Maddy:
Today we went to Omaha Beach landing sites, the American Cemetery and the Bayeux Tapestry. Mom sniffled and coughed all the way through the Omaha Beach memorials and Bayeux Tapestry. Also, we ate lunch at an unbelievably delicious crepe restaurant. Me and my brother ordered ham and cheese crepes and mom ordered a salad and omelet. To top it off, we enjoyed a caramel crepe for desert. The tapestry was long and beautiful, almost 70 meters and made a thousand years ago to tell the story of the Saxons and Normans' war. It was I-N-C-R-E-D-I-B-L-E. We arrived home at 8:00 and ready to take a nap.
Chris:
Today we went to the American Memorial at Omaha beach, and it was very saddening. We also saw the exhibits of world war two and who died in it, they were so courageous. But before that we read of the war of 1066 between england (King Harold) and france (William the Conquerer) on the Bayuex Tapestry, plus watched it on imax. Then for lunch we went to a Creperie. We had picnic dinner of chicken, eggs, apples, and bread on the way home.
AdventureMom:
The kids summed it up pretty well. The day was fairly intense and full of emotion. The Cimetiere Americaine is incredibly well done with tasteful exhibits, access to the landing sites, German fortifications, excellent short films at different points and thoughtful information throughout. Maddy is right, I cried through a lot of it. I cannot get my mind around those men, some just boys, saving the free world. They KNEW the enemy was ready and waiting for them but they still got on those little boats and stormed that beach. If they had failed, the planet would be so different and I am overwhelmed with gratitude.
But no crying at the Tapestry, I was just having cold/flu symptoms. Moving as it was, 1000 years is a bit too long ago. The woven history lesson is as much art as it is a record of significant events and I hope the kids remember it always. We wouldn't have gotten so far today if we hadn't taken advantage of the wonderful French health system yesterday. The pharmacies here are staffed with the equivalent of a physician's assistant. We were seen instantly, diagnosed quickly and accurately, charged nothing (!) and bought the right medications on the spot for $4 each.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Marathoners and the Mona Lisa
I am still amazed by the very cool fast trains in Europe, and by our specific route that took us under the English Channel to France. Zipping from London to Paris takes 2.5 hours to get from one town center to the other traveling at 210 miles per hour. I am embarrassed to admit that the scent of stale sweat that hit us upon boarding was filed in my mind as the first hint of the French-ness we were fast approaching. But no, very soon after departure my neighboring seat-mates admitted with apologies that it was them. This unusual introduction led to a really interesting conversation.
They were headed to Paris for their first marathon. Between work, school and training they had left too little time to prepare properly for the train trip. Hence the odor. So while the kids (seated behind us) looked out the window, played games and enjoyed teacakes and fizzy waters I talked with these interesting boys who turned out to be from a part of Greenwich that we had just walked through the day before. Of the three, only one had run a marathon before and even he had only done one. They were nervous but excited and it was fun to listen to them. Our own adventures and plans interested them as well so the journey went really quickly.
Arriving in Paris at Gare Du Nord station, we were easily able to avoid a con man selling fake Metro tickets and find the line to buy our real ones. The price is decent if you get a pack of ten (une carnet) that work on all buses and the city lines of the Metro system. I just would NOT recommend arriving on a weekday right when everyone is getting off of work. I thought we had smooth sailing; tickets in hand, route mapped, correct line found, train en-route BUT it (and the next one) arrived already jammed overfull. When everyone around us crammed inside regardless I decided that, next train, we would too. Which we did, luggage included. Problems really started at the next stop, when dozens of people needed to get off but we, in the doorway, did not. Poor Chris was knocked around, we all got separated and I was terrified. But no one was hurt, we all stayed on the train and made it to the right stop where all was peaceful once we got off.
The hotel was a pleasant surprise, especially since it was a bargain for the area. The walk from the Metro station was closer and easier than Google showed it, the bank I needed was right there as were several shops and everyone we saw was cheerful and friendly. Checking in was nice with everyone speaking English and French all mixed together and welcoming us warmly. They even gave us the internet code free of charge, and new ones again each time the kids went back down because we used up our allotment quickly from watching news, videos and mapping the plans for the next day. About all we had energy for at that point was a quick stroll through the neighborhood and a friendly restaurant with the best pizza any of us had ever tasted.
Choosing walking and buses over more Metro made sense for our sightseeing day. An early start let us enjoy a bright morning with pastries from the boulangere and coffee au lait in the cafe with cocoa for the tweens. The coffee and cocoa stop cost more than anything else that day because we picked a fancy place on a tourist street that had a rare public restroom. It would be hours of sightseeing before we got another opportunity, and then only because the nice girl in the sandwich shop near the Eiffel Tower let us use the tiny spiral stairs down to the basement where their staff WC hid.
