Major League Baseball determines many of our travels, and this trip to London was no different. We got wind that the Chicago Cubs were going to be playing in the London MLB series in December and quickly went to work booking our plane tickets and hotel room. With the series happening on the weekend, we planned out travel to bookend that time. We left on Tuesday night and returned the following Wednesday afternoon. It was a trip we’ll never forget.

Flight over the Atlantic

I’ve never seen Leigh so happy about a plane. We chose to ride British Airways across the ocean. A double-decker plane packed with 400+ people, many sporting their own Chicago Cubs gear, packed the gate. They call for families with children to board the plane first. We walked the ramp to the second floor and Leigh was smiling ear to ear. We sat down in the center three seats and he quickly grabbed up his amenities and said, “These are for me?!” A little package with a toothbrush, socks, chapstick and an eye cover made him squeal with delight. Intrigued by the headset also in his kit, he quickly realized his cordless ones we brought were much more to his liking. Before we could even take off, Leigh figured out how to play games on his chair device, in love with the remote that retracts back into place when you tug on it. 

British Airways served full meals during our flights. With a little pre-planning, they had Leigh flagged for a kid’s meal, which was a delightful pasta with veggies and sauce (except Leigh won’t eat anything but plain noodles). Alas, we thought ahead and fed him before we boarded the plane. Leigh was in vacation mode and didn’t hesitate to devour his dessert (mine, too, leaving half of my cheesecake – I’m thankful he left me any at all!). We enjoyed drinking gin and tonics and juice from tiny little glasses. “Fancy,” as Leigh would call it. 

We splurged on World Class Traveler seats which is a step below business class but a step above economy. So we enjoyed the three spacious seats in the middle. Our family snuggled in for the eight-hour flight. 

The cabin lights dimmed and we all closed our eyes (a little easier to do after a G&T, if you ask me). A chorus of snores reverberated in the cabin of sleeping passengers. Flying through the night was a good choice. It let us enjoy this part of the trip as a grand start without losing a day in London. Now only if we could keep the jet lag from catching up with us! 

Getting to and from Heathrow

Because of where our hotel was located, we took the Picadilly Line. This goes against everything I’ve read online advising us to take the Elizabeth Line. And having been on the Elizabeth Line for another leg of our journey, I can vouch for how nice it is.

The Elizabeth Line is the newest leg of the London Tube, developed for the Olympics in 2012. Gotta move all those people around somehow! Compared to the Picadilly train cars stamped 1973 as you stepped aboard (mind the gap), the Elizabeth Line is recommended based on speed and air conditioning UNLESS you’re lugging around four suitcases on the crowded cobblestone streets of London with a 7-year-old. Then you decide to get off the train as close to your hotel as possible, even if that means you need to lug your luggage up four flights of stairs and three escalators. Eric and I swore time slowed down as we tried to get to and from the airport, it took so much of our energy to move our stuff about. Next time, we’re packing light! Who am I kidding? 

The Picadilly Line isn’t bad. It’s just busy. And there’s no air conditioning. But you can open the windows to get a breeze from the train rushing by. There’s a priority area for luggage on the train. But you have to stand to keep it from rolling all over the place. Anyways. It did the job. The train got us to and from Heathrow to London without much problem – and for only £3.60.

My cousin, Michelle, is a world traveler. She gave us a good tip: don’t go to a museum on the first day. She told us to go somewhere outside where we could sit and people-watch. Trafalgar Square was already being taken over by the MLB setting up for their big baseball show, so we walked over to Coffee in a Crypt and enjoyed some sweet snacks in an oddly calming spot. We had to get outta there quick because we were almost falling asleep at the table being underground. 

Old Rivalry. New Grounds.

As mentioned, we traveled to London at this time to see the Chicago Cubs take on the St. Louis Cardinals. They are one of the oldest rivalries in baseball, and only the second to play in the London series. The first series featured the New York Yankees versus the Boston Red Sox. Next year will be the New York Mets and the Philadelphia Phillies. Well played, MLB. These are all great teams with fan bases who are willing to travel.

