Cousins & Christmas Lights

My cousin Emily arrived in town this week, and we met up on Thursday night for a bit. It was really good to see her - we figured out that it had probably been about five years since the last time we saw each other. It is really scary how time flies. Maggie took to Emily as only Maggie can do. Dalton kept telling me that Emily wasn't his cousin, she was my cousin. I had to tell him several times that all my cousins are his cousins too.

So, we had a really good time (or at least, I thought so - Emily may have thought otherwise). We met up by the Tate Modern, and I took a picture of Shibboleth - which is the name of the crack which was installed in the floor as one of the exhibitions there. I'm not exactly sure how you install a crack, but that's what they did. I've been there before, and there was no crack, and now there is. If you want to read more about it, click here.

Anyway, we strolled down by the river to Charing Cross and ate at Zizzi on the Strand. Michelle and I had eaten at a Zizzi before by Hampton Court, but hadn't realised it was a chain. Still quite good.

Afterwards, we headed up to Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus, and then down Regent's Street looking at Christmas lights. (I am learning my way around London fairly well now.) The lights there are pretty neat, and looking at Christmas lights has become one of my favorite things to do around Christmas time. I have Michelle to thank for that. We also wandered down Carnaby Street (pictures will be forthcoming) to look at some more lights. I must admit that there is something magical about London after dark. The city seems to transform itself, and even though it has a certain "something" about it during the daytime, at night, it just transforms itself into something new, where even though you've seen something a hundred times, it looks new and wonderful.

By the time we got through with Carnaby Street, the kids were exhausted, so we got on the Tube and headed back home, saying goodbye on the Tube.

Friday, of course, was a regular day for all of us, even though we were out late the night before.

Today was pretty neat though. I'm not sure if I mentioned it before, but I had to go bag groceries today to help raise funds for Dalton's Beaver Scout troop. We were bagging at the Morrison's in Reigate, which is about 2 - 3 miles from Merstham. Thanks to the fact that we don't have a car, I haven't been there but once or twice, and one of those was when I was looking for a place to stay. After bagging duty was done, one of our neighbors generously offered to take our kids home while Michelle and I investigated Reigate. We walked up and down the high street, and I bought some roasted chestnuts (although they were technically "grilled", not roasted over an open fire) and we also bought some Starbucks Christmas coffee - another Christmas tradition. Originally, we bought Barnie's White Christmas, but it lost it's touch several years back. Still, the Christmas coffee tradition is a long-standing one in the Johnson house. We also got to hear two carolling groups as we walked about, which was pretty cool. To top it off, I came home and had a mince pie. I guess you can't have a much more traditional start to Christmas than that.