#FlightRiskMom Fridays with Alexia Adams

Hi, I’m Alexia the Flight Risk Mom. I was once a grand adventurer, collecting exotic stamps in my passport and filling photo albums with snapshots and memories. Having four children though has seriously clipped my wings. But this summer, I’m back on the road, dragging them and my somewhat reluctant husband around Europe. Unfortunately, our adventure nears its end and this is the last Flight Risk Mom Friday on Entangled in Romance (at least until I can save enough for another adventure). You can, however, check out my blog on my website (https://alexia-adams.com) where I’ll be going into more detail in the coming months on the places we visited. And where I’d go next trip.

It’s fitting that we ended our adventure in the UK’s capital. Returning to London was like going home. A home that had some new bits, and a lick of paint here and there, but you know where everything is, or should be, and you don’t have to mentally translate the street signs. I lived in London for almost ten years, married a Londoner, and had two babies there. Still, I’m always excited when I venture into this ageless city and imagine people walking the same streets, visiting the same shops, hundreds of years ago.

As we left the UK when the oldest two were very young, and the fourth child had never even been to London, we did a few of the regular tourist things. We took photos of Tower Bridge, the new Shard (where, by the way, much of my book Masquerading with the Billionaire takes place, just sayin’), and the Gherkin which I think is an awesome name for a building (it’s the British word for pickle). I finally managed to walk across Millennium Bridge as I hadn’t during previous visits, and see the Globe Theatre in Southbank.

Buckingham and St. James’s Palaces were familiar haunts to me as I used to work around the corner from them. I strolled Hyde Park and imagined the Serpentine full of carriages and young men on horseback racing down Rotten Row. Covent Garden and its market were as they’d always been: chaotic and full of color. Unfortunately, my husband was ill for most of our stay in London so we didn’t do much in the evening except visit with friends and family. But if you go, I strongly suggest you hang around in Leicester Square for an hour or two and just people watch.

For me, no visit to London would be complete without a stop at Fortnum & Mason and Hatchards. Both shops have been around for hundreds of years and never lost their allure. I managed to restrict myself to buying only one tin of tea in Fortnums, laughing inwardly at the clerk’s mild disapproval when I purchased bags and not loose leaf tea.

We also made a quick trip up north to Yorkshire with some friends and even managed a visit across the Scottish border to Gretna Green. I couldn’t convince my husband to remarry me over the blacksmith’s anvil but the whisky tasting was great.

Too soon it was time to bid farewell to our friends and former home and travel back to Canada. I hope you’ve enjoyed this tour of Europe with me. I’m already planning my next trip, and plotting all the books inspired by my adventure. Please follow me on social media so we can keep in touch. Cheerio!

A former world wanderer, Alexia writes contemporary romance stories that reflect her love of exotic destinations and diverse characters and cultures. She currently lives near Vancouver, Canada with her husband and four children and dreams of a world without housework. As a flight risk mom, romance is her escape and she can often be found with her nose in a book, pretending she’s somewhere else. Check out her website at http://alexia-adams.com and sign up for her monthly newsletter to discover your next escape.