Marks and Spencer underwear

Near the end of my junior year at NYU I met Roberta and we became the best of friends. We don't see each other often these days, but if you ever hear us talking you would never believe that we do not talk every day - it is that kind of relationship, years can go by but we always pick up right where we left off. Roberta is a couple of years younger than me but was always far more worldly, having grown up in Italy and the Bahamas before coming to New York. One thing that I learned from her early on in our relationship is that the British clothing store Marks and Spencer makes underwear far superior to any others on earth. Every year when she went home to the Bahamaa for Christmas Roberta would stock up on underwear. She could never be convinced to buy any in NY. So, finding myself and my children in London with no underwear or socks, I knew exactly where to go. In between visits to various tourist attractions I dragged the family to Marks and Spencer and we are all quite happy with our new knickers.

We have been running around London for three days and the list of things we want to see is far longer than what we have seen. The London Eye, the changing of the guard, Covent Garden (although we need to get back earlier in the day and when it is not raining), Westminister Abbey, St Paul's Cathedral, the Tower of London, Hambleys - it seems like so much, and I guess it is for three and a half days, but more things have been added to our list each day. Well, as I have explained to the kids, this was not meant to be a one-time visit, merely a first visit. Tomorrow morning we wake up early for breakfast and a quick visit to the aquarium. It is located here in the same building as the hotel, and no matter how many aquariums my kids see, it is one attraction that they are always excited for. We only have about an hour to spend there before we head to the Kings Cross station to catch the train to Paris. We will of course give ourselves enough time to check out platform 9 and 3/4.

When traveling with kids you sometimes come across that person who lifts a load off of your shoulders. So far this trip that person as been the customs agent at Heathrow. He was funny, he spoke to the kids and never seemed rushed. After a late night and a much delayed flight he definitely brightened our day. This probably was a great benefit to the people at baggage claim - I can't imagine what we would have been like to deal with if our spirits hadn't just been lifted.