Well, May flew by, as anticipated. Though we didn’t spend all that much time in London this May, we took advantage of the moments we had here. Thanks to visitors, spring weather and the Royal Wedding, we made the most of May in London!
May in London
This month, the city was decked out in Union Jacks for the Royal Wedding. These displays of Britishness all through London added to the excitement for the nuptials and the city in springtime.
Wisteria hysteria hit its peak. It was lovely. Thankfully, allergies were not that bad in our household, ha!
Sometimes in London, you turn a corner and BAM! It’s like you’ve stepped back in time. That happened one morning on my commute in front of Liberty London, to boot.
This month, we got to play tour guide to Andrew’s aunt and uncle. It was so much fun to host them during their first visit to London and Europe! Seeing London through fresh eyes was invigorating. In addition to taking them to some of our visitor favorites, we also checked out the Changing of the Guard, which Andrew had never seen and I have only ever stumbled upon towards the end (10 years ago). It was neat to see all the pomp and circumstance!
Afterward, on our way to a Sunday roast at the Punchbowl (highly recommend!), we passed by my favorite tree which has leaves once again! I love this tree. It is located right next to the old American embassy and it brings me joy to see it.
The highlight of this month in London, of course, was the Royal Wedding! Shops all over London went bananas dressing their windows for the occasion. We watched the nuptials at our friend’s flat, complete with a donut tower. It was fun to watch how the ceremony combined both British and American traditions.
Bits and Bobs
This month will be forever remembered fondly by me as the month that I SAW PRINCE WILLIAM. Yes, yes, I did. Seeing a royal was a bucket list item of mine, and short of seeing the Queen, I’d say Wills is the Royal I would have chosen next. I saw him driving back from the wedding rehearsal in Windsor as I was waiting for the bus. Bucket list, check!
Also this month, I learned it is possible to do four loads of laundry in one day with a British washer/dryer combo. Between trips and visitors we got a little backed up on laundry there. Washing machines and dryers are a hot topic with American expats in London. The washers and dryers in London are often combined, with the dryer being highly ineffective. They also tend to be much smaller than your standard American size. We’re lucky to have a combo that actually does both wash and dry (we also have a boss foldable IKEA drying rack that will fit an entire load from the days when we only had a washer…). Another quirky expat laundry note is that these machines are usually found in the kitchen of flats in London.
As I wrote about in my last recap, I was doing well in the ramp up to this crazy month and I have to say, I’ve been enjoying this month as well! Our visits were so wonderful and our travels, too. We closed out this month away from London in the US of A – Andrew’s first time back since our wedding one year ago!
Finally, I write this from 40,000 feet as on that journey back to my homeland. I did not know that planes flew this high! The plane is freezing, which we think must be related to our altitude. We’re flying Norwegian, which I wrote about here, and the window shades are so dark it looks like night! Remarkable.
Jenn is an American expat living in London, spending her time freelancing, traveling and writing on this here blog. Thank you for reading. Are you planning a trip here? Tell me your plans in the comments!
We are so glad that we had the opportunity to come and visit you both, and we can’t thank you enough for being the best hosts and tour guides. We would never have seen half of the places we did without your guidance. Love you both.
Aunt Mary and Uncle Rick
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We loved having you here and were so glad you could come visit us!! We miss you!!