Thank God our oldest finally decided that it would be worth coming to see the parentals, if only for a week.
Now he’s seen the streets we wander, the woods I traverse and the compost heap I visit each night.
He used our American miles because his BA ones were a rip off…he owes us for local American travel which BA does really well.
When he arrived I asked him what he was doing about money…not a delving, clutching my wallet, kind of question but an honest concern about what he was going to use for day to day spending.
“My Chase Credit card,” he said maturely.
At my suggestion he checked their transaction fee rate and discovered they do charge, quite well, each time he digs into his pocket for the plastic, the use of which, according to one of my radio show guests, makes you feel very happy!
“We’ll give you cash which you can use around town and then when you return to America you can deposit the equivalent dollars into my account,” I suggested.
He agreed and because it was cash, which registers pain in the brain whenever we go to pay with it, he ended up spending less.
Nearing the end of his visit he wanted to run through a list of things we had done and places we had visited.
Together we came up with a lot, but I felt as though we had missed some critical stuff which would help my oldest son eclipse or at least equal what we had done with my zoo keeper son seven months earlier.
This was important since our film maker is the oldest and has to be the coolest, the greatest, IT.
We had been given strict instructions not to pre-plan anything. He wanted to play it by ear not be scheduled every moment of his stay. Left to my own devices I am wont to do that!
The first words out of his mouth when he arrived for his fleeting visit were,
“Would it be possible to go somewhere? Paris, Rome…?”
We shook out heads and explained that by the time we’d driven to the airport, boarded a plane and gone somewhere, stayed for a couple of days and then repeated the journey home, we would have taken a huge chunk out of the seven days he had budgeted to visit us.
He sighed and said,
“You’re right…”
Our favourite words!
We spent our time wisely in the city where he really appreciated London for the first time in the ten visits he’s paid to the capital during his lifetime.
Here’s what we did without any forward planning on Day One:
He arrived and we took a quick tour of Heathrow Terminal 3, I carried my iPod set to pedometer and we covered 3 miles.
We used the underground and saw massive electricity cables running along the outside walls of the tunnels which would never have been “allowed” in America.
We navigated Victoria Station the busiest one in London, we did it with a large rolling suitcase, two heavy hand baggages, one containing a laptop and the other a camera with numerous lenses, and a black, neatly furled, umbrella.
We arrived at Beckenham Junction in the rain, we’d been under cover up until now, we raised the umbie and his canvas shoes got drenched during the 5 minute walk.
He unpacked completely in the flat, put away his case and ate an English muffin with marmite and Canadian cheddar, some sausages accompanied by a cafetiere of strong coffee.
Our youngest was in town having her headshots taken so we texted her that we could meet in Bromley when she was finished.
We walked around the corner, again in the rain, in fresh, dry shoes, and toddled off in a reliable, number 227, red bus.
He experienced an English covered mall with a street shopping precinct both with the same shops, inside and out. Very English and highly unoriginal.
He bought a trendy flat cap to save carrying an umbie, our daughter bought a straw trilby then hugged her brother “hello” and we caught a bus home.
We broke out the wheelie basket and armed with hats and umbies, dutifully toted for Pops,
trundled down the High Street to our favourite supermarket, Sainsbury’s, where he had a whirlwind tour of the massive selection of foodstuffs I have to do battle with every week!
I put on a brave face and shed my glasses for the photo!
We walked back up the High Street laden with bags and basket and unpacked while youngest daughter and sibling prepared for her trip back to Leigh for the night.
“I’ll meet you in town tomorrow,” she said as she left the flat.
“Bye…” we said in unison.
We cooked a meal at home listening to English rain pitter patter on the windows. No rooftop staccatos, we’re on the ground floor remember?
We finished off with a visit to the compost heap and dustbins,
“Foxy, foxy, foxy…”
and a Cadbury cream egg ice cream on a stick. Only in England!
We all benefitted from an early night but before retiring I insisted we make a short term plan for Day Two.
Well hello there! My name is Vivienne McNeny.
I am an empty nester exploring life as a Boomer…you could say I'm happily Boomering along!
As a homeschooling Mum I have finally quit the job of role model and mentor to my four children. I do what I want to do, eat when I feel like it, enjoy life with my blue eyed cowboy and clean my house once a month or so whether it needs it or not!
In true English form I write about the emergence of my true identity now that I can no longer hide behind my children as their Mum.
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