In true vacation mode, we drank beers before noon. It must be what happens when you’re surrounded by pubs left and right. Kids are welcome in pubs. There are even high chairs stacked in anticipation. We went to Horse and Guardsman since it was Cubs central before the big MLB game. We were there right when it opened, which meant we could grab a pint (and a Pepsi) and sit with Leigh at a table to enjoy our drink. It became progressively packed throughout the day so I’m glad we went early. We stopped back later in the day, walked into a crowded bar, Eric said hi and slapped shoulders with Cubs president Jed Hoyer, and we walked out. 

Trafalgar Square takeover was a really unique setup. The iconic spot in central London was converted into a baseball fan mecca. The best part: it was free for everyone who wanted a baseball experience. We stood in short lines to do the Art of Hitting and Pitching experiences. It was a bit of a longer line to create a personalized ’47 tote bag and custom Topps baseball card with your photo. There was this futuristic home run derby digital experience called The Cage set up in the middle of the action. You could get a hot dog (a bit different from the Chicago dog) and beer, sit and watch the action for hours. It felt like baseball was part of the London culture which couldn’t be further from the traditional football and cricket.

The baseball game at London Stadium was the best part of the trip for me. Typically set up as the home of West Ham United football club, Major League Baseball did a major revamp to turn the soccer field into a baseball diamond. Turning a rectangular pitch into a regulation baseball field is not an easy task. They installed 144,000 square feet of artificial turf, 345 tons of infield clay, 4,000 tons of aggregate and 18-meter-tall foul poles. It looked and played like a legit baseball diamond.

Being in a former Olympic stadium with 54K fans had a vibe I can’t quite describe. Many people were from Chicago and St. Louis but so many folks came from other European countries. We had kids from Spain begging for balls behind us. A family from Lake Forest sat beside us. A couple from London just wanted to see what the game was like. And a sweet old couple from the U.S. sat on the other side of Eric, high-fiving Leigh every one of the nine runs the Cubbies scored that game. Cubs won 9-1 on Saturday. Nick Offerman sang the 7th inning stretch, fireworks went off at the end and a very kind kid gave Leigh one of the practice balls their family caught during the game. It was the highlight of our trip and a very good reason to travel to London.

Wear your walking shoes

Something you should know about London, much like Chicago and New York City, is you can walk and take public transit everywhere. We walked. And walked. And walked some more. Stroll across one of London’s bridges and roam the Jubilee Walkway along River Thames. There are so many people walking, at all hours of the day, even during the week. People sitting outside with a beer at 2pm. They must all be on vacation like us!? 

We were dog-tired by the end of every day and fell asleep the moment our heads hit the pillow. We stayed at the Thistle Piccadilly Hotel, located in central London. The old Victorian building had a historic feeling, steps away from all the action. The view from our room while I sipped my morning Nespresso was down a lovely street, but the moment I looked at street level all I could see was The American Candy Shop, Mr. Churros and an Angry Crab Shack. Modern-day, eh? We really did need the extra room, so we stayed in a suite. Leigh was super psyched to see the pull-out sofa bed set up when we walked into the room. He staked his claim on it, and actually slept there the whole trip. Which meant Eric and I had an entire king-sized bed to ourselves. It felt so big compared to our bed back home because we didn’t have two dogs cramping our space. Ah, vacation. 

Chinatown

Our hotel was across the street from Chinatown (and between Picadilly Circus and Leicaster Square) – smack dab in the middle of everything. The streets are covered with hanging red and golden lanterns, restaurant tables stretching into the streets and performers at every turn. We enjoyed cutting through Chinatown because you could walk in the streets, open to pedestrian traffic only. Whether it was 8am or 11pm, it was busy. Because we traveled with a kid who only eats three things, we couldn’t really enjoy a meal at a Chinese restaurant, no matter how much I wanted to. But we did relish in a few Chinese bakeries for mooncakes and taiyaki – a fish-shape waffle cone (fashioned by a Japanese-imported press) filled with soft serve matcha tea ice cream. So, so different. So, so good. Next time we’re in London, I’m eating Chinese food!

