London - Such a Lovely Place

We arrived in London a bit out of sorts on Monday, having our travel day gone from 4:15 AM until about 2 PM. We stayed with some friends of friends in a gorgeous home in an area called Swiss Cottage. It was so enjoyable to be out of hostels and in a home with a family! They were incredibly hospitable and always made us feel right at home.

After unpacking, we headed downtown on the Tube to see the typical London sites - Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and then to Buckingham Palace. Unfortunately, Buckingham Palace was being used for a Paralympics event, it was the day after the closing ceremony and seemed to be a parade of sorts of all the olympians. It was fun to see all the English pride though as we were walking in the park around the palace! We sat down for our first meal of fish & chips (which was delicious) and then headed back "home" for an early night.

Tuesday we had the pleasure of Emma's company! Emma is my longest friend, going back to our first years in Cairo. It's been probably 5 years since we last saw each other so we had lots of catching up to do! And of course, she got to meet Nick and know him which was really special! We enjoyed the Victoria & Albert Museum with her, had coffee in the museum, walked the city, ate delicious Lebanese food, finally saw Buckingham Palace and Trafalgar Square. It was such a wonderful day!

Nick & I started our Wednesday off with our own walking tour of Harry Potter sites! We saw where Diagon Alley was filmed and which little street inspired it. We walked past Gringotts Bank and saw the huge chandelier that ends up collapsing in the movie...and of course, King's Cross Station! Even more sites await us in Oxford this Saturday.



After our tour, we met up with Emma, Fiona, and Shami - 3 friends from Egypt. It was "divine" catching up with them, hearing about their lives, and their futures. (Divine is very British and Nick couldn't help but laugh every time someone used it, along with the word lovely and how they say the letter "H".) We talked lots about Egypt, the memories, the Revolution, how things are different now and all the best places to shop! We might be buying a second bag when we get there so I can buy lots to bring back...

One quick story on Nick...early one morning, Nick walked down to breakfast with the family we were staying with. The two boys (7 & 8 years old) were wearing school uniforms. So Nick asks them if they have to wear the same shirt and pants every day, thinking this was a good conversation starter. Little did he know that pants in British English actually means underwear. So when Johan jumped up and got defensive, declaring that they of course don't wear the same pants every day, Shivanthi (their mom) had to explain to Nick that he had just asked if they wear the same underwear everyday. Haha!

We are off to Birmingham now to see an OM training center before we head to Oxford on Friday to spend time with my parents. Keep us posted with any news from home - we miss everyone!