We had a picnic lunch in the shadow of the Tower, listening to the musicians and watching families from all over the world take pictures. I overruled the kids' desire to go to the top. Up there it was windy, cold, extremely crowded and expensive while the experience at ground level was wonderful. Several of the runners for the big marathon went by while we were there, but not our boys from Greenwich. Hopefully that meant they were already well past.
Bus 69 from there goes slowly through the prettiest parts of Paris and along the Seine, leading to the Palace, the Louvre and beyond. We rode around, walked cute neighborhoods and eventually got off at the Louvre. I let each of us choose one must-see and the rest would just be enjoyed accidentally in between. Maddy picked the Venus de Milo, Chris wanted to see Mona Lisa and I chose the Victory of Samothrace but we saw so many more pieces while looking for each of those. The collections are stunning and the sense of history is overwhelming.
On the way home to the hotel we picked up a whole roast chicken, strawberries, potatoes in olive oil and herbs and some juice from street vendors. The chicken was so good that we stopped by the next day to tell him, which gave us the chance to see that he was now roasting rabbits. This looks so much like cats that we had to ask.
I will be processing the sights, sounds and flavors of Paris for a long time to come. The crowded areas were a real challenge with the kids and safety concerns but that happens in any large city. The river, architecture, food, history and people here are wonderful.
They were headed to Paris for their first marathon. Between work, school and training they had left too little time to prepare properly for the train trip. Hence the odor. So while the kids (seated behind us) looked out the window, played games and enjoyed teacakes and fizzy waters I talked with these interesting boys who turned out to be from a part of Greenwich that we had just walked through the day before. Of the three, only one had run a marathon before and even he had only done one. They were nervous but excited and it was fun to listen to them. Our own adventures and plans interested them as well so the journey went really quickly.
Arriving in Paris at Gare Du Nord station, we were easily able to avoid a con man selling fake Metro tickets and find the line to buy our real ones. The price is decent if you get a pack of ten (une carnet) that work on all buses and the city lines of the Metro system. I just would NOT recommend arriving on a weekday right when everyone is getting off of work. I thought we had smooth sailing; tickets in hand, route mapped, correct line found, train en-route BUT it (and the next one) arrived already jammed overfull. When everyone around us crammed inside regardless I decided that, next train, we would too. Which we did, luggage included. Problems really started at the next stop, when dozens of people needed to get off but we, in the doorway, did not. Poor Chris was knocked around, we all got separated and I was terrified. But no one was hurt, we all stayed on the train and made it to the right stop where all was peaceful once we got off.
The hotel was a pleasant surprise, especially since it was a bargain for the area. The walk from the Metro station was closer and easier than Google showed it, the bank I needed was right there as were several shops and everyone we saw was cheerful and friendly. Checking in was nice with everyone speaking English and French all mixed together and welcoming us warmly. They even gave us the internet code free of charge, and new ones again each time the kids went back down because we used up our allotment quickly from watching news, videos and mapping the plans for the next day. About all we had energy for at that point was a quick stroll through the neighborhood and a friendly restaurant with the best pizza any of us had ever tasted.
Choosing walking and buses over more Metro made sense for our sightseeing day. An early start let us enjoy a bright morning with pastries from the boulangere and coffee au lait in the cafe with cocoa for the tweens. The coffee and cocoa stop cost more than anything else that day because we picked a fancy place on a tourist street that had a rare public restroom. It would be hours of sightseeing before we got another opportunity, and then only because the nice girl in the sandwich shop near the Eiffel Tower let us use the tiny spiral stairs down to the basement where their staff WC hid.
We had a picnic lunch in the shadow of the Tower, listening to the musicians and watching families from all over the world take pictures. I overruled the kids' desire to go to the top. Up there it was windy, cold, extremely crowded and expensive while the experience at ground level was wonderful. Several of the runners for the big marathon went by while we were there, but not our boys from Greenwich. Hopefully that meant they were already well past.
Bus 69 from there goes slowly through the prettiest parts of Paris and along the Seine, leading to the Palace, the Louvre and beyond. We rode around, walked cute neighborhoods and eventually got off at the Louvre. I let each of us choose one must-see and the rest would just be enjoyed accidentally in between. Maddy picked the Venus de Milo, Chris wanted to see Mona Lisa and I chose the Victory of Samothrace but we saw so many more pieces while looking for each of those. The collections are stunning and the sense of history is overwhelming.
On the way home to the hotel we picked up a whole roast chicken, strawberries, potatoes in olive oil and herbs and some juice from street vendors. The chicken was so good that we stopped by the next day to tell him, which gave us the chance to see that he was now roasting rabbits. This looks so much like cats that we had to ask.
