The Turners Take Over London: The Final Four

There's no better way to end a family vacation in London than with a few fireworks and wings.

The flat is quiet now. And surprisingly spacious. The Turners are safely back in their home. I am left with memories of a fun time and a really dirty floor!

But as much as I'm loving the space and quiet, I'm also missing the mild chaos that always accompanies family get-togethers. So what better time than to reflect than right now? Here goes...


The final four days were just as exciting as the first four.

We celebrated the new year along with hundreds of other Brits on top of Parliament Hill. This was probably one of the most meaningful New Years celebrations that I have ever had. We were able to witness hundreds of fireworks lighting up the London horizon, along with many paper lanterns being released into the night sky! It was breathtaking. Andrew graciously took a video of it to try to help us remember the moment. But of course I've tried to upload it and it isn't working... imagine that. You'll just have to settle for some stills.

 

Lanterns over London!

More lanterns over London!

Some of the fireworks.

Earlier that night we made homemade soft pretzels-- a copycat recipe of Auntie Anne's, of course. And though I preferred to stick with the typical pretzel shape, the others got creative with their pretzels.

A little sparkling grape juice (and apparently ketchup) on New Years.

According to Amy, swinging the dough in order to lengthen it is called "numchucking."

:-)

For this picture, Andrew instructed us to make faces that were only "half funny."

Josh displaying his super creative and artsy skills!

 

We also had a chance to experience a show in the West End (similar to Broadway). We saw Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap, which just celebrated 60 years of production (the longest running show in London's history).

And the final night we had wings at The Bull, another local pub here in Highgate. Even though I didn't eat any, the wings looked, smelled, and I'm sure tasted excellent. I was satisfied with dipping my fries into the wing sauce and stealing green onions from everyone's plates.

And just some random photos...

 

So did the Turners truly take over London? Well, they came close but in the end decided to let the Queen continue to do her thing because, well, she's really old and cute.

So now I'm back to whatever it is that I do here... which right now means finding enough energy to vacuum the floor.

8 more weeks in London.

(m)