My Dad in London

 

Almost exactly 20 years ago, I took my dad to London for a week long visit.  My mother had passed away in February of 2000 and dad was wondering what to do with himself so I asked him if he wanted to go to London over Thanksgiving, the last week of November.  He said yes but he vacillated back and forth several times until the day I bought the tickets.  The photo above is of me with dad while we waited to board the plane.  My sister took the photo.  Remember, this was the year 2000, when non-ticketed people could still walk to the flight gates.  

When we first arrived in London, dad wasn't anxious to head out to see the sights.  In fact, he wanted to take a nap but I told him it would be best to keep going and we would head to bed early.  My dad had never been to Europe before but when I was a kid, he and I would watch all the British TV shows we could find.  The first two days we were there, I was worried that he was not enjoying himself but, by the third day he seemed to be enjoying everything.

He stopped to look at everything and I do mean everything.  At one point, we were walking down a street and when I turned to talk to him, he wasn't there.  We had passed a team of street workers sealing some cracks in the street and he stopped to ask them what they were doing.  They were more than happy to give him an explanation and demonstration.  

We took a day trip to Stonehenge.  I remembered going to a movie with mom and dad many years ago that was all about the many mysterious places in the world.  Stonehenge was one of those place so I thought he would enjoy seeing it in person.  He loved it in spite of the cold wind that day.

One of the things that I wanted to do was to have a meal at Rules, a historic restaurant that dates back to 1798.  It was a delicious meal and a great experience that I haven't managed to repeat yet.  I will one of these days.

One of the things that surprised me was how much dad enjoyed shopping.  Growing up, I remember him waiting in the car while mom and I would shop.  On this trip, he was a bigger shopper than I was.  Here he is getting off the tiny elevator in our hotel carrying his latest purchases.

When we walked past this beautifully decorated pub, he asked me to take his photo in front of it.

Speaking of pubs, dad wasn't a drinker but he loved it when we could find a place that served a non-alcohol beer.  He loved beer but hated the alcohol.  I remember this place very well.  We had some excellent fish and chips to go with that beer.  

I got to thinking about this trip two weeks ago when Thanksgiving rolled around.  That's when I remembered that it was exactly 20 years ago when we took this trip.  It doesn't seem that long.  

I'm so glad I have these memories of this trip.  I don't think he was excited about going but I know for sure that he enjoyed himself while he was there.