The Twelve Days of Wronskys

(To the tune of "the Twelve Days of Christmas")
"On the first day of Wronsky Christmas my true love sent to me, an airplane arriving on time!"

"On the second day of Wronsky Christmas my true love sent to me, two... uh... two tired boys... (no, there were three tired boys...). Two... umm... two happy parents (but that's totally stating the obvious...) Uh...two... two...extra litres of milk...?" OK.  Let me save all of us this aggravation and attempt this cute song no further.   Brain cells kind of fatigued after 12 days of fun.  So... I'll just give you a synopsis of what we did when the guys (and gals) were here.

Day 1
Boys arrive - Hallelujah!  Full English breakfast and naps, followed by quick tour of Hampstead and the Holly Bush Pub.  They are duly impressed.  Even more impressed by English lamb for dinner.

Day 2
Kyle shows his bros around Camden Town.  We all go to the Royal Albert Hall for a wonderful performance of Carols by Candlelight by the Mozart Festival Orchestra & Chorus.

Day 3
Off to Bruges early on the Eurostar!  Arrive mid-day, just in time for lunch and a tour of De Halve Maan Brewery.  Very cold.  Stroll around the lovely town; Belgian dinner then back to the pub where we had lunch - great beer menu!

 

Day 4
Breakfast at hotel then more strolling in the cold.  A bit of shopping then lunch on the square, followed by one last stop at the pub where everybody already knows our name.  Back on train and home to Hampstead in time for Christmas Eve Bolognese a la Chris.  Delish.

Day 5
Merry Christmas!  We all sleep in, then spend a typical Christmas Day lounging around and trying to cooperate for a family photo for Mom.  Something of a beef & wine debacle (much too long to go into here) but Plan B (pork roast) turns out wonderfully.

Day 6
Boxing Day, and Lauren arrives via BA on time and rested - she doesn't even need a nap!  Tube is on strike, so we take a cab to enjoy one of the kids' Christmas surprises from Mum & Dad - Rugby match at Wembley Stadium (Saracens vs. Wasps).  Home team Saracens win.  Lots of fun, despite initial confusion on what the heck was going on.  Grubber?  Scrum?  And these guys don't wear any padding!  Dinner back at the flat.  Lauren makes it until 9:30 pm!

Day 7
Decide to check out the area of Brick Lane and the Spitalfields Market.  Unfortunately, it's a Bank Holiday so most places are closed - including a couple of Indian restaurants that we'd hoped to try.  Stop for a pint at the Ten Bells Pub, made famous for providing a hang-out for two of Jack the Ripper's victims.  Back to Hampstead for dinner at a local Indian restaurant.  Good food - definitely spicy enough for the guys (a bit too much so for me!)

Day 8
Sarah arrives also on time and without any problems.  She does nap, then we shop for dinner and prepare for a visit from Andrew who is back from Oz for the holidays.  Really good dinner at home, then a Hampstead pub crawl.  Hilarity ensues.

Day 9
Nickel (make that 5P) Tour of London: tube to St. James Park, then walk to Buckingham Palace, up the Mall and down Whitehall past the Horses Guard & Downing St., and on to Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben.  Then across the Westminster Bridge to the London Eye!  Lots of fun & good views despite the mist, fog, and rain.  Nice dinner at French Restaurant before meeting back up with Andrew and some of his mates.  Hilarity really ensues.

Day 10
Tower of London in the cold rain.  Still great visit!  Crowds seemed as big as when we were there in 2005 in the height of summer - on a sunny day!  Today's pub:  The Hung, Drawn, and Quartered - of course near the Tower.  Great dinner at home again courtesy of Chris - cockles & shrimp with linguine.  Mmmmm.  Kids will not be able to complain that they did not eat well.

Day 11
New Year's Eve.  Kids head out to Kyle's old restaurant for breakfast, then to Notting Hill & the Portobello Road Market.  Chris & I finish up shopping for our dinner:  Roasted Duck with Red Cabbage (although we had to substitute green Savoy), Applesauce and Potatoes Roasted in Duck Fat.  (Shots of Lipitor for dessert.)  Count down the New Year with Jools Holland on the BBC; kids introduce us to Sporcle, an online trivia game.  Chris, Mike, and Eric sample the (until recently dethroned) "Hottest Chile in the World" - the Jolokia.  Much milk drinking follows.  Fun night.

Day 12
Happy 2011!  Looks for about 15 seconds like the sun might come out, but it is not to be.  Big New Year's breakfast, then a late walk to Hampstead Heath and Kenwood House in the rain.  Still fun!  Final pub stop is the Spaniard's Inn before home to our last meal together of Braised Lamb Shanks.  More mmmmmmmm.  More Sporcle before bed.

Today
Kids out the door at 8:30 am to take the tube to Heathrow.  Sun threatens to emerge.  Sue goes back to bed.

So there you have the Wronsky Family London Christmas in a nutshell.  We really didn't see the sun at all but no one minded a bit.   The best Christmas present, needless to say, arrived on December 21 on the first flight to land at Heathrow from the US in days.  We loved having the girls as well - the male:female ratio was nearly evened up for a change - and they are absolutely wonderful.  We are lucky indeed.

My next task will be to find a warm & sunny holiday break for late January or early February.  Now that Christmas (and the kids' visit) is behind us, the dark afternoons are going to get old real quick.  Happy New Year!!

Check out the rest of the pix (may need to cut & paste link):
http://picasaweb.google.com/swronsky/Christmas2010?feat=directlink