I will be processing the sights, sounds and flavors of Paris for a long time to come. The crowded areas were a real challenge with the kids and safety concerns but that happens in any large city. The river, architecture, food, history and people here are wonderful.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Kids' thoughts on Paris
Maddy:
Yesterday we had ridden a 2 hour bullet train from London to Paris. Then we found our crowded metro to our hotel. The hotel was uphill and had a view of the tippy-top of the Eiffel Tower, but sadly, we had a view of the building next door. We went have a lunch of sandwiches under the Eiffel tower and go to the Louvre to see the Mona Lisa, Venus De Milo and other pieces of famous works of art. The views are great and the people are kind. I'm so happy that we are here.
Chris:
In Paris, everyone is happy because there are so many different things to do and try like if you want to eat snails or take a rowboat down the river. But we haven't done those things yet. All in all though Paris is great and I'm glad we got to come here. My favorites thing so far is just how beautiful the whole city is.
Yesterday we had ridden a 2 hour bullet train from London to Paris. Then we found our crowded metro to our hotel. The hotel was uphill and had a view of the tippy-top of the Eiffel Tower, but sadly, we had a view of the building next door. We went have a lunch of sandwiches under the Eiffel tower and go to the Louvre to see the Mona Lisa, Venus De Milo and other pieces of famous works of art. The views are great and the people are kind. I'm so happy that we are here.
Chris:
In Paris, everyone is happy because there are so many different things to do and try like if you want to eat snails or take a rowboat down the river. But we haven't done those things yet. All in all though Paris is great and I'm glad we got to come here. My favorites thing so far is just how beautiful the whole city is.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Thames, Greenwich and a Play are too much for one day!
I blame the perfect weather and my lack of sleep. We had a couple of nights of noisy neighbors and even with sleeping in, my mind was a little foggy yesterday morning. Then the gorgeous day lured us all astray. I do think our misadventure last night highlights how safe London is, or at least feels to me, for such a large city. All turned out fine and we had fun, but due to mistakes on my part the kids and I got home after midnight and completely exhausted.
The original plan was to explore the manuscripts and historical papers in the British Library, return to the Natural History Museum to get the kids off my back about the parts we missed and finish with Trappist Monk style dinner at Belgo Centraal . Not one of those events happened. Our late start and slow breakfast put us out the door at 11:00 without my usual double check of the train route, weather, traffic and news. Overconfidence played a part as well, since we were retracing familiar steps. Or at least we planned to, until we stepped outside to the most perfect bright blue sky and realized that indoor activities were OUT. And with the day half missed already we certainly must not go back inside to adjust the plans, oh no, we would.....wing it!
The first bus we saw was heading to London Bridge, perfect! The nearby London Eye attraction had been bumped off the schedule last week due to gloomy skies and a chance for an extra (indoor) swim day. So on we jumped and after a quick sideline to buy a replacement charger for the Nintendos so they will work from tomorrow when we switch to EU power for the next 7 weeks, we were at the Thames. And so was everyone else. The line for the Eye was 90 minutes at least, with grumpy crowds and crying babies. The heck with that and the huge ticket cost too! While we walked along the Thames I remembered that the transport system included clipper boats that extended the public transit onto the river. Finding a boarding point, we discovered that our prepaid Oyster travel cards would work and we could ride as far as Greenwich!
The lovely boat ride led to a big beautiful park, fantastic little museums and a cute town all on the Greenwich Mean Time Meridian. Thank goodness for the trusty backpack with its sunscreen, camera, transport passes, GPS, snacks and room to put the unneeded jackets.
It wasn't until 3-ish that we started looking around for a meal. That is when the kids noticed the little theatre and reminded me that we still hadn't seen the promised live play. Everything available on the West End had turned out to run at least $150 for 3 tickets, so I had tried and been defeated in finding a good alternative until now. They not only had an appropriate play (Volpone) on tonight, but it was being broadcast so they were charging only 10 pounds each! This was too perfect to worry about little things like the late start (7:30) or the length of the play (turns out 3 hours) or distance from our flat or the time of the last direct buses home (still don't know, but we missed it).
With hours to wait and tickets in hand, we ate pub grub, paddled boats, combed the Thames banks and wandered the astonishingly pretty campus of the Royal Naval Academy. Curtain time found us still excited and not too tired. Halfway through the play, however, I wished for an eject button. The kids were troopers though, following the performance really well and whispering questions. I think they understood the writer's intent and enjoyed the performance but what followed has ruined live theater for them for years, I am afraid. I know I won't want to do it again anytime soon!
We came out; I was shocked to see it was nearly 11pm and what I expected to be a quick trip home wasn't going to appear. We headed back to the boat docks, which oddly run really late. But the quiet and dark creaky pier was too much for the kids, so we headed back up the main street into town hoping for more information...and light. Not much luck, there would be a bus soon but it went the wrong direction and there wouldn't be a guarantee of good connections from there. So, back down to the pier just on time to grab a public transit boat.
