London!
Oy mate! We visited London for about a week before heading to India in June of 2011. We stayed with my mom’s cousin brother (mama/mami and family) and also hung out with my mom’s mom’s brother (grand mama/mami).
We got there and immediately were treated with scones and crumpets from Om Prakash mama and mami. Since my 9th birthday and my mami’s mother’s birthday were close together, we did a joint celebration with some yummy cake. The next day, we headed to a temple (Swaminarayan mandir) where we met and fed some cows, and then also had a really amazing meal of puri and kara chana masala (black chickpeas).
Next up was Greenwich and the Prime Meridian, and I could not get over the fact it wasn’t pronounced “Green-which”. Stepping foot in 2 hemispheres at once was a really cool experience. The observatory there also housed William Herschel’s telescope that he used when he discovered Uranus (hehe). My dad is actually named after him so that was a very meta moment. We came back to the city and took a ferry across the Thames River and went under the famous Tower Bridge.
I, of course, had to see Platform 9 and 3/4 from Harry Potter, which we stopped by at before boarding the London Eye. It takes 40 minutes for a full revolution and provides you with some amazing views of Parliament, Big Ben, and the city. Continuing our sightseeing trip, we headed to Trafalgar Square, where there were lots of pigeons (look at all those chickens!) (but also not as much as my mom claims she saw during her 1999 visit). I climbed on the lion statue and while I was scared of getting caught, it was a LOT of fun being on top of the world for a moment (without needing to be on the Titanic). We got a close-up of Big Ben and then called it a day and rode the train back. Side note here, but I absolutely LOVED the “please mind the gap between the train and the platform” voice and giggled every time I heard it.
Our last day, Wednesday, we hit (not literally) Buckingham Palace and saw the Changing of the Guard. It was really cool to see such an old tradition. There were lots of horse buggies, and the Royal Standard flag was being flown, meaning Queen Elizabeth was in the palace. We took pictures with the police (for some reason) and went to Hyde Park for a nice picnic. While enjoying my cheetos, I finally achieved my goal of the trip to feed a pigeon from the palm of my hands and it was the greatest feeling ever.
After a group dinner at this really nice North Indian restaurant, we packed up our stuff and left for India the next morning.
Rohan Chhaya 