Six months in the making and we are finally here in London - one of my favorite cities in the world, and one I was lucky enough to call home for a short time in college. I will be alone with the kids for a week, then Hubs is meeting us, at which time we will fly to Scotland and road-trip all the way back down.
We landed yesterday afternoon. Some of us had slept a little, some of us not at all. By some miracle, everyone rallied and powered through. After dropping our bags at our apartment in South Bank, we headed to Covent Garden in the pouring rain, hoping to put some smiles on little faces at the London Transport Museum.
Remodeled since I was last there, the museum is now even more engaging than I remember it. There's lots of new technology to interact with, while some of the old classics remained the same.
All the antique models really won me over. I'd love to know the back story on where they came from.
The kids interacted with a video game that allowed them to be Tube conductors.
After the Transport Museum, we were famished and I had a spot already picked out. Unfortunately, so did a lot of other people. I found Dishoom while searching for Indian restaurants, and even though we arrived at 5:30, we still had to wait 30 minutes outside in the rain. Thankfully the kids didn't give up on me and we sucked it up under our umbrellas, drinking complimentary chai tea until our name was called.
When we finally made our way inside, the staff took pity on our family and gave us a huge booth, typically reserved for larger parties, and rewarded us with complimentary appetizers. By this point, the 11yo and I figured we'd both been awake for 30 hours straight, and yet nothing could stop us from enjoying the food and ambiance that pay tribute to the once thriving culture of Bombay Cafes. Our server was a young man born in Iran, raised in Pakistan, and full of sweet stories of food, family and travel. Such a bonus!
Lamb Samosas, Murgh Malai, Chicken Ruby, Masala Prawns, Raita and Garlic Naan. We enjoyed it all and even had some leftover for our next breakfast. Dessert was a new experience - Kulfi. Typically sold from wheeled carts on the streets of Bombay, we all took the original Malai Kulfi, with a hint of caramel. Perfection!
Quote of the day: "Beanie said: "This is REALLY good Indian food, Mama. I feel like I'm IN India. You aren't ever going to take us to India, are you Mama? Because this is about as close to India as I need to go."