That Time My Parents Visited and I Made Mom Walk A Lot and Dad Drive on the Wrong Side... Part 1

To begin the Summer Season of Fischer Family (that's what I am calling Summer 2016, you will see why eventually), my parents came to visit! They had not been back to Europe since I first moved here (2013) which means they had not seen our flat, and most importantly, not seen the grand-kitties for a very long time.

Their trip across the pond did not start off well as there was a three hour flight delay.  Then, when they did get near London, their flight circled and circled and circled before finally landing.  Arthur and I enjoyed watching the real-time progress of their flight.  Apparently, mom did not enjoy all those circles.

We had arranged to meet at Victoria Station, the final destination of the Gatwick Express.  Unfortunately (as usual here in the UK), there was illegal strike action on the trains which made their arrival very late. The trains that they should have been on kept getting cancelled and I got more and more concerned that maybe they had just decided to take a cab to the flat.

They did eventually show up, very tired and in need of a drink or two. Luckily, the flat is usually well stocked and the Underground was not on strike.

Their time in London was very short but we did get to explore Greenwich, the place where time starts.

Making the parents pose in front of random things.

This is the Painted Hall in the Old Royal Naval College. 

The Queen's Chapel. The College was originally built by King Henry VII. It is also the birth place of Queen Mary I and her half-sister, Queen Elizabeth I. 

Dad on Greenwich Mean Time at the Prime Meridian. 

Views from Greenwich. You can see City, Canary Wharf and the O2 Arena. I made mom walk up that hill.

Mom and Dad with Canary Wharf. I don't know why they don't look happy. I had a good day!

 After touring a bit of the East side, it was time to get our rental vehicle and explore outside London.  After a harrowing 8 minute journey on the wrong side of the road, we made it to our first destination: the London Motor Museum.  With over 160 vehicles, it was dad's paradise and mom's nightmare. The building looks really tiny from the outside, but it just keeps going and going with more rooms full of cars. We saw old cars, new cars, long cars, short cars, muscle cars, girly cars, famous cars, not-exactly-a-car cars...

One of the many rooms of cars.

A shiny car.

This was my favourite: Mr. Bean's car. It was even autographed. 

I also enjoyed seeing this one.  It is the flying car from Harry Potter.

In the Bat-Cave, there was the 1989 Batmobile and the 1966 Batmobile from the TV series.  

Not exactly a car, but you would be the envy of all your farming friends with this Porsche Tractor. 

One more car for the road. LOL. This is the rental that dad drove amazingly well.