Introducing England to the Children

Last month we took the children to England for a family wedding and some sightseeing. The 13-day trip wasn’t long enough, and I packed in too much. But then again, I don’t know how to do nothing on a holiday. The whole point for me, about seeing new places is just that – the experience, the seeing of the new place, doing new things, sampling various cuisines. Oh yeah, food is a big part of why I travel.

Notice the headphones aren’t actually hooked to anything

The redeye from JFK to London Heathrow wasn’t terrible, about 6.5 hours of flight time. Kids look forward to the international flights because of the individual screens and numerous movie options. However the first hiccup of the trip happened at baggage claim. Our 3 suitcases and kids’ car seats did not make it across the pond. The app showed our bags were still at JFK. First point of panic was the car seats, can’t really leave the airport without these. The claims agent was quick to find us new car seats and told us to not worry about returning them. Next stroke of luck, the car rental, except this was an upswing. I got chatting with car rental manager and told her about our bags and wedding clothes, she upgraded us from basic to a BMW X1, manual transmission and in black. We were beaming as we drove out of that lot.

Driving on the M1, brought up all the memories from 10 years ago. To be precise it’s been 9 years since I stepped on the damp British soil. And I couldn’t stop smiling. We played a game with the kids from the time we landed: spot the differences. An astute observation by little Aarini- Amma the driving side is on the other side. We drove from Heathrow to our old stomping grounds, Royal Leamington Spa. A stunning Victorian town that lives up to its name was bursting with activity. Pedestrians, bicyclists, coffee drinkers, window shoppers, bookworms – it felt so good to be back!

We checked into our Airbnb, I did a quick shopping run for essentials and we were ready to visit our old neighbors, the Power family. How cool is that last name? Seeing Trevor and Lynda was like nothing had changed over the years. Seeing their daughter, little Amy, changed everything. She was 8 when we left but I remember her from the first time we were introduced, a 5 year old cutie next door. Now she stands tall, taller than me, at 17 and getting ready for college. I got to introduce Amy to my 5 year old, maybe this will be a continued generational bonding?

I will say, we have been blessed with some very good neighbors through the years of relocation we’ve had. My current neighbor delivered both of our children!

We showed the kids our very first home. Explaining to them that in 2 years Caroline Cottage will be 200 years old was very cool.

Our first home, Caroline Cottage est. 1824

The following day, 2 sets of friends traveled to Leamington to see us. Nuwan’s friend from back and his wife and my ex-colleague and his wife. When we had emigrated from England, we were couples without kids. Now we all had a couple of kids. It was so good to catch up and watch the kids bond over superheroes and pretend games. We ate lunch at my favorite restaurant in Leamington, called Kayal. This south Indian restaurant offers authentic Kerela cuisine. It holds a special place in my heart because it was the first place Nuwan and I ate dinner at when we first immigrated to England. Appams, kayal fish curry, prawns and dosas for all; we ate well that day. After food we went to the beautifully manicured Jephson Gardens so the kids could run around.

Jephson Gardens, Royal Leamington Spa

That first weekend in England set the stage for the rest of the trip, it was a wonderful way of introducing England to the children without it being London-centric only. Coming up next; the Cotswolds and yes, the iconic city of London.