galmc2Report

The first time I visited London with Heather (and Chloe) was 2006. My Dad had passed away the previous December and in a fit of “live your life now” I realized I had been saving Aeroplan points for “someday”, and that “someday” was now. Heather turned 40 in 2006, so we used the points to head off for a week in London and Paris to celebrate.

This was my first introduction to the Shelbournes. Monica, who is Ted’s (Heather’s dad) cousin, and her husband Pete had us over for an evening. Pete was a gent whom you felt you’d known a while even if it had just been 5 minutes. I vividly recall him picking the three of us up at the train, cramming into his car and zooming off to their house. It was a sad day when we heard of his passing in January 2009.

Fast forward to our inaugural RTW trip in 2011/2012. Sara (Monica’s daughter) and her husband David had a second house then in Hirtzbach, which is in the Alsace area of France. They very kindly offered its use to us, and we (along with Joanne and her son Simon who had come to hang out with us) had a fantastic time, highlighted by our visit to Rhine Falls and also seeing a leg of the Tour de France.

Their kindness didn’t end there, as they then hosted us when we got to London(which was at the time of the 2012 Summer Olympics). They even helped us with managing the Olympic ticket system to get tickets to a couple of events.

During that visit we also were able to spend time with Monica. We introduced her to Chloe and shared stories in a great night of tale-telling, along with Monica’s daughter Linda. Rumour has it that Linda and Heather back in the day got up to some classified shenanigans, but those aren’t stories for me to tell.

Fast forward again to this trip, and the kindness and support we have received from the Shelbourne family. Sara and Dave have kindly hosted us at their new home and arranged for us to visit the West End where we finally saw a musical (Hamilton for the record). Linda and her partner Paul had us to their golf club for a super-fun 18 holes and dinner out. Linda also arranged a ticket to the Cinch Championships at the Queens Court so I could see tennis on grass for the first time. We are so thankful for their kindness, and the opportunity to spend some time together.

And then there is Monica. Dear Monica is our favourite reader of the blog (sorry Nancy). She often provides comment, and on those days where doing a post is just a bit much, knowing she is there reading our posts gives us the push we sometimes need to document our adventures. We had the chance to stay with her for a night, and chatting about her past travels (and seeing the scrapbooks with some old fun pics of the Gallilee’s) was so fun. And I was very touched by the very kind gesture she made in making sure the taxi got me to the proper station so I could get to the tennis tournament.

When we think about this trip, for many of the places we have visited it will be about where we were and what we saw or did. For London, the memories that we will take away will be about the time we were fortunate enough to share with the Shelbourne family.