A Hop Across The Pond

London had a double dose of Selvitella this weekend. Ashley came to visit for a total of 2.5 days and we didn’t stop the entire time. So much to see, so little time.

Little Ashley arrived Friday right around lunch time – I picked her up at the Knightsbridge station got her back to my flat to drop her things and we were off. We grabbed a quick lunch and walked around a bit to see Big Ben and a couple other sites. After the rest of my work day was over I was able to take her around for more explorations. We saw Buckingham palace, all the royal parks, the London Eye, Trafalgar Square, and Picadilly Circus. We also walked through Leicester Square and popped into the M&M Factory to grab a sweet treat before strolling down Regents Street and over to Oxford. Obviously I took her into PRIMARK – how could I rob her of that?! We spent quite a bit of time shopping around and she managed to purchase a Minnie Mouse onesie… with a tail. She’s special. After dark we headed back over to the flat and I took her to The Gloucester, my favorite pub on Sloane Street (well, the only pub on Sloane Street). We spent the night drinking Rekorderlig ciders, enjoying our authentic Pie & Mash meal, and laughing hysterically at all of the dumb stories we were telling each other.

Saturday morning I dragged Ash back out for more exploring. What she didn’t know was that this was about to be one of the best days of her life (..you’ll find out why shortly). We got the tube to King’s Cross and I took her to one of the local breakfast spots I had gone to with my coworkers – Dishoom. It’s a brand new Bombay-ish restaurant featuring a menu of eclectic but fresh, organic choices. After our bellies were good and full I took Ash over to my office to show her around. She got some nice shots of my corporate digs before I lead her to the rooftop terrace to catch the view. Unfortunately it was insanely foggy so the tops of the buildings were missing in the distance – didn’t matter, still cool.

Now – this is where the “best day of her life” starts. We walked around the corner from my office and into the main station where… wait for it… Platform 9 ¾ is. If you’re a Harry Potter fan, you get it. If you’re not.. well then.. you and I are in the same boat. We waited in about a 100-person line so that she could get a picture holding the faux carriage melting into the concrete wall. Even better, they let you choose which scarf you’d sport (Griffindor, Slitherin, Hufflepuff, Dorkyswob, Wizardweirdo.. ok I might have made a couple of those up), and they flung it out on the count of three to capture the best possible shot of you flying through the wall. Magical, I know. Despite my Sinicism, Ashley was in her glory. She got the perfect picture – on her phone AND her professional camera – and then we strolled over to the gift shop. We decided we weren’t really in the market for a new wand or pet owl so we started off for our next destination: Covent Garden.

We approached the Faneuil Hall-like market place in search for a quick lunch spot. We took our time walking through the cobblestoned side streets, admiring the oversized Christmas decorations and enjoying the sweet aroma of mulled wine and cider occupying the air. Finally we found it – Crème de la crepe. They had a full menu of sweet and savory crepes. We picked two that we liked and split them: buffalo chicken and Greek falafel.. ohyesss. Post-crepe, I had to share my love for Lauderee macaroons with the sis. Even though we weren’t in Paris, we could still pretend – it only makes sense to follow a crepe with a macaroon. She chose the delightful little salted caramel and was admittedly upset when she had to take the last bite. They’re just so good. Afterwards, we stopped back over at the flat, got changed, and walked to Hyde Park for the infamous Winter Wonderland that had just opened the night before.

Holy cow that was fun. We walked into the park that had been completely transformed into a festive wintery village. Carnival rides, mulled wine, Christmas market shops, homemade fudge, and more booze than you can think of – it was all there. We spent probably the first hour just looking around; we were like two twinkle-eyed toddlers at Disney World. Then, it was mulled wine time. Finished that and walked over to the area that featured a two story pop up lodge and balcony, overlooking a giant Christmas tree set behind a live band. We watched, listened, and chatted while we sipped on some cold local brews. I forgot to mention – it was oddly warm Saturday night. Mulled wine was a bad choice before. After beers on a balcony we decided it was a good idea to go on one of the carnival rides. You know the ones that take you really high in the air and drop you down quickly? Ya – we did that one. And I also thought it was a grand idea to take my phone so that we could get a cool picture from up top. Luckily I didn’t drop it.. and I got a good shot. Our next and final stop of the night was the German beer hall. Ya, you heard me correctly – there was a massive German beer hall in Hyde Park, London – strobe lights, live band, steins, bratwurst, you name it. I was as surprised as you are right now. Anyway, we deemed it imperative to get a stein each even though it was a 5 quid deposit on the mug. Stein filled with golden ale, we found a high top in the middle of all the craziness and raised our glass to a fun night. But it wasn’t over just yet. We were quickly joined by a three-some of Irish men who claimed they want to pledge allegiance to America on a daily basis. One of them even started singing My Country Tis Of Thee to us… hand over heart.. no I’m not kidding. They were a blast in a glass my friends –refilling our steins, randomly picking us up and twirling the mini Selvitella sisters around, and proudly stepping to the cotton eyed joe with us when it came on. Totally harmless, 100% fun. We stayed until Hyde Park closed… and I have no idea what time that was.

Sunday morning we didn’t wake up so early. Ha. Didn’t matter, it was pouring. We stayed true to our adventurous selves though and faced the inevitable flood. We were going to Camden Market if it was raining, snowing, or sleeting. It was totally worth it – I had actually never been to this market before so it was awesome to be able to explore somewhere new with Ash. We popped in and out of the many eccentric stores, bought a few authentic crafts from little vendors, and split a vegan-falafel wrap for lunch, (I don’t know, it sounded and looked good at the time). Hands like raisins, we called it quits and got back to the tube. We followed our outside shopping escapades with a warmer, indoor spree at H+M across the street from my flat. Hands full and wallets empty, we dried off and changed for our last event of the weekend. We arrived at the Hippodrome casino a bit early so that we were guaranteed a seat. We actually ended up getting there way ahead of time and were tended to straight away. We ordered dinner and a couple beers before finding a front row seat by the big screen. Patriots time. My friend Eric ended up meeting us there to watch the Pats stomp the Lions – another awesome game.

It was so incredibly, fantastically, super to be able to show Ash around Londontown. The weather could have been a little better but we still got everything in that we possible could in 2.5 days. I am fairly confident that she had a blast… right, Ash?!

I dropped her off this morning at the train toward Heathrow and I headed in for my last Monday in the London office. (Miss you already, Ash!) Wow. This week will fly – tomorrow night I’m going to check out Winter Wonderland again with Courtney, Thursday night is Thanksgiving and American football at the Hippodrome with some coworkers and friends, Friday I’ll be out all day/night with coworkers, and Saturday is a fancy gala fundraiser. And then.. I’ll be home. Holy moley where did the time go.

I’ll be back again later this week for one last post… stay tuned!