August 18-23
Jeanne and the kids took advantage of the Premier inn 29 gbp/ night deal and scheduled nearly a week in London. The idea was for it to coincide with the kids week of London Theatre.
We ran into difficulty with getting our bags from the train to the hotel and getting Madison to her first workshop though. Thankfully Bryce is quite confident on the public transportation in London and he was able to help carry some of the bags to Jeanne's departing station and then solo escort Madison to Kensington Gardens where the Peter Pan workshop took place.
Meanwhile, Jeanne and Christina struggled with the massive luggage load to the hotel. It was the hardest obstacle in the whole week but we made it!
Peter Pan and Sister Act- Tuesday
Madison was able to attend the workshop and then we had a quick lunch before the show started. The theatre was actually located inside the park in a large circular tent. The stage was in the center of the circle and surrounded by the audience seats. Above were some cables and pulleys that obviously were going to be used for the flying scenes. But what was unexpected was how they used computer generated movie projections on the upper circular screen (that had gone unnoticed until then). The actors started flying and it was almost like an imax theatre that started in Kensington gardens and flew through London on to Neverland. It was really great!
One thing a map just doesn't show is just how absolutely enormous Kensington Gardens are. We were warned about it being big so we chose to use the buses that run along the outside as much as we could. So after the performance we caught a bus down to the corner playground. The memorial playground for Princess Diana was awesome! It also had a Peter Pan theme and the kids stayed there until we had to leave for the next show of the day...Sister Act!
It was such fun that the girls were begging to go back to the park before we even left. But with prepaid tickets it wasn't an option.
In front of the London Paladium Theatre
Christina getting ready for the show...
The performance was a bit questionable in the beginning but by the end of the show Bryce was totally hooked! He voted it one of his favorites.
However, it proved to be too long of a day for Christina who slept through the second half of the show and had to be carried most of the way home to the hotel...sigh.
The kids were true troopers though and about an hour later we were relaxing in our hotel eating sloppy joe sandwiches. It was a long day but oh so fun!
Greenwich and Lion King- Wednesday
We had a slow start to the morning. But we still made it to Greenwich to see the prime meridian. We didn't realize that there was so much to see and do there! On our way up to the top we were able to walk through the old royal naval college.
A quick stop at a fantastically painted chapel.
Here is where the prime meridian divides the world. And since back then England controlled most of the world...time centered here!
The prime meridian is shown by the steel beam along the ground and a steel sculpture.
They even have a building where the peak of the roof can flip open and the walls open out to divide the building along the prime meridian. What the purpose for that we never found out but it still was pretty cool!
We crossed paths with the Rodmans on the way down. From near the top of the planetarium hill looking down you can "see" the Rodman family on the grass in front of the Queens house. But we couldn't stop long as we both had a musical matinee show to attend!
Scott took the afternoon off and caught a train down to meet us for Disney's Lion King musical. We had heard so much about it and were quite excited about going!
The show definately lived up to our expectations. The costumes WERE the show. We all knew the story line but how they creatively displayed it on stage was sheer genius. They hyenas costume was our family's favorite. The actors had to with two arms balance moving the two front legs AND operate the mouth at the same time. It was quick handmovements that were virtually undetectable...incredible! We also really liked the slinky jaguar whose performer/actor's legs were the hind legs of the animal. Very impressive!
After the show we were able to meet up with the Rodman's at our favorite UK restraunt...TGI Fridays! Okay, it's not British...but we love the homey yummy food (with no surprises) and they have something that is unheard of here in Europe...FREE REFILLS!
Bryce had an incredible burger that he even had a hard time finishing. But he did.
We rode back together several stops on the tube. When it came to the station where we had to say goodbye to Scott (and the Rodman's) we had a quick kiss and wave exit. Jeanne found it amusing anyway. On the way home Christina was starting to develop a desire to know where she was going on the tube map on the train. So we learned how to read the signs and count the stops. It is exciting to see your kids become map readers and confident independent travelers. But by the end of the day she was wiped out.
