What a joy it has been to be back in the English-speaking world! After four months of struggling to communicate, we deeply appreciate being able to understand our environment and the people around us.

With mostly good weather, we have packed as much fun as we could into the last few days. We are staying in noisy, lively Camden, trying to sleep through the sirens and street noise. We explored locally on our first day. Much of the grunge and alternative everything that we saw probably went over the kids’ heads as we wandered through Camden Market.

One highlight for me has been taking early morning jogs along the Regent’s Canal Towpath. The peaceful and mostly empty path along the canal is great for running, with views of canal boats, locks, graffiti, endless pigeons, and pretty greenery. I’ve run in Regent’s Park too, along with hundreds of others out for their morning exercise.

Our big activity on our second day was a visit to St. Paul’s Cathedral. When you’ve seen the Duomo of Milan close to the beginning of a big trip, it’s a little hard to be amazed by churches, but St. Paul’s did not disappoint. Every aspect of the cathedral is so well-kept and spotless that it doesn’t feel like a 300 year-old building. No other cathedral experience has been so full of helpful and friendly people: they provided a kids’ craft, shared informative tidbits, and exuded genuine kindness. We climbed close to 600(!!) stairs to get a spectacular and dizzying view of the interior of the dome and the city of London. It was particularly moving to visit the chapel dedicated to the American dead who served in WWII and to see a beautiful book with the names of all the American servicemen. We were also in the cathedral for two moments of prayer, and hearing the Lord’s Prayer recited (in a beautifully posh British accent) was extra special given the fact that the kids just memorized it.

We started our third day with a peek at Buckingham Palace. A pleasant stroll through the blooming daffodils of St. James’s Park brought us to Parliament Square and Westminster Abbey, home of royal coronations, weddings, and burial sites. We filed through the Abbey with the crowds. We likely did not find the royal burial sites as meaningful as other visitors, but the intricate details and majestic grandeur of this building completed almost 800 years ago inspire awe. Had we half the kids and twice the staying power, we could have spent much longer in this amazing building. Along with being the burial site of many UK monarchs, many famous people like Sir Isaac Newton are either buried or commemorated in the Abbey.

We took our lunch break right outside the Abbey. The day before we ate looking at St. Paul’s Cathedral. On this day, the towering walls of Westminster Palace filled our view.

We ventured briefly into Chinatown, which was crazy busy due to the Lunar New Year celebration. We wanted to scope out the area for our exciting start to our last day in London: the Chinese New Year Parade! Given the insane crowds from the day before, we didn’t think we’d be able to see the parade, but we arrived on time, got a great spot, and had a ton of fun watching the parade. Of course it was wildly different from a small town Polson parade, but just like at home, the kids got to interact personally with a handful of the participants. The loud drumbeats, colorful costumes, graceful dancing, excited anticipation of the crowds, and the cheerful Happy New Year wishes made for a memorable morning – so fun!

The boys and girls split up for the afternoon. I splurged on surprisingly reasonable tickets to go see Wicked with the girls. I saw it in London in 2007, but my previous experience did not prevent me from taking us to the wrong theater and realizing my mistake only twenty minutes before showtime. We rushed to correct my mistake, and in rushing, I erred again and put us on the wrong train! We arrived only five minutes late but had to sit in the lobby and watch the show on a screen for another twenty minutes. Once in our seats we enjoyed the show thoroughly!

London is an amazing city. We’ve just barely scratched the surface here, and we will be sad to leave tomorrow!