July 15th - July 31st

Now out of self isolation we move to St Albans to stay with Paul's mom, Pat.  She has a lovely English garden.  St. Albans is about 20 miles north of London and is a very picturesque, very historic city.

The British Grand Prix is July 18th and we are lucky enough to see some of the qualifying action at Silverstone.  A fun family day out seeing our favorite drivers prepare for the race (go Lewis Hamilton #44).

Team Challis gets a chance to practice pit stop skills.

Joe and Harry depart and with work progressing on the flat in London we have the chance to catch up with the extended family.

Julie drives to Lincolnshire to see her family on the farm.

Covid, Brexit, Suez Canal, shortage of truck drivers, and NHS pinging all converge to cause unprecedented supply issues with furnishing the flat, but we finally are able to take up residence in our flat in City Pavilion on Britton Street.

 July 3rd - Joe Arrives, July 6th Harry Arrives!

We have been joined by Joe & Harry! First stop lunch in a pub: fish and chips and celebratory pint are in order!

...and more fish and chips at the Old Bank of England pub on July 12th.

London is where it is at for mid July between the soccer (football) Euro 2020 tournament and Wimbledon. We went through Leicester Square hours before the England v. Italy final where the fans were already in full game-on mode (what is Covid?!!)

Meanwhile Joe and Harry venture to Wembley area to soak up the excitement near to the stadium.

Unable to watch at a Wembley pub Joe and Harry end up in Leicester Square where Harry made friends with the local bobbies.  Sadly the smiles were short-lived after the game ended with another defeat for the England team.

The following day brings the Wimbledon final - an altogether far more refined affair.  We found a live screening at Berkeley Square in Mayfair.

We are loving the very Englishness of being back discovering a Monday night comedy club in a pub close to our flat in Farringdon.  Scotch eggs, pint of mild and humor at the Betsey Trotwood is a great find.

Meanwhile back at the flat the renovation project begins - deciding the paint color and old flooring gone.

More family fun at Swingers (yes, it's really called that) golf.  The boys met us after a tour of Chelsea FC.  Note to self: there is more than one Swingers location in London - check you are at the correct one before jumping out of the cab!

June 30th 2021 - The adventure begins:

Leaving from Dulles late at night, plans for nice meal & wine before the flight scuppered - no restaurants open!!  Thank goodness we like airplane food.

July 1st 2021 - Safe arrival at Heathrow:

A nice smooth uneventful flight. Rubbish breakfast on the plane, but bacon butty at the airport saves the day.

Moved into temporary accommodation in Hatton Garden.   Not a great Airbnb inside (photos online looked great though 😞).

However location was perfect and it had three bedrooms since the boys would be joining us.  It is just a few doors down from the infamous 88-90 Hatton Garden - home to the Hatton Garden Safe Deposit Ltd company.  This was the site of the the Hatton Garden safe deposit burglary which occurred in April 2015, carried out by four pensioners!  Needless to say a film of this was produced - "The Hatton Garden Job", also "King of Thieves" - check them out.