A Holiday Visit to My Second Home

A few weeks ago, I went to London for the first time in 10 years. It was a long-overdue homecoming.

Long story short, I lived there for six months after college and fell in love with it. My mom did as well, and we visited five or six times over a span of about 17 years.

It was Allen’s first time there, and he fell in love with it, too. We only had four nights to explore my second home, but we packed in as much as we could. We made sure to see some things that I had never seen before.

Attending a concert at Royal Albert Hall has always been on my wish list. We did the second best thing, which was to take a tour of the venue. It is absolutely gorgeous. A Christmas concert was taking place that evening so we caught a glimpse of a light and sound check.

Our tour guide was delightful and shared the venue’s history and trivia with us. What a special place. Someday I will see a concert there…maybe the Proms?

Staying on the concert theme…we did attend a concert while we were in London. We saw the Skids and Spear of Destiny at Dingwalls, which is a historic live music venue in Camden Town. We got there early enough to get seats on the side of the stage. Thank god we did, because we were walking 5+ miles a day and I felt like I was falling apart. It was an intimate venue (capacity: 500) with not nearly enough bartenders…that was the only complaint.

I didn’t know the bands, but they sounded great and were loud and fun. They started out in the ’70s and ’80s, so the place was packed and everyone was having a blast. I love the vibe in Camden; in addition to the music scene, there are a bunch of cool shops and street markets.

London was extra-magical during the holiday season. I loved seeing so many beautiful Christmas trees and decorations everywhere, and we enjoyed strolling around the outdoor holiday markets. That being said, it was pretty cold and it seemed busier than usual. And Allen came down with a nasty bug that lasted through Christmas. So this might be our first and last time traveling so close to the holidays…

Hope you all are having a peaceful holiday season. I have three birthday list items to complete in the next four days. I got this!