Littlest loves music. In early July, the two of us were riding in the car when she mentioned that she'd like to go to a concert. I asked her who she'd like to see, and she told me that Katy Perry and Bombay Bicycle Club were at the top of her list. The very next day, a message informing me that Bombay Bicycle Club was headlining a festival in London popped up in my feed. After discussing the possibility of taking Littlest to London with J, I bought tickets and booked the Eurostar. Littlest and I spent two nights in London and had a magical time.
On the Eurostar!
A glitch in the system offered first class tickets (Premier tickets) cheaper than their 2nd class counterparts, and Eurostar honored it. We traveled to London in style! We were served a light dinner on the train. Littlest and I were in raptures over the cheese and lemon jam/curd. Upon our late night arrival, we grabbed something more substantial from Nando's and checked in to our hotel.
We stayed close to King's Cross, and Littlest had to visit Platform 9 3/4.
We went to My Old Dutch for breakfast the following morning. Littlest had the nutella pancake.
Truly, the pancakes are bigger than your head. We will be visiting this restaurant again.
Because the restaurant was so close to Kensington, we decided to walk by the palace and through the gardens...
...and through Hyde Park.
We stopped at the Peter Pan statue along the way. She still believes, Tink!
Madness overtook us when we arrived at the Serpentine. Seeing many people rowing and pedaling boats, we thought we'd rent one for an hour. Many of the boats on the Serpentine were stationary, and we mistakenly thought that people were idling to enjoy the sunshine. We discovered our folly almost immediately. The wind was so strong that it made it difficult to pedal our boat. We pedaled with all of our might and made no headway. Soon after pushing out into the Serpentine, a motorized boat passed us. Its wake pushed us into a rope and buoy system that surrounded a small island. I really thought that we'd have to resort to screaming for help. After much pedaling (backward and forward) and pulling ourselves along the ropes, we disentangled ourselves. Docking was nearly as difficult, but we managed to do it. Our legs burned, and we both had the sensation that you get when coming off of a treadmill after a run.
We walked all the way to Covent Garden in search of a late lunch. We ate pie :)
We took the train and then walked to Victoria Park for the Citadel Festival. I was worried that there might be a field full of drunk and stoned revelers, but it was on the up and up. We queued for nearly an hour for a grilled cheese sandwich and then toured the grounds. Somehow, we ended up very close to the stage as Bombay Bicycle Club took it. People were so kind and made a space so that Littlest could see clearly. One couple took a few pictures for us, and another festival goer offered to put her on his shoulders (we declined). It was a very chill vibe and great fun. Here she is as she saw them; she was full of happiness.
To their credit, they sounded exactly the same live as on their album. They played all of the songs Littlest had hoped to hear. She sang, she danced, and she smiled all the way back to the hotel. She told me something on our walk to the tube station that made me feel as though my heart would burst (my eyes did); I'll always carry those words with me. Such a special time together. Click the link to hear one of Littlest's favorite BBC songs!
Click here to see a vlog from the evening; it gives you a good idea of the scope of the crowd. Click here for the same setlist.
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