South Bank

We set off to see the Tate Modern art museum and Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. But my favorite part of South Bank was wandering around the Borough Market. The area was filled with food vendors, cheese and breads, olive oils and butters, chocolates and nuts, tea and coffee. There was so much to see it made your head spin. We wandered in search of a rainbow bagel I saw on Instagram and surprisingly found the vendor! So while it is great to see those museums and performance venues, experiencing a local market is always ten times better when you’re traveling somewhere new.

Abbey Road and St. John’s Wood

Just northwest of Regent’s Park is the famous Abbey Road. We hopped the 139 bus early one morning (in Leigh’s opinion, the front row in the top are the best seats, but hot with very little airflow) and it let us off right in front of Abbey Road Studios. There’s not much to do here except bask in the glory of The Beatles iconic spot. The earlier you get there, the less busy it will be. The actual crosswalk is a very busy intersection with nonstop traffic and no stop signs. So if you risk your life to cross slowly, find someone else equally willing to take the photo, proudly march across the street and make it to the other side, I say you did it right. 

On our last night, we spotted Apple Studios not far from the restaurant where we ate dinner. We had to stop and see the building where The Beatles had their last performance on the roof.

We also walked down to the St. John’s Wood neighborhood to grab some breakfast and their red telephone booths are notably clean. They were the only phonebooths I agreed to let Leigh touch and go into. Many of them around London are filthy, covered in stickers and graffiti with broken glass windows. If you’re looking for a clean red telephone booth for a photo, this is the spot. Otherwise, there’s a terrific shop called Family Heirloom Antiques in Antioch with a lovely London red telephone booth for sale that you can see.

­­­Sky Garden

Everyone tells you to see the sights from the London Eye, the big Ferris wheel on River Thames. But tickets are costly and the ride is stuffy with other people, so we found the best alternative: Sky Garden. It is free to visit this building located in the official City of London. 35 stories up, you get a spectacular view of the city, including the Shard, London’s newest skyscraper. It is much closer to Tower Bridge than Big Ben, but still a great vantage point. Again, coming from Chicago, I’d compare this to the Crystal Gardens at Navy Pier. The building has an open-air balcony where you let your hair blow in the gust and get a thrill looking down.

Greenwich 

We hopped on a Thames River Sightseeing cruise at Westminister to Greenwich. Leigh was disappointed the boat didn’t go faster, but by the end of our trip, we were grateful for a nice slow boat going down the river. The Thames is not a river you want to go swimming in. There aren’t kayakers or many birds floating atop. It looks like a city river. Don’t fall in and you’re fine. The boat ride took an hour to Greenwich, the spot where I wanted so desperately to stand between the East and West hemispheres.

It turned out to be anti-climactic. First, you must walk up a semi-steep hill to get to the Prime Meridian. And after a morning of walking hours at Westminister Abbey, we were NOT going to entertain another museum that day, but in order to get the full Prime Meridian experience, you really needed tickets to the Royal Observatory. Instead of going that route, we noticed a small gate to the side of the museum where you can slip in and straddle the line while looking out at the beautiful view. Check that off the list!

Historic Sites

I’m not sure what doesn’t qualify as a historic site in London. I suppose the M&M World Store and Lego shop aren’t super historic. A good chunk of the city burned down in the Great Fire of London in 1666, so it’s not as old as some other places in Europe. But it’s still much older than Chicago architecture (also subject to a great fire in 1871). We saw markers and signs indicating historical status everywhere.

