London/Trip Home to SF

What an amazing family trip to celebrate Keira's 1st Year. The week in London went by way too fast but considering we had a 1 year old we were able to do A LOT while we were there. The flight home went well. Keira did not want to sleep but we lucked out with an extra seat and were able to spread out a little bit. Naveen and Keira walked up and down the aisles making new friends, Keira sat quietly for the 45 minute bear documentary, and the flight attendent made sure to make the rounds with the free beer for Mom and Dad. I am not going to say that traveling with a newly walking toddler is easy but after you unpack, get the laundry done and get over the jet lag, you look back at your pictures and realize that it was worth it.



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London/Day Eight

Our last full day in London... We spent the morning at Hackney City Farm. Cool concept... basically this is a farm right in East London where families can go to hang out. There is a bike shop, a pottery studio and a cafe that serves a traditional English breakfast (with eggs from their chickens!). City Farm also has beautiful grounds that you can come help garden and lots of animals for the little ones to check out. We spent a few hours just hanging out. If we lived in London, this would definitely be a place we would come back to often.



Since we were in East London we thought it might be fun to try and find the flat I used to live in when I was living here in 1999. It is amazing how much development has happened as much of the area did not look familiar to me. Just when we were about to give up and head back we ran into a nice man who confirmed we were going in the correct direction and sure enough we found Thoresby House!

After hopping on the tube we made our way to Trafalgar Square and the National Portrait Gallery. Naveen was excited that the Irving Penn exhibit was there so we thought we better take a peek. We had a quick snack in the cafe, where Keira made a friend and scored a free banana, checked out the bookstore and the photography.

Video from Trafalgar Square



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London/Day Seven

We thought a day trip would be a fun family outing so we hit the road and headed out to Cambridge. It was only about an hour train ride out of King's Cross and Keira did great on the train.



She had a lot of fun watching the countryside whizz by her window seat.



Once we got to Cambridge we did all the usually touristy stuff, checking out the amazing buildings and taking lots of pictures. Keira had fun teetering around the grounds at King's College and making new friends.



We even went for a punting tour down the Cam River. Keira loved it, not because of all the historical informations and beautiful architecture but because we saw lots of DUCKS!



Not sure the rest of the people in our boat were as impressed at her quacking and pointing but we thought it was cute.

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London/Day Five & Six

We spent Saturday morning at Borough Market.


What a cool place to go get your groceries for the week. Everything looked, smelled and tasted so good. It might be worth moving to London just to be able to do your weekly shopping there!

Naveen had a lot of fun taking pictures with his camera.

We also found the *best* coffee at Monmouth. The cafe had a line that went around the block and it was well worth the wait. It reminded us of some of our favorite coffee places in the Mission.


Sunday was a lazy day for the three of us. We had a yummy brunch, walked around SoHo, did a little shopping at Carnaby Street and then met Sharon for a tradition Sunday Roast. Yum.

The Pub was super kid friendly with a highchair and bottomless bread basket for little K. She certainly is enjoying her carbs while in the UK!


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