London Calling….

Well, I'm happy to report that while nothing can quite take the place of sharing Thanksgiving with family; we were able to find a very good traditional American turkey and dressing kind of meal (minus the green bean casserole of course) with our British ancestors in London.  :)

Visiting London this time of year is like literally stepping into a Dickens novel…. soft, warm lights glowing thru decorated shop windows; Christmas music being played by street musicians, folks hustling about the streets in scarves and hats…. the whole effect is very magical (except for that pesky exchange rate) :) … and the weekend held a little bit of something for everyone:  a visit to Hampton Court Palace for me; ice skating at Somerset House for the oldest girls; our first high tea (Marlowe's favorite memory of the weekend); shopping on Regent Street for my teen; a Charlie & the Chocolate Factory show for the family; and even a barbecue dinner for my guy...

inside the world's oldest surviving hedge maze (1/2 mile long!)

dreaming of Downton

you can have the inside of the palace; I'll just take the gardens…

I tried my best to get one of those Fortnum & Mason wicker baskets; but, alas, they would only sell them full of goodies. :(

Ashtyn and I agreed we could happily spend a month just going from quaint cafe to quaint cafe...

Quintessential…. but, ewwww… try not to touch. :)

Going on a bear hunt…. for the Paddingtons all over the city

yes, that's them

well, we made it thru about a 1/3 of this...

yes… and yes...

A big highlight was meeting my first 'virtu-real' (phrase coined by JCWebb) friend! :)  We followed one another's blogs in the States and became expats at the same time in 2012…. she to London and us to Geneva where we've kept in contact via Instagram and such…. and it was such a joy to finally get together face to face… the 21st century version of long time pen pals… fantastic!

Jennifer and Patricia…. I hope you'll be next! :)