Well, it sure was a busy one, and no time to blog!
We’re finally home safe and sound. Christmas day was wonderful! So now that the dust has settled, I finally have time to blog… I’ll combine days 2-7, as what I really want to do is blog our downtown London adventure…coming soon as they say!
So, day 2 we are still sneaking around Teddington to avoid ruining Rob’s birthday surprise (for those that haven’t read the previous blog, we have flown from Toronto to London for Mike’s brother, Rob’s, 60th birthday to surprise him. We are staying in a hotel that is less than a km from Teddington Carpets, the family business that is owned and run by Rob).
Off to walk through https://www.royalparks.org.uk/visit/parks/bushy-park Busy Park (thankfully rutting season is over!). We were not disappointed with the amount of deer milling about.
Off to The Kings Arms https://kingsarmshamptoncourt.com/ for lunch. This is the first pub that Mikey took me to on my first-ever trip to London over 20 years ago. Although, it has changed hands and now a restaurant, it certainly doesn’t look like the traditional English Pub whereby my dear Mum-in-law (RIP Gwennie) convinced the pub owner to sell her a Blue Willow plate displayed on the shelf. She knew how much I loved this collection. It was so old and yellowed by the years of dust and smoke!… I digress..
Off to see the gardens at Hampton Court Palace https://www.hrp.org.uk/hampton-court-palace/?utm_medium=performance_max&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=evergreen_hcp&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAs6-sBhBmEiwA1Nl8szvj6UCn7fyFx7-0mNIUShc2eGt2LKypYaB_wPQrwKXJ8Yv55KFZHR…however, it’s no longer free to roam them since COVID-19. No worries, we’ve been many times and at least got to view this beauty!
When in London….
By this time, we’re getting thirsty and found an amazing pub, The Mute Swan https://www.brunningandprice.co.uk/muteswan/menus/daily-menu/. The ambiance was amazing this pub did NOT disappoint! It was full of Christmas cheer..AND…we’re sure that the scene in Love Actually whereby Colin Firth proposed, must have been shot here! Check it out…
Heading home with another walk through Busy Park and I must admit, just a little tipsy. Lots of deer (“Robz, stay away from the deer”, says Mikey)….
…and I had to, well, pee! So I found the closest tree and dropped my drawers just as car headlights illuminated my bare butt. When ya gotta go, ya gotta go! We laughed all the way back to the hotel!
The next day, and the last day we needed to sneak around, we headed down to Teddington Cemetary; Mum and Dad’s resting place, to place some flowers and silent conversations with Mike’s dear parents.
We then headed over to The Anglers https://www.anglers-teddington.co.uk/once again for a nice brunch.
We headed back to the hotel (https://www.parkhotelteddington.com/)and now we really need to be careful, as Rob is also now in the hotel. We put up our hoods, donned our sunglasses, and snuck back into the hotel.
Finally, on to the party! Sharon, the amazing organizer of the party who was also celebrating her 60th birthday, and the surprise, set up a photo with Rob, his wife Sandra, and son, Connagh and we photobombed the scene. When Rob was shown the photo..well, the gig was up!
The evening was wonderful. Rob’s band played, and we met with old friends we hadn’t seen in many years. A wonderful end to the day and a successful surprise for the birthday boy!
We planned to stay at the hotel for another couple of days, as our good friends, Jan and Dave joined us for more walks down memory lane. Dave and Mikey were best friends and went to https://hamptonschool.org.uk/ Hampton Grammar school together. It was so WONDERFUL to see them again! Of course, we headed down to The Anglers, where back in the day, they both drank underage! Mikey always jokes that Dave had a beard when he was nine and got them into the pub. This is also where Mikey’s aversion to cider took place!
For the next two days, we dined, shopped, and walked down memory lane. It was so wonderful to see our good friends once again!
The next day, Rob took us to see sister Tina and her family!
So wonderful to see them all again. Missing Leanne and Oliver.
We met up for dinner with good friends, George and Brenda. Although our original reservation at the https://www.baronspubs.com/roseandcrown/ was NOT honoured, we found another pub to dine, and reminisce!
So that’s pretty much a wrap for days 2-7! A lot of fun was packed into those days.
My next blog will be one not to miss! Downtown London at Christmas! London Eye, Big Ben (my fav!), Westminster Abbey, St. Paul’s, Tower Bridge, Covent Gardens, Picadilly Circus, Regent Street to Oxford Street and Home….yep, 27,000 steps and 18kms!
Stay tuned!
I’ll leave you with this..
“Life was meant for great adventures and close friends.” —Unknown
Life is Good….
Life Is Good 