When I was an almost sixteen years old, I came to the states to live with a host family. I didn't realize that I wasn't just going to be hanging out with one family though. It was one of the great traditions of my host family to gather together after dinner on Sunday for some chatting and catching up (that was before the era of cell phones and insane internet). We talked, played games, ate snacks, and talked some more. I got to meet A LOT of extended family back then. We have stayed more or less in touch throughout the last eighteen years or so. We tried to visit them all whenever we had a chance to be in Utah. Well, this time, some of my extended host family came to London! Brett, Elaine and their daughter Tori were on her graduation trip to London and we knew we had to meet them! We had a few other commitments that Saturday and lots of stuff to do since two days after this our packers were coming to pack the house. But we decided we could meet them at 3 pm anyway and at least spend the evening with them.
We made a plan of what to do for those few hours. And the first stop was Abbey Road! You know? The famous Abbey Road from the Beatle's Album's picture. Yeah, it's possible to get one of these just like that. And don't think you'll be the only one over there doing the walk. Oh no! There is usually a queue of tourists. Some are shy, others walk kind of like "forget it! I don't care what people are thinking about me". The drivers over there are incredibly patient. I guess they know this is a popular tourist spot, and what are you supposed to do but wait. There is a traffic light to cross the road but sometimes you just have to rush:))
It's nice that we had personal photographers standing in the middle of the intersection, pretty much risking their lives just to get this awesome shot:))
From Abbey Rd. we took the tube to Kensington area. We went to Princess Diana's park where kids could run around for an hour and play at the big wooden ship while we talked for a bit. It was fun to catch up after all these years. Although I remember Tori throughout the years, my first memory of her was when I came to meet her family in August of 1998. Tori was actually adopted right that month. Elaine, her mom, was holding her, a tiny baby of just a week old, sitting in the shade of the trees in their yard. For some reason, I remembered that moment forever.
Anyway... after the park, we took the tube towards Oxford St. We stopped by Hemley's Toy store to let the kids drool over some awesome toys and then headed over to our dinner place. Our friends were in for a surprise of an awesome dinner, hand made and quite authentic. We took them to Mother Mash, one of our favorites in London as you can get a side of mash (of several varieties) and a pot pie or sausage for under $15, and it's GOOD. We opted to sit outside as it's a tiny place and we had eight people in our party. Although I had called this restaurant when we were playing at the park and reserved a table for eight, somehow our booking was missed and we didn't actually have a table. It all worked out at the end, but we were definitely feeling cozy.
Matching shirts and everything:)
And here is the full team of Mother Mash eaters.
Elaine and I:) I have great memories of Elaine taking me to some really expensive shopping one day:)) It wasn't expensive for real, but it was for my sixteen year old mind. I got some nice make up foundation that I swear I used for years as it was so good and I didn't want to use it all up quickly;)
After dinner, we were craving something sweet, so Brett found this awesome gelato place nearby where you could buy an EIGHT flavored cone! It was actually cheaper than buying them separately, and somehow Robert convinced me that we HAD to have it. It was delicious:)!
We sat down and ate our ice cream in one of the beautiful park squares, remembering our stories from the past and sharing our new ones from the current days. The beautiful thing about England in June is how light it stays till very-very late in the evening. This picture was taken after 9 pm if you can believe that.
Grateful for the opportunity we had to meet up with the Rydalch family! Even though it was just for a few hours, it was fun!
Lyana.
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