Finally...

Andy and I arrived at Heathrow on Saturday morning in good time to enjoy breakfast before anxiously awaiting Stacy's arrival. To be truthful, I was the anxious one, Andy was quite relaxed, however either way we were both looking forward to the moment when she walked through the arrivals door. It felt so good to wrap my arms around my young sister and hug her tightly. Despite not having slept the night before, she looked great and was ready to take on the city of London. The overcast day was doing nothing to deter her. As she happily stated 'isn't it supposed to be foggy in London?'


Might that be BIG BEN?

We happily spent the day sightseeing and although the skies were often threatening us with the possibility of heavy rain, it was only rarely that I had to pop open the umbrella due to drizzle. I spent a lot of the day just clicking the button on the handle that popped the closed brelly into Andy's backside. (Until he had the gumption to actually 'click' it at me and hit my funny bone - abruptly putting an end to my game. (Well, after a few attempts on my behalf to get him back)).

It was pretty great to watch Stacy's wonder and share in her excitement as she saw all the sights I had first seen myself two years ago upon my first visit to the wonderful city of London.



I think one of Stacy's favorite aspects of the day was utilizing London's Underground. Andy kept correcting our term 'subway', as it is referred to the 'tube' here in the UK... Either way Stacy loved the automated voice informing us to 'Mind The Gap' prior to exiting the tube. We saw many a t-shirt with the London Underground emblazoned across the front and even discovered one with the tube's design, but the words "Fuck the Gap" written across the front. Stacy absolutely loved that one (I admit I did too, as we all know I think Fuck is a very good word when used appropriately), however my demure little sister couldn't buy it as it's not a word she could wear! Imagine!

A nap and a pint...

We held out until just after three when we retired to our hotel rooms for a nap. We had made plans to meet up with a friend of ours who used to work out in Halifax at the same time as Andy. Neither of had seen Mo since he left Canada in March of 2002. Honestly, although Mo and I had become fairly close friends, both of us probably figured it very unlikely we would ever see each other again, especially in England. A few months ago Mo had gotten in touch with me via a mutual friend, and to make a long story short, I was thrilled to meet up with him in the city for a pint. He brought a friend along that we used to know as well, Grant, who left an old friend of mine in a bit of mess, but like I told him, what's past is past and all the girls who got left 'disappointed' in Halifax were grown up and could look after themselves, what's past is past. I know how the majority of contractors are and I'm not going to blame any of them for their behaviour, what counts is that my contractor is a stand-up guy. As is our friend Mo. I just think it amusing at times that I ended up with one when I wasn't even looking to.

It was great to see Mo and we all had an enjoyable time downing a few pints. Even Stacy had a drink. I think she is actually looking forward to having a few more while in England... after all it is part of the lifestyle and she will be here for a whole month!


Reunited...

We woke up Sunday morning to sunny skies and made our plan for the morning. Stacy would be introduced to an English breakfast prior to our visiting the Tower of London. It was a bit surreal for me to walk around the 'Jewel House' inside the Tower, explaining to Stacy how the Monarchy works. Believe it or not, this is something I actually knew prior to living in London, thanks to my lovely Nanny. She was a great follower of the Royal Family and both times that I have visited the Tower and viewed the Crown Jewels I ended up misty eyed at the though of my Nan. She would have loved to have seen the beautiful history on display.


Happy in the Tower of London

We didn't have much time to spend in London on Sunday, but Stacy was fine to leave just past lunch time as we had to pick up a puppy to bring back to Andy's mom. Of course my dog-loving sister had no problem being in charge of the little cutie for the drive back to New Waltham. It was so cute at one point to look back and see them both konked out and happily snoozing on the back seat.

We will be touring around London again for a day or two before Stacy leaves, but of course I don't even want to think about that yet, as we still have a full three weeks to share before heading back down South.