The Terrific3 travel blog

Amazingly, we all slept pretty well for a first night in a new time zone—the kids a bit better than me, but not bad at all! I was ready to get a run in first thing as it had been 2 days, so I hit the road around 6am for an easy 3 miler. Below are some photos from my lovely run.

Then we headed over to the cousins’ and the kids played pool for a bit before starting our touring day.

First, we headed to Buckingham Palace, which was mobbed. There were literally thousands of people there for the changing of the guard. S was really into it, Z managed to briefly get lost and found again, and it was super hot, so by the time that whole event was over, it was almost noon and Z was tapped out. As you can see from the first photo I posted.

We then walked and saw Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, and took the train to Dishoom, an Indian restaurant I had heard about. Food was so good.

We then headed to the London Eye. A lot of people had told me it wasn’t worth the $, but it was my kids’ favorite experience of the day. And the views are so lovely!

We next headed to Olympic park to meet up with cousins, and the kids really enjoyed the adventure playground there, and interacting with their cousins and uncles. Sweet photos below.

We headed back to have dinner with family in the evening and kids are in bed.

What I learned from a day of touring London is that the kids just really enjoy interactive or hands on activities more than just walking around. We were thinking of the Thames river cruise tomorrow, but I think they may enjoy playing soccer and learning cricket with their cousins more, and then we have an extended family get together. It’s been really heart warming and fun reconnecting with family and seeing them meet and know my boys. In addition, I always forget what an awesome city London is—beautiful architecture, very diverse ethically, and great public transport and restaurants. It’s fun to rediscover that as it’s been a while since I’ve been here.