Kew Gardens- Thusday
We watched the weather and debated on where to go the next day. In the end we decided that a day in the park is what we should do. So we headed off to Kew Gardens. We had heard wonderful things about the park, which though true couldn't be fully enjoyed just because we were so tired. Madison's feet were limping sore and we all were just exhausted. So we made the day shorter by starting late and ending early. BUT... not before we explored the park.
We first started with lunch. However, an aggressive goose had the same idea. Christina got scared though there definitely are advantages to having a big brother. Bryce galantly (and humorously) protected his little sister.
too cute!Kew Gardens is both a massive garden and it's historical. It started back in 1752 and developed into a massive museum of plants! Actually the goal was to have every species of plant known in the world to be somewhere on the grounds or buildings.
The most recognizeable building is the stately greenhouse in front of the lake (where the goose attacked).
Inside the VERY HUMID building were tropical plants of all kinds. If you chose to dare to go up a spiral staircase to an even more hot experience...
you can see the trees and plants from above!
It also had a walkway to the top in case you want to see the trees from the topside.
They have beautiful smiles don't they? But actually they were sweltering and urging their mom to hurry and get the picture over with...
There are hundred year old trees throughout the gardens and in fact they even have some California Redwoods planted! They are about 200 years old and still baby trees but they are growing here in the UK!
The kids were instantly attracted to this fantastic climbing tree...
yet again something to climb on becomes the star attraction ...our kids just love to climb!
Kew Gardens also had an interesting building that was opened by Princess Diana. It housed tropical palms and desert cactus. But the most interesting was the small room dedicated to carnivorous plants. Perhaps it is a bit goulish but it is amazing to see the incredible diversity of creation.
The lillypad ponds were neat too!
A relatively new attraction to Kew Gardens is the treetop experience. It was an interesting circular deckway loop through the treetops so you can view trees from a different perspective. But by then Madison was quite footsore and the rest of us were just plain tired. So we caught the shuttle train around the rest of the park.
Although our hotel was located in London, getting from one place to another (even with the fast underground/train system) can take a long time. So about 80 minutes later we finally made it back to our hotel.
Museum, Aquarium and the Globe Theatre- Friday
We started the soon-to-be rainy day going to the British Natural History Museum.
Although there were lots and lots of exhibits (and lots and lots of people), the star of the show in Jeanne's opinion was a toad. It was absolutely incredible! The toad carried the fertilized eggs in pods on it's back which erupt and out come baby frogs! Here's a youtube link that you can watch ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCayq56wHSA ).
Isn't this world AMAZING???!!!!
We ate lunch outside the museum in the rain (consisting of grilled pizza sandwiches that were cooked in the morning...again) Jeanne wonders why the girls still like them after 3 days in a row...
Then we were off to the Aquarium. Taking advantage of the two-for-one deals we decided to see it. Although it had a lot of fish on display in a highly polished manner, it did feel more like an amusement park than an aquarium. The flow of traffic was one-way...no going back to see something again. We also noticed how there weren't employees to stop the abusive public from harming the animals on display. That bothered Jeanne. Everyone seemed to be touching the sting rays (signs posted about how it makes the rays sick everywhere but no enforcement).
Funny picture of a sting ray smiling?
That was the downside, but on the upside- the girls really enjoyed seeing the marine animals. Highlights include: the amazing jellyfish (video below) with rainbow lights that really showed the shapes and beauty of the creatures, the tube where we walked UNDER a massive tank of sharks, turtles and fish (left picture), and (kind of sad) a maniac fish who seemed to have the memory of Dori and kept frantically swimming the same tube pattern.
They did have one area where touching was permitted and supervised and the girls really enjoyed learning about sea
anemones and starfish there.
We then went to the Tate Modern for a quick walk through the modern art museum. We all found the museum actually to be humorous. Needless to say we all left with the question for most of what we saw... "that was art?" But that too can be a learning experience (i.e. the emporer's clothes..?)
We had one more thing to do for our packed day... the Globe! So we bought pizza's along the Thames. (I think this will be called our pizza week). The view of the river from the second floor and just being able to sit down was a really nice break.
We then walked across to the Globe theatre to be able to see Taulius and Cressida, a Shakespeare 3 hour play...
