To recap: my parents visited. It was fun. Read on.
Wednesday and Thursday were an adventure. On the advice of Nic and a couple of other people, we headed off towards the Dorset coast. This meant renting a car and navigating England's quaint roadways. Quaint, indeed.
The English really like their roundabouts, apparently - there was one about every five minutes. Confusing in and of itself, yes, but then add the fact that my dad was driving on the wrong side of the road (for him, not for England), an experience he likened to "taking your brain out of your head, turning it backwards, and sticking it back in." We knew we were in for some real fun when Dad started the trip on the right foot by opening the passenger side of the car. Oh dear.
We did a whirlwind tour of British sights, including Stonehenge (which we saw through the fence - it's basically ON the highway), Bath (where we spent about an hour trying to keep out of the freezing rain), and Glastonbury (the Abbey was closed). After only a couple angry outbursts and two near-misses, we ended up in Dorcester, where we stayed at a nice little B&B and had one of the best meals I've had in the UK. Nice. Then off in the morning to Durdle Door, a really nice rock formation on the coast, Lulworth Cove (where we got snowed on), and fish & chips by the sea. Then back off to London, to end what was a short but satisfying trip.
On Friday, we went to the British Museum, where we were educated on what it takes to stuff and wrap a mummy, and then commented on how just about everything in the museum was stolen from somewhere else. Yaay England. Then we went to Borough Market, which is this fantastic weekly market that has all sorts of gourmet food and desserts. Lest we forget where I get my love of food from, my mom and dad raved about their sandwiches, and mom even seriously thought about getting a second one, just to be able to try everything.
After freezing a little more, we went to the Imperial War Museum, which is possibly the best museum in London. Dad and I checked out the submarine exhibit, while we all went on the hilarious Blitz Experience, where you go on this completely low-rent tour of a model of WWII-era London during and after a "bomb raid". Mom (and I don't blame her) laughed inappropriately throughout the entire thing. It was awesome.
Dinner that night was at an Italian restaurant in Mayfair (recommended by my parents' friends), which would have been great - except for the fact I got food poisoning that night (although I haven't ruled out the venison sausages Borough market). Other than that, though, the restaurant was fun. Nic seemed a lot more comfortable with my parents, and my mom seemed comfortable enough to flirt with the waiter, snap many, many pictures of me and Nic, to our collective horror, and sing along to Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin - loudly. But really, the place was full of other loud Americans, so no need really to be embarrassed. (Funny how much you notice them after being here for a while, and how grating they sound.)
So, all in all, it was a pretty great week. Cold, yes, but lots of fun - it's always good to be a tourist in London again. And it couldn't have ended more fittingly. Since my parents' hotel was right across the street from me, I had grand plans to wake up at 4am and see them off to the airport. Did that happen? Nope. Of course not.
= :)
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