L Rizzy's Adventures: England: L Rizzy's 9th Country

Yesterday was a very busy day for our little family. We woke up and immediately put the finished touches on the cleaning job for the our furnished apartment in Leipzig. Then we walked to the city to send our cable modem back to Kabel Deutschland in Nurnberg (we weren't allowed to drop it off at one of the 50 Kabel Deutschland stores in Leipzig) a well as mail some goodbye letters. Then we met our landlord at our apartment with our German friend who would mediate the handover. Once the inspection was complete we took our suitcase, stroller, 17 month old, and 85 liter backpack down to the main station to catch a train to Berlin. Then we caught a cab to Berlin Tegel airport followed by a plane ride to London Heathrow. Next we met up with a prearranged cab driver to take us one hour into town to our hotel. Unfortunately we arrived in London about 1 hour before the opening ceremonies for the Paralympics here in London so traffic was quite fun. Exhausted, we had some room service which consisted of some amazing butternut squash risotto and some fish and chips complete with lemonade- it's the simple things in life, really. With full bellies we hit the sack for the long day that was to follow this crazy one.

This morning we woke up quite early thanks to L Rizzy's personal clock still being set on Leipzig time. We took advantage and were out the door sight seeing by 8 am. We immediately stopped at a coffee shop for some fruit and breakfast pastries. Naturally, it then started to rain, and continued to do so off an on throughout the next 6 and a half hours of walking. We debated the Hop on/Hop off bus tour but since we only had a day to look around we really wanted to get a feel for London... and get a feel we did. We trudged through the rain to the Tower Bridge (often mistakenly called the London Bridge) and Tower of London. We walked across the bridge and hit up a nice grocery store for more fruit and milk. We then continued down the Thames river where we saw Shakespeare's Globe Theater- both original site and the rebuilt one. Next we enjoyed walking through Borough Market which was amazing and bustling despite the rain. We then headed across the Thames to Parliament square where the Parliament building, Big Ben and Westminster Abbey were proudly standing.

We were then heading toward Buckingham palace when L Mama, in her pregnant glory, needed a restroom break. We found one on the map, went to the exact location, and found no bathroom. We searched around and nothing. Things were getting pretty desperate. There was a security guard who was walking by so we asked for help and he said it would be ok if we walked around the building next to us to the entrance and his colleague would let us in. Excellent. L Mama ran and was let in without a problem. When I arrive I noticed her going through a security checkpoint. Odd, I thought, for a bathroom break. The security inside then said I could not wait for her with a stroller in the lobby and politely told me to roll out. When I did I noticed the sign outside which then made all the security measures make sense: L Mama was relieving herself in the Supreme Court (but not ON the Supreme Court).

After the successful exploitation of a pregnancy, we made it to Buckingham Palace, and then turned towards Trafalgar Square. Once there we were happy to find out that the National Gallery was free so we ducked inside to check out the Van Gogh, Monet, and Da Vinci paintings we wished to see. We also picked up L Rizzy's England book inside. Now thoroughly wiped out from walking everywhere, we headed back to the hotel. We did stop on the way to admire St. Paul's Cathedral, as well as to have a great conversation with a couple from Florida. How did this conversation start? We saw the gentleman's Ohio State hat and sternly proclaimed, "Go Bucks." Once home we rested up some. L Rizzy fell asleep for a well deserved nap but was awoken 10 minutes later when the cleaning team keyed into the room (forgot the do not disturb, damn it). So we went out and got some food- burritos made in front of you like Chipotle, but not Chipotle. They were amazing. After some large, hotel bed wrestling, we settled in for a good nights rest. Tomorrow we will be renting a car and heading through Cambridge to York. It appears as though cars drive on the left side of the road here....