Okay, we really were NEVER planning to see the whole play. But it was solely for the experience of standing on the floor as the Londoner's of Shakespeares time would have. We only lasted about 25 minutes (which was longer than Jeanne thought we would) before we exited. The standing seats were actually cheaper than a tour of the globe. So we enjoyed the experience (especially Madison who actually wanted to stay for the whole thing!) and then went back to the hotel. We had another packed day coming up!
Peter Pan Park, Parliament and a BIKE RIDE - Saturday
This morning Jeanne had no difficulty in getting the girls up and going. We were going back to their favorite park! Actually, we were meeting Scott there too so it was a double day of excitement. After Scott walked right past the park and managed to get lost in the park (it is huge!) we were finally able to meet up with him. Thank goodness for cell phones! The girls then gave him the official tour of the playground. Then it was off to Parliament for a tour. We actually were late (bad directions and advice) and thought we had missed the tour but they managed to catch us up to the last tour before lunch. WHEW!
The tour was wonderful and highly recommended! It was really interesting to learn about their traditions and formality. It's just so British! But then again, there were quite a few similarities to the US government also... very interesting!
Details of the gunpowder plot were told. We hadn't realized just how close it was that plot almost suceeded. For those of you back in the US who don't know who Guy Fawkes and the gunpowder plot is...he was part of a group who schemed to blow up parliament AND the royalty inside on the traditional day of their appearance there. 36 barrels of gunpowder were found in a cellar under parliament- enough to blow the entire building to the sky. Just in the nick of time they found and tackled Guy Fawkes in a room full of gunpower as he attempted to light the charge with a torch. Today it is a national holiday of sorts. November 5 is when fireworks and bonfires across the country celebrate the foiled plot. They typically burn a stuffed man in effigy. A bit gruesome...but it's their history!
We were finally able to relax after the tour with a nice peaceful lunch (across the park from the purpetual protesters) at Parliament square.
After that we walked by Westminster Abbey (which we have YET to see...I suppose we have to leave something to do next time we're in London..)
Then we were off to our next destination via the famous double-decker buses! Here is what the view from the front of the second floor. After all of these trips in London- we finally got a front row seat! Yea!
Jeanne had read on trip advisor that the Flat Tyre bike ride tour was the #1 rated tourist attraction. The 2 for 1 deal made it all the more appealing too. We had the perfect day for it. Clear skies and beautiful temperatures. You can't ask for anything better. There was great history stories told. It was great!
This was a stop at the simple but extraordinarily expensive memorial to Diana. It cost 3.6 million gbp... it was a neat stop but I'm not sure it looks like it matches the cost...
While on the bike ride we ran into another american family with a daughter close to Madison's age. (We actually ended up meeting up with them a week later in Stamford!)
Christina LOVED her special cart. We rode along with our group to various stops and heard humorous stories about the sights. It was really interesting and fun. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
Imperial War Museum- Sunday
Our last day we had planned on going to the Tower of London church service. But apparently during August they don't hold services... next time! So off to the museum we went.
Scott and Bryce really enjoy war museums and this one was big! It truly went on and on. At first Jeanne thought it just consisted of a few floors with big equipment like the Duxford museum. But this museum had lots of museum experiences too! Exhibits included a large museum wing on the holocaust, another on a child's perspective on WW2, an area dedicated to the secret services here in the UK (MI5 and MI6), a trenches walk through with the sights and sounds of the war and an experience of living in London during the air raids. All of that was really interesting but there truly was so much more to see. We didn't even hardly touch the areas of displays on the World wars and other wars located in the basement. More than a days worth of sightseeing.
But we had to make it home...with our luggage. So Scott, Bryce and Madison went back to the hotel while Jeanne and Christina planned to meet them at Kings Cross. Scott tried to make it in time to catch the train but really had to hurry. While Jeanne waited at the top of the underground she had decided that they had missed the train. But they came up a different station exit! Bryce called Jeanne thinking she was on the train... which then led to a mad dash through crowds of people for the train by Jeanne and Christina. We JUST made it with the doors closing after us. NOTE: when trying to meet up with others to catch a train always plan to meet ON the platform. WHEW!
After we all caught our breath we agreed that it was a great trip. "FUN DAY!"
