Way back in April, before we moved, before we knew about kids’ commitments, we booked plane tickets for a month stay in London. As the year progressed, it began to seem like a trip abroad would not be possible this winter. However, not ready to give up entirely, after some research, I realized for a smaller fee than I imagined, we could change our tickets, shorten our trip and still have another amazing adventure.
So, here we are in London for a two week stay. Our trip started on a Tuesday afternoon when we drove across the Ambassador Bridge from Detroit to Windsor and headed to Hamilton, Ontario, just outside Toronto. The budget, Icelandic airline, Play (which we flew to Iceland last year), had deeply discounted rates and we decided the four hour drive across the border would be worth it. The closer we moved toward our destination, the darker and colder the night turned and the later and later our flight was delayed. After a stop for dinner and then wasting more time in a Canadian dollar store, we finally arrived at the small airport, made our way through the one lane of security and found a place to stretch out and wait.
By one o’clock in the morning we boarded the plane, only to wait another hour and a half to de-ice the plane and wait our turn to take-off. At last, we were in the air for our five our flight to Iceland where we hoped our connecting flight would be just as delayed.
Upon exiting our first flight, we were able to walk directly to our connection and join the tail end of the queue and, within a short time, we were in the air and, finally, on our way to London.
The super low prices of Play mean you fly in and out of smaller airports, about an hour and a half outside a major city. For the last leg of our over 24 hour journey, a car service collected us and our meager belongings, only one backpack per person (no baggage fees here!), and drove us through the dwindling daylight, to our flat in the Pimlico neighborhood of London.
Perhaps it’s due to all the travel the kids have experienced or due to the fact that we now have only tweens and teens, but these guys did amazing. There wasn’t a single complaint, they held strong through all the many legs and when we reached the flat at 17:00, they were ready to shower, change into pajamas, brush their teeth and wait for dinner. Fortunately, in this day and age, ordering good food quickly, is easy and efficient. We even ordered some essential groceries to be delivered, so we wouldn’t need to stress about it later that evening or in the morning.
Another advantage of traveling with older children is that you can order their food, get them set up with a new show they were looking forward to and Matt and I could go out to a nice meal. Just around the corner, we found a small, British restaurant with delicious, nourishing food and a much needed glass of house red wine. By the time we returned, the kids were all in bed, ready for our nightly ritual of reading. We then slept for 14 hours straight and welcomed the late morning with tea, toast and orange marmalade.
I’m having trouble uploading pictures, but I hope to figure it out soon!