Trafalgar Square is anchored by the National Gallery art museum. I love a good art museum, and I couldn’t help but notice how lucky I am to have the Art Institute of Chicago so close to home that I can frequently visit. This museum was built in 1824, 50 years before the Art Institute. It houses classic paintings by Leonardo DaVinci, Michelangelo, Rembrandt and Raphael. We saw the beautiful Sunflowers painting by Vincent Van Gogh and Bathers at Asnieres by Georges Seurat (the same artist who made the pointillism painting Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte that we’re familiar with at the Art Institute). Among other Renoir and Monet paintings, I was most interested to see The Ugly Dutchess by Quinten Massys. Leigh got a kick out of it.

The Tower of London took an entire day to fully explore. I initially wanted to tour the Tower Bridge but all the times were booked up. We got a good glimpse of the bridge from the castle but we were too tired to walk any closer. All our energy was used walking the iconic fortress, palace and prison. We did have to pay for tickets to this historic spot so we sprung for an audio tour and gave it to Leigh who then told us everything we needed to know as we walked from building to building through narrow staircases. Don’t miss the Crown Jewels and massive ravens who live at the castle. Did you know the king of England used to receive exotic animals (think lions, tigers and bears) as gifts from other leaders and they’d all be kept here, at the Tower of London? Nope, neither did I.

One of the coolest places we visited was St Dunstan in the East Church Garden. Originally built around 1100 (WHAT?!), the ruined church has been through hell, originally destroyed in the aforementioned fire and then bombed during the WWII blitz. The exterior walls are the only thing left standing and they are draped with dreamy greenery. It was converted into a public park in 1970. It’s snuggled away in the middle of the city. You wouldn’t notice it unless you knew it was there. I told Leigh it was a secret garden and that made him very excited.

We walked the mall to Buckingham Palace on a couple occasions. Initially, it was super busy when we saw the changing of the guards. There were so many people crowded along every road barrier. And no one tells you but the changing of the guards is so drawn out. It’s more than an hour of marching, band music, shouting instructions and silence. So after we caught part of the performance, we wandered off to our next adventure. We went back later one night to see a magnificent sunset. A storm was rolling in so this dramatic sky turned into a terrific backdrop for photos. Leigh enjoyed climbing on the statues and was fascinated by how large they were.

We toured Westminster Abbey, the only other place we paid to visit. It was crowded with people first thing in the morning. Our 9:30am tour was packed. They give you a self-guided audio tour device and headphones. Leigh really enjoyed navigating our tour but was in constant demand to see the next stop, the little micromanager. He has no shame resting his little bum atop the tombs of kings and queens, or under the pulpit of the main sanctuary, steps from the sacred spot where monarchs are crowned. No big deal. I hope he remembers his experience when he starts to learn world history in school.

We also rode the train to South Kensington to see the National History Museum (akin to Chicago’s Field Museum) and the Victoria and Albert Museum, beautifully abbreviated V&A. Both were free to visit. We learned whales have bones, the Statue of David is gigantic (17 feet high!) and Charles Darwin is a big deal in England.

Expect the unexpected

Because we brought Leigh to a handful of historical museums, he started to ask a lot of questions. We tried our best to explain why world wars started or why there’s a king and how you become one. He asks a lot fewer, “why, why why” questions and more explanatory ones, which tells me he is thinking deeper than surface level. Only time will tell if I gave him the right answers.

One other thing I wasn’t expecting to observe: The English countryside looked more like a patchwork quilt than the square plots back in the States. 

Next time

We could have entertained another week in London since there’s so much to do. I really wanted to tour St. Paul’s Cathedral and take an afternoon teatime bus ride with Bridgit’s Bakery. We didn’t make it to any live theatre shows, despite being in the West End the entire trip.

They say travel is the only thing you spend money on that makes you richer. I came back home with a new perspective and memories to last a bit, brought to the surface every time I enjoy a warm cup of English breakfast tea and biscuits (Walker shortbread cookies).