My favorite thing to do in a city like London is to have a small mission that allows for adventures along the way.  Tuesday’s mission was to explore Ealing because Andrew’s (The Sweetheart) father was born in Ealing and Andrew knows shockingly little about his father’s origins. I began the day by walking to Paddington and taking the Elizabeth line to Ealing Broadway.

Ealing Broadway is one of the last train stations coming from my cousins in Somerset and I always envisioned it like a backstage in a Broadway theater in New York. I expected to get off the train and see people in leg warmers doing stretches and actors in Shakespearean dress fencing in the intersections. It’s not like that. Broadway is the “broad way.” It’s like Main Street and a busy one it is.

It is also the home of Ealing Studios, which I wish I had had time to visit. But I was on a mission.

St John’s Parish church, Ealing

I found my way to St John’s parish church a mile down the road that Andrew’s father attended as a boy. Some sort of community meeting was going on in the social hall and apparently that meant a visitor from Seattle, there for only one day, could not see the sanctuary or talk to the vicar, making this one of my more interesting stories.

But on the way I discovered Walpole Park, named after Sir Robert Walpole, Britain’s first prime minister, which opened in 1903. Andrew’s father was born in 1898 so it was easy to imagine that he would have played in the park. The 18^th century villa, Pitzhanger Manor, built by Sir John Soane displays itself amongst gardens and green spaces. Sir John Soane, the architect who designed the Bank of England, called Ealing home for a time, amongst the green that became Walpole Park.

Walpole Park, Ealing

I found some lunch at Marks and Spencer. I’ve learned from my cousins that this is a reliable place for an old lady lunch. Decent tea, homemade soup, always something gluten free. I had a bowl of tomato basil soup and a bun.

At the library I learned how to get to where historical records were kept, a tube stop away in Southall. A friendly librarian gave me directions and made a map for me. Southall, where “Bend it Like Beckham” was filmed is called “Little Punjabi” these days. Finding an English cup of tea actually proved impossible but I had the most gorgeous cup of masala chai in a hot, noisy café with pastries in neon colors and women is lovely saris.

Fortified, I found the Dominion Center library where I met Dr. Oakes who I had been corresponding with about Andrew’s family. He had a pile of books and papers and photos for me to peruse and was an enthusiastic help. His other researchers told me they were regulars and he was bored with them. I looked through old town directories and found listings for Andrew’s grandfather at the various addresses he occupied. It wasn’t much but as this was all about the hunt, I was thrilled.

On the way home, I bought a chicken salad and salty popcorn (hard to find; Brits prefer sweet) at Waitrose, the supposedly upscale grocery store. I took a hot bath, ate my salad and popcorn, Face-timed with Andrew when it was morning in America and fell asleep by 9:00. I had walked seven miles in better shoes than the day before.

The new Vagina Museum

In the morning, Andrew and I Face-timed again when it was evening in America. Then I set out for the Vagina Museum. I had discovered this museum on my previous visit to the U.K. and loved everything about it. In the interim between my two visits, it had closed and re-opened in a new location. Still in Bethnal Green, a long tube ride across town, I wanted to go back purely to buy 20 pens in the gift shop. I was irked when I found there were, due to supply issues, no pens and I had to be content with buying a dozen plectrums i.e. guitar picks.

I spent the rest of the day collecting items I like to bring home with me: paracetamol (British tylenol), Astral, a rich, old-fashioned hand cream and plasters (band-aids) from Boots. I took a final walk in Kensington Gardens and flew home the next day.

Andrew was waiting at International Arrivals when I got spit through customs and immigration. He went into a little dance step when he saw me and I nearly toppled my luggage in my hurry to get to him. A welcome like no other.

The other being who was happy to see me was more circumspect. She appeared disinterested when I walked in the house but for the next three days her favorite place was next to my face.

Artemis