May Flowers

I feel a bit bad about complaining about London weather all the time, but the drizzly weather and lack of sun really does get to me, especially considering I'm used to sunny California weather. But I have to say, when the sun finally comes out over the city, the entire city comes out to play!

We finally got our first warm day of the year this past weekend, and J and I decided to take a stroll through Regent's Park and celebrate the weather with an ice cream. When we got to the park, it looked like pretty much everyone else had the exact same idea.

It was the most crowded I've seen the park in the last three years! I think the beautiful flowers had something to do with it. 

Every few months, the park's gardeners plant fresh flowers in certain parts of the park, and they really outdid themselves this time around. You never see the gardeners unless you're at the park at the crack of dawn, and I wish they could see how much people were enjoying the fruit of their labour.

Everyone was taking pictures of the beautiful blooms, and it was actually so warm that the tulips were starting to wilt!

I think the sheer amount of sun and warmth got to J pretty quickly, and we checked the rose garden to see if any of the roses had made an appearance yet before heading home. No such luck! But we did get to admire an entire avenue of blossoming trees. I wish I could sleep in a bed of these blossoms.

Of course, the warm weather didn't last, and it's rainy and gusty again, but I can't be too disappointed since I have some fun travel plans. Onward and upward!

Summer in a Day

Everyone I know, myself included, has been moaning about the terrible weather we've been having. The weather's been bipolar, sunny one minute and then storming like mad the next. Just when I had finally despaired of having a summer at all, a day like today comes along to reassure that summer still exists, even if for just one day.

It was sunny and 30C (~88F) today - a freaking miracle. J and I packed a large beach towel, some water and reading materials - all things you would normally pack to take to the beach. Except we're in London, so we headed over to Regent's Park instead to enjoy some of the lovely weather. Everyone else in London had the same idea, and the park was absolutely packed. People were lolling about in the most unlikely of places, and many of them were dead asleep, including one woman whose shirt was slowly sliding off to the amusement of the people walking by.

There were loads of people all dressed as if they were at the beach - women in swimwear and the men in just shorts. And all of our pale pasty bodies were slowly roasting under the hot sun. I saw a lot of sunburns, and now I'm the proud owner of a red pair of shoulders. I guess my skin got pretty shocked at the prospect of sun, but it was totally worth it!

Bye Bye Visitors

My little bro and his gf left yesterday, and I was a little bummed. I really enjoyed having them here, and it was strange to see them off back to the US - it really hit me that I live here now. People will come and go, but I'll always be here for the foreseeable future. Hm.

Anyway, they were pretty tired by the end of their European adventures and were pretty happy to spend their last weekend in London just hanging around the flat. On Saturday morning, we decided to hit up Borough Market, a huge outdoor foodie heaven, and the kids had a great time ogling all the food on offer.

We stopped by a burger stand, and we feasted on absolutely delicious ostrich and wildebeest burgers for lunch. The kids bought a wild boar pie, and I picked up some peonies to take back to the flat. J also scored some yummy cheese and bread, and we all got a chance to sample all sorts of things at the market.

We finished the day off with a return visit to Jamie's Italian restaurant in Covent Garden, and I had completely forgotten that Manchester United would be playing Barcelona that night for the championship. There was a huge crowd of football fans in front of Covent Garden tube station, and they were drunk and jumping around and sloshing beer all over the place. The police eventually showed up with their paddy wagons to take the overly excited fans away while we looked on with amusement.

Dinner was great, and I felt a bit guilty about J since I never want to go out to eat whereas J is a complete foodie. Note to self: Take J out more often.

Sunday was the kids' last day here, and we decided to spend the morning walking around Regent's Park. The weather was perfect if a bit breezy, and I had packed some bread for the kids to feed the birds.

I swear, everytime I go to the park, I see a new kind of bird I hadn't seen before! Too bad the swans were nowhere in sight, but it was still a lot of fun cruising the park. I usually run through it, so it was nice just strolling around the lake without gasping for breath.

  

It really was great having them here, and I hope they decide to visit us again. *Hint hint*