Day 39: London

As the Waifs sang, I'm in London still......Woohoo. I am so excited and cant stop singing. "Rule Britannia, Britannia, Rule the World". Even the kids are doing it. It feels good to be here and somewhere where we can finally speaka di language. Leaving Italy was very sad, but we are happy (and lucky) to be moving on to such a spectacular place. We decided to treat ourselves on the voyage back to the airport from Venice.  We rode in style in our own water taxi and tried our best not to think about the cost (120 euro).  It was money well spent and the highlight of our stay on the island.  The airport was ridiculously busy and chaotic. An upside to Ricks frequent traveling to Brisbane is his Qantas membership has improved, so we got priority check in. Bonus, we skipped the ques and went straight to the front, only to be told by British Airways that our two bags were too heavy and although we were 40 kilos under our total limit for 5 people, we had to pay a fine or lessen the load. Strange given we have bought "nothing" other than my hat since we arrived. Clearly BA is more industry compliant than Qantas. So began the mad dash to locate another bag in the airport while Rick stayed in the que. 60 euro's later we were in business and back at check in pulling apart our bags in front of everyone trying to lighten the load.  If only someone could have lightened the mood.  Talk about stressful.  I brushed if off with a stop at duty free, while Rick downed a much needed coffee. The food at the airport was impressive especially the pizza's and I would say the final carciofi and proscuitto pizza was one of the best we had.  On to the plane and the tears welled.  Arrivadeci fabulous Italia.  You have been very good to us and it will be permanently banked in my memory as the best, and at times, hardest family holiday ever.  I will long for the carciofi and sweet tomatoes.  I will miss Zachie calling me la mumma and saying the word "frizzante, frizzante, a la natural" in Zachies special way.  I will cook differently when I get home and I will try to keep "talking Italian" (another song going around in my head) to the children. I will dream of bike riding along magical Lago di Garda and the gondola's in beautiful Venizia.  And most of all, I will remember amazing Roma, where my mind exploded with history and excess and all things Italian. I feel very proud to be related to this country and finally make sense of my heritage. So on to Britannia, Britannia rule the world. The flight was ridiculously quick - 90 minutes.  We caught the train into the city from Gatwick Airport and then transferred to the Underground to Earls Court where we are staying on Warwick Road in a great apartment.  Its 100 m to the tube in one direction and 100 m to a Tesco Superstore in the other direction.  The main street is just near us which is pumping with shops and restaurants.  But best of all, its 5 minutes from my old friend Sally Martin which is just uncanny.  She arrived at our apartment 10 minutes after us with a big smile and and much to say a la Sally style.  It took me back to uni and life pre Rick and the kids fell in love with her instantly, just like everybody does.  She is quite the local (13 years here) and proved an excellent tour guide.  We jumped on the tube and headed to Green Park where you can hire a chair and laze the day away.  It was full of people picnicking, playing soccer and soaking up the occasional ray of sunshine. Actually, it was a beautiful day and a welcomed change to the past month. On to Buckingham Palace.  Tadaaa.  It was most impressive and swarming with tourists.  I imagined myself on that balcony and it felt quite good. On past Clarence House along The Mall through Admiralty Arch into where, I'm not exactly sure.  I think it was Leicester Square, then Piccadilly Circus and Covent Gardens.  I do know it was packed and overwhelming and I found the high ratio of Middle Easterners a little confronting.  A non Italian dinner was much appreciated and the kids had milkshakes, burgers and chips.  Rick finally had some seafood and the trauma of pesce gone wrong in Italy was long forgotten.   We walked back through a square and a street performer kept us entertained with some pretty provocative moves and commentary.  Apparently Michael Jackson was speaking to him.  He was a contortionist and managed to fit himself completely into a tiny box. The kids thought he was tops.  Just next door was a collection of amazing cars in town from the middle east, including a purple velour Bently. Some people just have too much money and not enough sense, or style. Back to the tube and home to our house for a few wines and great chat.  It was fabulous catching up with Sally and felt like only yesterday that we were hanging out together. A great start to London town.