Ealing

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Our overnight flight to Heathrow has us at our hotel late Thursday morning. Delays in Toronto had us abandon the original flight that would have had us arriving at 6:30 in the morning — we took the last overnight flight out that had seats for us in business class. That worked well. We get an early check in at the Hyatt Place London Heathrow Airport on Bath Road (we stay here at both ends of our trip), get settled in, catch a quick nap, get cleaned up and take an Uber into Ealing to see our nephew Darren, his wife Gail and their two children Chloe (8yrs) and Arthur (5yrs).

We are told Ealing is nearby. While it is in the west end of London towards the airport it's surprisingly far from the airport. The Uber takes about half an hour each way. This has us puzzling about tomorrow's visit to Woking; a rental car might work better.

Darren and Gail have been in London for 10 years or so. Both of their children were born here. Darren has an Irish passport, through his maternal grandfather, which made emigrating possible. Both are business graduates and working, I think, in the marketing side of things. Gail tells us about travelling on public transit (they're near the several Ealing Tube stations) to her work only to meet via Zoom with colleagues in Europe. During covid people worked from home, why not now? Darren seems to do more traveling for his job. They don't have a car; having one in the city would be a burden. Instead they walk, ride their bikes, and take the public transit (like the tube). They like living there in London, I suspect they'll be there for many more years.

They live in a rented row house. It has a lovely big back garden where they can grow things and the kids can safely play. They have some interesting toys, a houseful really, some are made at the daycare. Today the kids and I play with a "whirlygig" made with string and a bit of bone. I recall playing with one made with string and a button when I was a kid. Arthur and I are able to get it spinning; he'll get the hang of it in time. Another toy is a ring on a string attached to a stick; the aim is to you catch the ring on the stick. The kids have tried, without much luck, but Gail proudly did it — twice!

Nearby is St Mary's Church, Ealing. It's just a stone's throw away, a short walk, and an important community center. Darren and Gail are involved with the church as are the kids. Chloe did a reading at a recent service. We have a collage of her jumping in the old covered gate/entry to the church grounds.

Beside the church is the neighborhood pub, The Rose and Crown, where we have our dinner together. We knew about the pub from pictures Bridget had shared and were keen to go. There is an old song we love: The Old Rose and Crown (circa 1980), by Ian Robb of the Friends of Fiddlers Green. The song laments the changes that have happened to commercialize and destroy the comfort of neighborhood pubs. This is still a very nice neighborhood pub with good food, beers on tap, friends who gather, a garden space out back and events.

I enjoy "bangers and mash" dinner. That's authentic!