Week 16: December 17-23
- Katie and Webster
- Dec 23, 2018
- 5 min read
Our last week in London started off as they all do. Webster went to play his last game of soccer, it was the final game and his team won! What a nice way to end their season! I spent the night at home packing what I could, doing laundry and tidying up. It is amazing how much stuff we accumulated in four months!
On Tuesday, Webster stayed home from work and came to visit me at our favourite spot at Buckingham Palace. We had Greggs sausage rolls one last time and watched the guards at the palace.
Then, after work, even though it was pouring rain, we headed out to see one last Christmas market in Leicester Square. We had walked past the market a few times, but had yet to check it off our list so we were happy to go look around. Although we have gotten used to London prices, the market was extremely overpriced and we didn’t end up buying anything.
Afterwards we walked to Piccadilly Circus to see the big screens. It was just as busy as ever! Then, we made our last trip to Selfridges to have one more cookie dough treat. We came to Selfridges back in September for cookie dough and it has been our favourite dessert out.
On Wednesday, I took a long walk at lunch to see 10 Downing Street and the Household Cavalry Museum. Then on my way back to work, past Buckingham Palace, I saw tons of paparazzi and police. Of course, I had to stop and see who was leaving the palace. I saw Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Kate, Will, George and Charlotte all leave the palace in their cars. Webster and I had both seen Will and Kate a few weeks ago but because it was so dark out I didn’t see her very clearly. I was really hoping to see them again during the day. I vividly saw Kate in her bright pink outfit, Princess Charlotte was even waving out the back window. It was so nice to have one more royal sighting during our last week. (My photos didn't turn out but you can see all the paparazzi photos if you click here)
In the evening, Webster had his work Christmas party so I spent the night finishing some British Netflix shows before we came home.
On Thursday, we both hurried home from work to head to Winter Wonderland! Winter Wonderland is a HUGE theme park the city of London sets up in Hyde Park for a month before Christmas to celebrate the holidays. There aren’t any theme parks close to the city so tourists and locals all come to spent time at Winter Wonderland. We heard how big it was, but once we actually got there we were amazed! It is 20 acres of rides, shows, carnival games, and Christmas activities. We didn’t end up riding any rides because they charged about £9 for each ride per person. We instead walked around and watched people play games, listened to live music and enjoyed some mulled wine!
At Webster’s Christmas party on Wednesday he met another Canadian who was in London for a few weeks looking for a job. We ended up meeting up with him at Winter Wonderland and were able to give him some recommendations about the city. It was a really fun night and great way to end one of our last days.
On Friday, my work spoiled me with festivities. In the morning we headed to the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace. Most of my colleagues had NEVER seen the ceremony even though we work 2 minutes down the road. It was a good day to go because there were hardly any tourists and we got a great view.
Then, we went to Franco Manca for lunch, my favourite pizza place in London. It was nice to spend time with the team one last time.
After work, I met up with Sydney who was a Don with me in Conrad Hall in 2016-2017. She was in London for Christmas to visit some family. We spent a few hours walking around the city and catching up. I wanted to show her all the Christmas lights so we walked from Oxford Circus, onto Regent Street, Carnaby Street, Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square, Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace and finally back to the train station. It was a nice way for me to see everything one last time too.
When we were at Buckingham, Webster met up with us to see it one last time before we travelled home. It was bittersweet to say goodbye to all the wonderful times we had there (and all the royals we saw!).
On Saturday morning, we woke up bright and early to head to the airport. We were too cheap to get a taxi, so we took the subway one last time out to Heathrow. It was a busy train so it wasn’t too comfortable and very hot.
When we arrived at Heathrow, we expected delays, and huge lines of people, but we managed to check our bags and get through security in 30 minutes. We spent our time wandering through the shops and getting one last European coffee before getting on the plane. We both didn’t sleep during the flight to help get us back on home time. We watched Crazy Rich Asians, Jumanji, The Greatest Showman, and Ferdinand. The flight seemed to drag on so I was happy when we landed. We managed to make it through customs and get our bags in less than 30 minutes. Then, Dad and Lee picked us up at the airport. We were so hungry so we stopped at Johnny Fresco’s when we got back to Waterloo. We missed poutine and a good pita. Needless to say we both were very tired when we got home. We managed to stay awake until about 10:30pm (which was 3:30am London time).
This morning, Sunday, both Webster and I texted each other at 6:30am saying we couldn’t sleep :) It was a good excuse to get started on unpacking and writing the blog.
I spent the morning with Kaitlin catching up and getting Tim Hortons (yes, we missed it)! Then, we both spent our afternoon at Webster’s house for his Dad’s family Christmas lunch. We built gingerbread houses, listened to Christmas music and had a great time. In London it really didn’t feel like Christmas, so it was nice to be home and ready for the holidays. Then, in the evening, I headed down the road to Grandpa & Grandma’s. It was nice to see everyone on my first day back home.
For the next few weeks, we are going to take a break from blogging and focus on spending time with people at home. Our next adventure is booked so the blog will be posted on January 27, 2019. Happy Holidays!
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