guest post | loehrs do london

We prepared for the hop across the pond to visit Ian and Sarah 

the same way that we get ready for every trip. 

Nug made sure that all the important arrangements were sorted and 

I started to think about what we needed to pack 12 hours before the flight. 

As I frantically tried to think of every necessity the night before 

Nug would tell me that she had thought of it weeks ago…

including setting up her phone with an overseas data plan 

so we could use the maps to navigate the city like a couple of pros. 

After the overnight flight where Aer Lingus refused to 

turn off the lights in the cabin, we landed in Blighty and took a train 

into central London where we planned to use the nifty maps feature on 

Nug’s phone to find Ian and Sarah’s flat. 

We got off the train a bit groggy from the lack of sleep 

and apparently her phone was in the same boat as the data refused to work. 

Of course Nug had a back-up solution which was a printed set of 

directions with a map. We immediately got lost and spent the 

next 20 minutes chasing our tails and offering each other differing opinions 

on which direction we should be headed at each intersection. 

The roller bag that I was toting took offense at the comfort 

of my left heel and began incessantly bashing it with every step. 

At this point, we scrapped the plan and went with the old fashioned 

approach of relying on the kindness of strangers. 

Every limey we asked was helpful 

and we stopped every block or two to get confirmation 

that we were headed in the right direction. 

Still with the lack of a grid system in the area of town we were in, 

it made it tough to find their place. 

We were walking down yet another road that seemed like a misstep 

and were on the verge of turning around when about a block down 

the road a familiar face popped out of a second story window 

like a groundhog poking out of a burrow. 

It was Sarah and she gave an enthusiastic wave. 

We shot our hands to the sky in relief and my left heel let out a little cheer. 

Then I got kind of nervous…it was like a blind date…

we hadn’t seen Ian and Sarah for almost a year. 

What if they didn’t like us anymore? 

I soon realized that my fears were unfounded as we picked up 

as if we had seen each other earlier that week. 

The apartment was bigger than I had expected for central London, 

had an extra room for us, a beautiful garden out back, 

was right next to a bus stop and the tube and 

was close enough to the main tourist attractions to be convenient 

but not so close that the neighborhood was overrun by people 

with cameras around their necks. 

One of the benefits of visiting friends in an unfamiliar city 

is that the lack of a map (or in our case a data plan) is no longer a detriment. 

For much of our time in London we were able to turn off our brains

 and follow Ian and Sarah like obedient puppies whether we were headed to 

Big Ben, a rooftop wine bar, the food truck rally, 

a “Broadway” show, Chinatown, a microbrewery 

or a hole in the wall Vietnamese restaurant. 

As with all great trips the time disappeared

 but at least we had a few days in Ireland together 

before parting ways…until the next time we hop the pond to crash their pad.

Thanks for the awesome blog post!

We miss you both dearly and can't wait for the next visit.

xx
the mcgees