London Daze

Flying to Europe from the west coast is never comfortable in cattle class, so basically the flight met our expectations.  Before our journey, we’d read up on the latest theories about how to minimize jetlag. One measure advised adopting the eating schedule of the country to which you are flying. For us, this translated into no food after 2pm PDT or 10pm London time. Normally, this would have presented a challenge.

However, we neglected to read the fine print of our itinerary and learned upon boarding that Icelandair offers only food for purchase. There we were in Seattle airport...a foodie’s paradise with Ivars, and numerous gourmet options and we boarded our flight empty handed. Fortunately, children were exempt from the food blackout.  Zoe was committed to staying awake the entire flight, as evidenced fact enhanced by her drink of choice: caffeinated tea. I think she was waiting for me to fall asleep so she could tune into the Hunger Games. JT and I wisely had no such qualms and slept as much as we could.

Icelandair, on the positive end, moved our seats from their original spot at rear of the plane to the front, thus making us near first in line to clear passport control in London. The U.K. agents make US passport control look like teddy bears, they don’t crack a smile or exude an ounce of warm.  Fortunately, the process was far more efficient than I remember, maybe it was the computerization, but we were out in less than 15 minutes, and given our level of exhaustion, it was awesome. After short naps, we walked around Piccadilly Circus and took the kids to our favorite bookstore, Waterstones.

Armed with rain jackets and hotel umbrellas, we were prepared to face the worst London could throw at us. Fortunately, we faced nothing more severe than scattered showers and even saw the sun on our last day. With only 56-hours at our disposal, we planned to cram more into our stay than in all of our previous visits. This ambitious plan might have exploded in our given the time change and jet lag, but our time in London was largely a success. To start, we borrowed a page from the Tomeo family playbook and let each family member choose one activity. JT chose the London Eye (the giant Ferris wheel), Tom: Indian food, Zoe: Kensington Palace and Naomi: the Tower of London. Since many of these places were covered by the London Pass, we sprung for those and subsequently enjoyed a ride on the Thames, a tour of the Tower Bridge (the picturesque bridge that we thought was the London bridge), and The London Bridge experience (the actual London bridge).

Despite having seen many fascinating historical sites, the crown jewels and a palace, the London Bridge Experience was hands down the kid’s favorite. It’s basically a haunted house with some historical skits thrown in.  Our kids have never really been to a haunted house, so this proved to be the most memorable experience. With narrow passages, scary tableaus and bloodied people leaping out from every corner, my ears hurt for some time afterwards as Zoe screamed directly into them for several minutes solid at the end of the tour.

The Indian restaurant was amusing for different reasons. Tom chose a restaurant recommended by his London-based friend, who clearly placed food over family-friendly when making his suggestions. The restaurant lay just around the corner from Parliament and seemed to cater to a well-heeled clientele based on the elegant wood paneling, white table cloths and lack of kids menu. This was not your garden variety Indian food of shared curries and chicken tikka masala, but amazing Nuevo fusion Indian food. We endured several tense moments with Tom quite literally sweating it out while we debated how to surreptitiously bolt before ordering. With our completely exhausted children teetering uncertainly on the edge of collapse, we negotiated dishes they could live with and they rallied to actually enjoy the meal.  (although Zoe eschewed the native cuisine in lieu of basic Scottish rump roast).

Ryan Air, most noted for its rock bottom fares and on-time arrival percentage, was the low cost carrier we selected for our flight to Malaga. This portion of the trip was without question, the most stressful. This flight was responsible for my combing through every luggage retailer in Reno and Carson, tape measure in hand, in search of the elusive 20cm x 40 cm x 55 cm carry-on bag. Seriously, a cottage industry of youtube videos and products have sprung up around people trying to get as much luggage as possible onto Ryan Air flights. They have the box. And they use it.

We breezed through checking our luggage (just a hair under the 20 kg limit each), and snuck each carry-on out of the line of sight into the box and determined that one piece was a clear no pass. Upon boarding the lines were immense, and every 5 steps bold signs warned 1 carryon only IF IT FITS.  (seriously women are not allowed a purse separate from their luggage). Just as we a couple people back from boarding, an attendant pulled an elderly gentleman over to grill him about his luggage. It didn’t fit in the box and given the 35 pound per bag checked baggage fee (a whopping $55), he was naturally fighting it. I used this distraction to angle my overloaded backpack out of view and successfully snuck out the door. Ryan air is like riding a bus. Actually based on the tourist bus, it’s a step below riding a bus. The seats are tiny, advertising is pasted to the overhead bins and they pitch lottery tickets on the loudspeaker. Later, I read in the Malaga local paper that 3 Ryan flights in a single day had been forced to make emergency landing for running too low on fuel after being delayed en-route for weather.  Hmmm, I guess cut rate fares have a price.

All in all we love London. I could live here if only it weren't so bloody expensive. The prices would be reasonable if the pound and dollar were at parity, but far from it. Factoring in the exchange rate, and suddenly we are pouring money down the drain. Its been lovely, but a couple days feels just right.