Fifi and I packed our bags and headed down Wednesday morning. From Greenock to our destination, we took four (or was it five?) different trains. It wasn't too bad, though. Fifi was a wonderful passenger and kept me very busy. However, trying to maneuver a buggy on the tube in London is certainly not on my list of Best Challenges Ever. Londoners in general are not very helpful.
David, of David and Sheena, met me at London Euston and accompanied us to their home. Very wonderful folks, they are by the way. I've met very few people as hospitable as they. That night we ate delicious stir fry with Bruce and PJ, their American houseguests. That was Wednesday.
Thursday was The Interview. I will not discuss it, lest I jinx it (or rather toot my own horn about how well it went just to find out on Monday that they did not think it went so well and force me to tell you that I am a dumb loser). Let's just say I made it back from Guildford on the tube/trains all by myself with a buggy in tow and did not die or get lost or mugged.
Thursday night, we ate delicious lamb, made by the fabulous Sheena (well, she didn't make the lamb, God did, but she prepared it). That was Thursday.
OKAY. On to the good stuff. On Friday, Sheena took me and Fifi into the city centre, and we had a great time. We went on the London Eye (pictures here), which, by the way, is awesome if you have a kid and a pram because you totally get to skip the queue. No more than two minutes into it, Fifi slipped and busted her lip. It was awful, and I felt like a terrible mum. Poor thing.
Following that, and a quick lunch, Sheena took us over the Westminster Bridge to Trafalgar Square, where she left us to go pick up her wee'en from school. This is where the real adventure began; I cannot read maps. In fact, let me just make you a visual of what my afternoon was like.
It took me a full hour to get to the British Museum.
Anyway, I finally made it to the Museum, and it was fantastic. I didn't have nearly the amount of time I hoped to have (I was afraid I'd get lost again on my way to King's Cross for my train home), but I saw quite a lot and loved it. The Chinese Terracotta Army is there right now, so Scott and I are going to try to go back down to London before the exhibit closes in April so we can see it.
After the museum, I headed on to the train station, keeping an eye open for a cheap place to get dinner. I found nothing except a Quaker Meeting House which had a bookshop and cafe. I went in there, perused lots of Quaker books and left, as the cafe only had limited sandwiches by that time of day. Finally, at King's Cross I found a Burger King (bleh) and decided to make do. We made our train on time, which was a painfully long five and a half hours long with no changes. Fifi again was very good, but very curious and squirmy and tiring. Here's a nice little video to leave you with.
Traveling By Train (With A Monkey) from superlori on Vimeo.
My conclusion? I like London to visit, but I would never, ever want to live there. I like Scottish people. They help mums with prams get onto trains. And up here, we don't think £1000 rent a month for a two bedroom flat is a bargain.
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