London is…greening up.

We left Minnesota’s record-breaking winter snowfall and cold temperatures and flew to London for a trip we planned months ago. It was refreshing to be in a place where the grass was greening up, buds on the trees were popping open, and flowers were blooming. The sun shone some, usually in the mornings, but the temperatures were in the forty’s and some days the wind made it very chilly indeed, and it rained a few times, but… that is London…and London is where I wanted to be!

We had rented a house for the week…it was very unique: tall and narrow, with creaky, wooden steps and large windows in the stairwells. The first floor had two bedrooms and a bath. Our son and his family stayed on that level. Two flights up were the kitchen and living area. Two flights up from there were two more bedrooms, and the final flight of steps took you to the second bathroom at the top of the house. A very funky setup but it worked well. There was a lovely, enclosed patio off the main level but it was too cold to enjoy during our stay.

The house was just a half block to the London Tube system. The Tube system is so efficient. We bought a Tube Pass on the first day and took the Tube from the airport all the way to our rented house, transferring once. It took over an hour but was so easy. During the week we took the Tube everywhere we wanted to go.

One morning we did have to ride the Tube during rush hour and it was crowded! People were nose to nose…with more and more people squeezing in at each stop. We made it to our destination on time that day, but were thankful the Tube wasn’t crowded like that all the time. The Tube is used by many Londoners and it is a very good thing. We rode the Tube mostly during non-rush hour times. We “minded the gap” and rode it all around town.

London is a busy city but there are a lot of parks and green spaces. It was nice to see many flowers blooming…especially the daffodils. I love perky daffodils and am always reminded of the poem by A.A.Milne (who was from London) called Daffydowndilly. In part it reads:

“She wore her yellow sun-bonnet,
She wore her greenest gown;
She turned to the south wind
And curtsied up and down…”

Here is a link to the entire poem.

It was fun to be in London with our son and his family. The kids, ages 4 and almost 3, were good travellers. Traveling with children puts a different spin on things… it’s fun to see things through their eyes and with their excitement and enthusiasm. What joy to be in London with them.