“Today this could be the greatest day of our lives”

Title of this post is a song lyric by the Brit boy/man band Take That. I highly recommend having a listen to the full song. Go ahead, I’ll wait.

As I do each December, I have been reflecting this week on what the best of 2010 was. Songs, television shows, books, movies. And by ‘best’ I mean what I liked. Which is a pretty low bar.
As I was reflecting I realized that the greatest day of my life had occurred in 2010. Let me rephrase: the greatest unscripted day of my life. There are certain days that automatically get “Great Day” status just by their larger meaning in our lives: The day you meet your future spouse, the day you get married (or divorced I guess if you marry the wrong person), the birth of your children. And those all make that list for me. But by the very nature of its simplicity and lack of larger lifelong implications, I had the Greatest Day of my life this year. In London. With my faithful companion the MP.

This was the MP’s first trip across the pond and let’s assume that I probably big upped London enough over the years that it had every possibility of being a serious disappointment. We had spent our first day fighting jet lag, visiting friends/colleagues (Nothing a seven year old loves more that watching grownups drink coffee and talk NOT) and had also managed to see Big Ben (he would live in that clock if he could), Westminster Abbey (I would live in that Holy place if I could), and Buckingham Palace (We both would live there if we could). And the weather was gorgeous. For some reason it traditionally only rains on one day when I am there; And I am able to bite that bullet by infusing the British economy with some of my money. The weather the rest of the time is sunny and 70 (also my answer to the question “What’s the weather like in YOUR world???”). Day 2 of our England Adventure dawned bright and sunny. We had breakfast with Scott and then he took off for work related activities.

We had already decided we were going to hit the Tower of London (not only one tower but 11. Don’t say I never taught you anything). We took the Beefeater tour and saw where they chopped off heads and tortured prisoners. We watched the ravens and the guards and we climbed the steps of each and every tower. We almost missed one but the MP caught it in time (phew because I didn’t want to miss 12 more steps).

We then hit the gift shop and I did something I rarely do, I deviated from the plan. I had every intention of walking him down to the Borough Market and having the world’s greatest grilled cheese (I didn’t decide this Gourmet Magazine did some years ago but I whole heartedly agree, but not for a pedestrian grilled cheese eater. You must have graduated from the master’s class, with honors to enjoy it.); but there was a little sandwich shop right on the Thames and the day was too nice not to enjoy there so we grabbed a bite and a drink and sat outside the Tower. We watched boats pass up and down the river, the bridge go up and down, pigeons dancing on the cobblestones (I say dancing it could have been some kind of bullying going on, it’s hard to tell with pigeons), we named the pigeons of course. We then got a soft serve ice cream (called a 99 or a whippie) and continued to just enjoy where we were with each other. No fancy grilled cheese needed.

Once our bellies were full and the sites were seen, we got on the train and headed to the London Zoo. We got off the tube on the opposite edge of Regent’s Park as there are no tube stops for the Zoo. The park is one of those big, green spaces that London seems to have in spades. We walked along the path discussing the various flowers and statues and would sit when our feet were tired. We were in no rush.

Once we got to the zoo we saw every single solitary animal they had. The Komodo Dragons scared the crap out of me. The Howler Monkeys made the MP cover his ears and run in the opposite direction. The Silverback Gorillas were gorgeous and powerful looking. We just soaked it all in and when we got hungry we found the weirdest treats in the café and ate them all. We put a coin in the scale and the MP found out he weighed 5 stone EXACTLY (that is 70 lbs to us Yanks). We had our picture taken at the Meerkat exhibit (“I LOVE THOSE LITTLE GUYS!!” the MP kept saying with a laugh and a knee slap) and got to walk through a simulated rainforest where the monkeys and other animals were free to roam and you could see them up close and personal.

We were there so long that we shut the joint DOWN. Since the Tube was a long walk back through the park and the buses seemed few and far between we splurged on a cab. Which took us through some beautiful West London neighborhoods. We looked out the window and picked out the houses we wanted Scott to buy for us (still waiting on that three bedroom flat in Marleybone, Scott!).

We get back to the hotel and discuss dinner options, pay for the cab and head for the Marks and Spencer’s around the corner to grab a sandwich and some snacks. We are big on sandwiches and snacks in case you hadn’t noticed yet.

As we are headed back to our room I realize the camera is gone. What I have already chalked up as the greatest day in the history of the world and all the accompanying images are lost. I quickly check my purse, the MP’s pockets, my pockets, all our bags and realize it is good and gone. The MP becomes upset. He had taken most of the pictures and had been holding the camera. So we head back out and check the M and S (the same kind gentleman named Mike had waited on us at our previous trips and subsequent visits, helped us look around all the spot we had been in the store. He became my London BFF) and their lost and found. The MP is beside himself at this point. While we are at the Lost and Found I notice the cameras are located right there for purchase. I bring him over and show him they have the exact camera we lost for sale. I tell him I will contact the cab company lost and found and the zoo via email and in the meantime if we hadn’t found it we could come back and buy a new one. Cameras are replaceable.

I am momentarily upset but quickly surmised no day is perfect. And if one digital camera is the price the universe charges for such a day? Fine, take the stupid thing.

I realize that I need to remember every detail because when I am a little old lady I won’t have a photo album to refer to. As we eat our sandwiches back in the hotel room I tell him we should talk about all that we saw and did to remember it better. We laugh and chat about all the steps we climbed at the tower and the snacks that we ate and the walk through the park and the trips on the Tube.

I often think back to that day and recall the details and the feeling. Just being happy, unencumbered by time or place or schedule.
Just being with the MP in a city I love and having a right laugh along the way.
I plan to hold it close well into 2011 and beyond.