We had Zack all to ourselves for a couple days before Robert and Tiffany showed up (they went to Paris first). On Saturday we walked over to the British Library to see an exhibit of historical maps, which was amazing. We got to see pages from both the world’s largest atlas and the smallest. We also stopped at the Wellcome Collection on our way over and saw an interesting but kind of creepy exhibit on human skin. At the British Library there was also a Latin American festival going on, and we watched some folk dancers for a little while, then got some churros and chocolate, fittingly, at the museum’s coffee shop. We made a stop a little later on at cider pub, which was fun with Zack because we got to teach him about cider while he taught us about beer (he’s becoming quite the aficionado). That evening we met up with some of our American friends, both human and canine, for a picnic in Regents Park. It was time to say goodbye to Steve and Jamie, as they were going out of town for a couple weeks, and we couldn’t stand to end it, so the picnic moved indoors at Rich and Janice’s place, and we all walked over to Edgware Road afterwards, although Andrew, Zack and I skipped the kebabs. I was really broken up at having to say goodbye to Steve and Jamie, but I know it wasn’t a permanent goodbye by any means. They are too precious to lose.
On Sunday morning we all went to St Pancras station to pick up Robert and Tiffany, then went to the farmer’s market for the last time. We bid an emotional farewell to our favorite farmers, especially our potato guy. We must have done some more walking around that day, but we mostly just spent time together at our flat, playing board games, drinking wine, and talking. The next day we walked up to Regents Park, then met Amy for fish and chips and did a massive tourist walk through Green Park, past Buckingham Palace, through St James, and down to Westminster, where we got on a ferry down to the Tower of London, then took a bus all the way back, past St Paul’s Cathedral, down Fleet Street and the Strand, past Trafalgar Square and up Regents Street. Then it was more of the usual entertainment in the evening. It was nice to have so many American friends with us at the end to help with the transition.
The next morning we made a big full English breakfast, black pudding and all, before Zack headed out to the airport to catch a plane to Sweden. Robert and Tiffany went down to Hampton Court Palace for a few hours while Andrew and did some work around the flat, including breaking down some of the furniture for someone to come pick up that night. We sent away our bed and couch with a stranger, and the four of us had a light picnic supper on the floor gathered around an epic game of Agricola.
The following day we woke up a bit slowly, just in time for lunch reservations at Galvin, which was as lovely as ever, then had a sprint down to the theatre for a matinee showing of Les Mis. We hardly saw any musicals at all when we lived in London, which is a shame, because it was a very good performance and a great experience to share with friends.
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