 2 started when we met in the lobby at … noon. This ‘early’ start required a wake-up call from the front desk for Dan & Wendy! Since we hadn’t actually reached Westminster Abbey in time to go inside the day before, we headed back to enjoy the interior. It was especially interesting for us as there was a sizable portion of the church which had re-opened since being closed during our last trip at Christmas. After the Abbey, we were fortified by a traditional pub lunch and headed out across town to the Tower of London. All in all, a very touristy day. We said our farewell to Dan & Wendy about 5pm to catch our train back to Leeds. They spent one more night in London before heading back to Paris for a few more days of European adventure. It was great to catch up with them and to have some London fun together. Best 24 hours we’ve had in a long time! Surprisingly we remembered how to socialize and to carry on a conversation with people other than ourselves!