We are so sad to be leaving our home for this past month, but also excited for the fun and new experiences that Paris will bring!

We started in London to give the kids a taste of a different country without the huge differences in language, foods etc.  As I have been saying, they have embraced this experience better than we could have ever imagined, and they are 100% ready to travel to new countries where they will be forced to “figure it out” alongside us.

This last week began with a few days of catching up with work and school.  The weather turned more “England-like” and we saw that the sun would be back out towards the end of the week so we took the rainy days to work to leave time for the outdoor activities that we still had yet to do.

I’m not sure if I have confessed this yet, but I have this WEIRD obsession with British Royalty…

…Like, I was sure that my 23 and Me results would uncover that I had some Royal English blood or something, but alas, it turns out that I’m practically 100% from Spain.  FYI- Queen Catherine of Aragon (King Henry VIII’s first wife) was Spanish- so maybe?

I digress…

We spent half a day enjoying the history and beauty of Hampton Court where King Henry VIII spent most of his days entertaining royals and his many wives. The kids now know all of their names and what happened to them (Death, Divorce, or Decapitation.) Oh, the things we choose to take from these audio-tours.

 

If you are a British Royal-junkie like me and are ever in London, I HIGHLY recommend visiting this beautiful palace.  The audio tour takes you through King Henry’s kitchen that used to cook meals for 1000 guests at the court at a time.  You get taken through the corridor that is still said to be haunted by Queen Catherine Howard as it was where she learned of her fate and begged Henry not to send her to her death like he did with his #2, Queen Anne Boleyn. See, I’m a dork about this stuff.

 

The gardens are the most impressive part of the palace.  You can even try out the oldest hedge maze in Great Britain that was built for William and Mary, who also resided at Hampton Court, in the 17^thcentury. Owen had a minor melt-down here when he couldn’t find his way out and his sister wouldn’t let up about it. Hence, no photos, but we made it through so there ya go.

 

We took the train to Wimbledon on our way home from Hampton Court…

and walked around the “lovely” (I say this with my best British accent now and it annoys the crap out of the kids) high street and all the way to the world-famous site of so many historical tennis matches. Unfortunately it was closed to the public (we got there too late,) but it was still cool to see and the walk was welcome after a few days being cooped up in the flat.

Thursday we headed to Cambridge which was one of my favorite highlights from studying abroad here for a summer 20 years ago.

 

I am a lover of all things University of Florida, but this campus

blows Gainesville well out of the water (that’s a joke, obviously it does.). We visited the Wren Library at Trinity college that was built in the late 1600’s and houses the actual manuscripts for Winnie The Pooh as well as Newton’s notebook,

prism and even a lock of his hair.  No photos were allowed, and we don’t blame them, but this library was GORGEOUS and a must see in Cambridge.  Admission is free, but they only allow 15 in at a time and is only open from noon-2pm so get there early.

 

No trip to Cambridge is complete without a punting tour down the river.  These punting guides tell you the history of the different colleges, how they came to be, and even fun facts about them.

 

During the tour we were told that some of the members of Pink Floyd met here in Cambridge and frequented one of the pubs along the tour.  You can guess where we headed to next.

 

Friday we headed out to Central London later in the day to catch a glimpse of it at night.

Honestly, it’s one of the most beautiful cities I have ever been to, but at night it is marvelous!  We got a tip to go up to the Sky Garden in the “walkie-talkie” building to get one of the best views of the city, and it did NOT disappoint!  Save your money and skip the Shard, and do this instead.  There are restaurants and cafes up here to grab a quick drink while enjoying the view, and on a clear day like today we could see for miles!

We caught dinner at Covent Garden and then walked along the Thames at night to Waterloo to catch our quick train-ride home.  We were so in the moment that we didn’t get any photos!  This is how you know we are truly enjoying this trip and each other.  We are so blessed.

 

Our last day of site-seeing was spent closer to “home” at Kensington Palace and Hyde Park on a “LOVELY” (there it is again) sunny English day.

We walked for MILES in this gorgeous park that was once used by King Henry VIII as a hunting ground.  I know it seems like I’m obsessed with this particular King, but I’m not.  His history is EVERYWHERE and he DOES have a lot of “fun facts” to talk about with all the wives and all.  Along the route, we watched English teens practice their cricket batting and bowling and Owen got a quick lesson.

