Hello, Blog! I am glad to say I have another week in London under my belt, and this week was especially thrilling because my parents visited me! Although I arrived in this country alone and have spent a couple of weeks gaining independence and officially entering adulthood, nothing made me happier than to know that my parents were coming to visit me in London and pay me one final goodbye.
Mr. and Mrs. Jenkins, also known as Ken and Jodi, have to be the most devoted and faithful East Coasters, despite having grown up in Portland, Oregon. After getting married and moving to New York, they scarcely looked back, other than the occasional visit to family. Despite growing up in New Jersey, I was born in New York, and spent a lot of my time there, where my parents made a life for themselves and potentially sold their souls to former governor Mario Cuomo. Or, possibly, Jersey icon, Snooki. Either way, my parents have had their feet firmly planted in East Coast soil for the last 37 years, so it was much to my surprise to find out that they would enjoy themselves so much in a city apart from The City That Never Sleeps. Alas, they came straight to London from Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany to visit their favorite child.
Three plates of traditional English food at a pub
Three plates of breakfast
They arrived their first night hungry, tired, and relieved that the signage around them was in English instead of German. After battling to lug their heavy bags up three very narrow flights of stairs (like parents, like daughter, I guess?), we ventured out into the night and walked all the way (down the street) to a pub where we would finally eat and catch up over a warm, proper British meal. My mother and I both ordered the fish and chips, although mine came with mushy peas, and hers with garden peas, but both with a lovely slice of lemon to juice up the beast of haddock in front of us. My dad maintained the theme of London classics by ordering the steak pie with mash.
The next morning, I discovered they do not cancel classes when my parents visit, so after attending my morning lecture, my parents met me on campus, and we walked about until we found a restaurant suitable for brunch. I enjoyed a tasty stack of pancakes with berry compote, and I managed to convince my mother to get the “Full American Breakfast,” not to be confused with the “Full English Breakfast,” which is served with an English muffin instead of a pancake. They both, however, serve a heaping bowl of baked beans right in the center of the plate, just in case you forgot which country you’re in.
Big Ben
After brunch and another class, we took my parents’ first double-decker bus into Westminster, where we saw London classics including the London Eye, Westminster Abbey, the House of Parliament, Big Ben, and Buckingham Palace, which in my humble opinion, resembled less of a palace and more of the New York Public Library and honestly, I might prefer to live there. Sorry! xx
After fighting through crowds of other sightseers in the rain, we ended up eating dinner at Peacock London, where we enjoyed a delicious Chinese meal on the south bank of the River Thames to end the night.
My father, stood in front of a painting in the National Gallery
The following day, my entire morning was open, so we ate some pastries from Gail’s Bakery and boarded the tube to Trafalgar Square to spend our morning browsing the expansive and remarkable National Gallery. We only walked around for about an hour and a half, so I’ll certainly go back to cover more ground, but this was a great, free way to spend the morning!
After the museum, we stopped at Franco Manca for some absolutely delicious pizza, and I went off to my afternoon class while my parents went off on their own to explore the British Museum.
Later that night, we had dinner at Dishoom in Covent Garden with my dad’s former coworker, who very kindly gave me lots of invaluable advice for being an American in the UK. She also showed us around the Seven Dials, a lovely neighborhood in St. Giles, where we got amazing, handmade ice cream from Udderlicious. They will definitely be seeing me again!
Three donuts from Bread Ahead
Cup of chocolate-covered strawberries in Borough Market
Tower Bridge
On my parents’ last full day in London, we tried to cram in as much as we could. We began the day by taking the bus over the London Bridge to Borough Market, where we tried some iconic treats that have gone viral on Tiktok, like the Bread Ahead crème brûlée donut and the cup of milk chocolate-covered strawberries from Turnip. We walked around to get a view of Tower Bridge, which was definitely my favorite of the two.
Three musicians, playing on Portobello Road
The Travel Book Co. storefront
Colorful Notting Hill houses
Finally, we took the tube from Borough Market all the way to Notting Hill, where we walked through Portobello Market for hours to window shop at vintage clothing booths, enjoy musicians in the street, have lunch, see the colorful houses, and stop at the iconic storefront from the 1999 Roger Mitchell rom-com, Notting Hill, starring Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant.
My parents at our table at Bill’s Restaurant
After all the fun in Notting Hill, we walked from Portobello Market along the Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park, saw the Marble Arch, and walked around Marylebone until our reservation at Bill’s Restaurant on Baker Street, where we unfortunately did not run into Sherlock or Watson, but fortunately did come across one of the best vegan burgers I’ve ever had, and delicious helpings of a lemon meringue ice cream sundae and some sticky toffee pudding with a Biscoff sauce.
We ended the night in their hotel room, watching Kung Fu Panda 2 and Mission: Impossible– Fallout, while they packed their large suitcases and prepared for their long journey back to New Jersey the following day.
I couldn’t be happier that they took the time to visit and remind me that even with all this newfound independence, sometimes it still takes a village—I couldn’t ask for a better one. Love you mum and dad!
Thank you for reading, and stay tuned to read more on my adventures in London.