Thanks to the fact that there is a Ryanair airport less than an hour from Hirschfeld, I was able to take a short Ausflug to London from Sunday to Tuesday afternoon. I have never been particularly driven to see London, but I did want to see my dear sister Rachel, who is currently there with the May term group from Goshen College, taking in the arts and sights that London has to offer.
Claudia also wanted to take some time in London, so we traded places at the airport. She got on the same airplane to London that I had just flown back on, and while she is gone for a couple of days I'm taking care of the kids. This seems to mostly consist of following them around trying to get them to clean up after themselves, and thinking up activities to distract them from whining to me that they want to watch TV. At the moment, however, they have shut me out of a room and are whispering excitedly together... I'm trying to give them the benefit of the doubt and not assume that they're plotting against me (turns out they were practicing a magic trick to show me... Sometimes they actually can be darling).
Tomorrow evening I will pick Claudia up at the airport and drive to Leipzig to catch a night train to Frankfurt, and then from Frankfurt fly home!
But, anyway... London was really nice. My favorite parts were sharing some lovely conversation over delicious Asian meals with my Rachel, and watching "Death and the King's Horseman," a play about cultural conflicts and power struggles between British colonial power and local African tribes--very well done and thought-provoking. I spent part of my time just riding buses around, getting to know the layout of the city, and exploring the London Underground and bus system. Great theater, great museums, great food, great people-watching, great public transportation... Lucky Rachel. I'm clearly going to have to go back some time!......