We, of COURSE, stopped at a pub that was smack in the middle of the park, for lemonades for the kids, a pint for Tod, and a traditional Pimms and Lemonade for me (not my kind of cocktail, but I’m embracing all things British on my last weekend here.  I’m “world-schooling” myself I guess. These are the sacrifices we make, y’all.

We then headed to Kensington Palace for one last day of learning about British Royal History. I admit, I didn’t know much about Queen Victoria, but it was amazing to learn about her past, and what it was like growing up in Kensington Palace.  I thought often about how things were different for the newer Royals who are growing up here now with so many tourists hanging around in their backyard. I quickly stopped feeling sorry for little George, the kid has it pretty good compared to most.  Let’s be honest.

 

To cap off our London portion of the blog, I thought I would share some insights into how things are here vs back home in Florida from our perspective.

 

Here are some quick words on what we notice:

We haven’t been in a car in a month.

Oh, how I LOVE amazing public transportation and I have yet to experience anything as awesome as here in England.  We managed to travel all around the city and even hours out of it WITHOUT getting lost once! This has made this month so stress-free. No fighting over whether we are going the right way, no worries about traffic jams, no dealing with high priced taxi/uber rides.  I’m AMAZED at how beautifully planned this train system is here, and I will definitely miss it when we leave Europe.

 

We have walked more in a month than in an entire year.

Piggy—backing on the paragraph above, we have walked so much in the last four weeks than we ever would back home in the same time-span.  We have noticed that people here in London are way fitter than what we see back home, yet you don’t see as many gyms around.  While their food isn’t the healthiest over here, (I’m trying to fix that,) the Londoners walk so much and go up so many stairs to and from the tube that they stay fit and lean.  Another perk to big-city living.

When it comes to fashion, things are way different here too.

With all the walking and tube-station navigating you don’t see ANYONE in flip flops and shorts (except us, we were the ones in flip flops and shorts as well as all the other US tourists in the city.) The women here are currently wearing long, floral dresses with sneakers.  You heard me right.  Work-out clothes are strictly for working out too.  Makes sense doesn’t it?

Starbucks are few and far between, but Pret A Manger is everywhere and If I had my way, it would be the same back home.

Organic coffee, unique juices, healthier coffee-drink options, perhaps this is another reason why Londoners are thinner than the US counterparts.  You don’t see them drinking sugary Starbucks frapp-drinks. Instead they drink tea, or organic Pret coffee with a touch of REAL cream or coconut milk.  My kind of coffee place!  Wake-up America!

Socially, things are also different.

We noticed the man to woman ratio at pubs is about 4:1 IF THAT.  We noticed the same at the Premier League game where the ratio was closer to 10:1.  Come on, ladies.  You deserve a drink after a long day of work just as much as the next guy!

Another observation in pubs, the women who ARE here are drinking anything pink.

Rose wine is THE THING, as is flavored GIN!  I’m not sure if this a thing back home as I’m not one to frequent many bars, but since the culture here is all about pubs we have embraced it, and I have noticed that pink gin is trending.  Most bars have 10+ bottles of it from all the gin brands we have back home, and of course local ones.  I finally got the nerve to try one of these girlie-gin drinks and OMG.  I hope this makes it to the US soon. Rhubarb, raspberry, even grapefruit-flavored gin with club soda has been my go-to cocktail on a nice sunny English day.

 I’m going to miss it here!

 

One last observation is a personal one.

Our lives quickly become routine in the day-to-day monotony of life, and sometimes it takes getting away from it to realize it. These last few weeks we have laughed more, learned more, and shared more with each other than we had in a long time. Our screen time is down to only a few minutes a day (unless we are schooling/working,) and we are starting to truly get to know each other.  The growth in the kids in just the last few weeks has been remarkable, or have they always been this smart and funny and I just never noticed because I was too busy working and running errands to notice?

I’m sure that we will have moments of strife (like the maze incident at Hampton Court,) but I can say with 100% honesty that these last few weeks have been the best that our family has had yet and we can’t wait to see what Paris brings!

 

Au revoir for now!

The Davidsons

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