The staff on this Thames Clipper were amazing. They sympathized and helped. The stop I would need was determined by the nearest, soonest overground train going directly to the part of London our flat is in. They called to check that we could make it from the dock to the departure platform on time and made me a map from point to point. And we would have made it, too, except that the entrance point machine was faulty and at that time of night the staff was few, far between and not useful. By the time I got the machine to read each of our passes to let us through and we ran for the platform...our train had gone. And we couldn't find anyone to give our ticket money back to us.
It was the last train going our way until morning. And the night bus map confuses better navigators than I. But the kids trooped on and we found a bus from which we could transfer to another and reach our stop out in the suburbs. That last one was surprisingly full and most of the people seemed perfectly sober, normal and nice. They shielded us from the rude party kids in the back.
Well after midnight we came in and fell deep asleep with this morning bringing another slow start. I am trying to convince the tweens that this last afternoon in London is perfect for the Library and an Evensong service....
The original plan was to explore the manuscripts and historical papers in the British Library, return to the Natural History Museum to get the kids off my back about the parts we missed and finish with Trappist Monk style dinner at Belgo Centraal . Not one of those events happened. Our late start and slow breakfast put us out the door at 11:00 without my usual double check of the train route, weather, traffic and news. Overconfidence played a part as well, since we were retracing familiar steps. Or at least we planned to, until we stepped outside to the most perfect bright blue sky and realized that indoor activities were OUT. And with the day half missed already we certainly must not go back inside to adjust the plans, oh no, we would.....wing it!
The first bus we saw was heading to London Bridge, perfect! The nearby London Eye attraction had been bumped off the schedule last week due to gloomy skies and a chance for an extra (indoor) swim day. So on we jumped and after a quick sideline to buy a replacement charger for the Nintendos so they will work from tomorrow when we switch to EU power for the next 7 weeks, we were at the Thames. And so was everyone else. The line for the Eye was 90 minutes at least, with grumpy crowds and crying babies. The heck with that and the huge ticket cost too! While we walked along the Thames I remembered that the transport system included clipper boats that extended the public transit onto the river. Finding a boarding point, we discovered that our prepaid Oyster travel cards would work and we could ride as far as Greenwich!
The lovely boat ride led to a big beautiful park, fantastic little museums and a cute town all on the Greenwich Mean Time Meridian. Thank goodness for the trusty backpack with its sunscreen, camera, transport passes, GPS, snacks and room to put the unneeded jackets.
It wasn't until 3-ish that we started looking around for a meal. That is when the kids noticed the little theatre and reminded me that we still hadn't seen the promised live play. Everything available on the West End had turned out to run at least $150 for 3 tickets, so I had tried and been defeated in finding a good alternative until now. They not only had an appropriate play (Volpone) on tonight, but it was being broadcast so they were charging only 10 pounds each! This was too perfect to worry about little things like the late start (7:30) or the length of the play (turns out 3 hours) or distance from our flat or the time of the last direct buses home (still don't know, but we missed it).
With hours to wait and tickets in hand, we ate pub grub, paddled boats, combed the Thames banks and wandered the astonishingly pretty campus of the Royal Naval Academy. Curtain time found us still excited and not too tired. Halfway through the play, however, I wished for an eject button. The kids were troopers though, following the performance really well and whispering questions. I think they understood the writer's intent and enjoyed the performance but what followed has ruined live theater for them for years, I am afraid. I know I won't want to do it again anytime soon!
We came out; I was shocked to see it was nearly 11pm and what I expected to be a quick trip home wasn't going to appear. We headed back to the boat docks, which oddly run really late. But the quiet and dark creaky pier was too much for the kids, so we headed back up the main street into town hoping for more information...and light. Not much luck, there would be a bus soon but it went the wrong direction and there wouldn't be a guarantee of good connections from there. So, back down to the pier just on time to grab a public transit boat.
The staff on this Thames Clipper were amazing. They sympathized and helped. The stop I would need was determined by the nearest, soonest overground train going directly to the part of London our flat is in. They called to check that we could make it from the dock to the departure platform on time and made me a map from point to point. And we would have made it, too, except that the entrance point machine was faulty and at that time of night the staff was few, far between and not useful. By the time I got the machine to read each of our passes to let us through and we ran for the platform...our train had gone. And we couldn't find anyone to give our ticket money back to us.
It was the last train going our way until morning. And the night bus map confuses better navigators than I. But the kids trooped on and we found a bus from which we could transfer to another and reach our stop out in the suburbs. That last one was surprisingly full and most of the people seemed perfectly sober, normal and nice. They shielded us from the rude party kids in the back.
Well after midnight we came in and fell deep asleep with this morning bringing another slow start. I am trying to convince the tweens that this last afternoon in London is perfect for the Library and an Evensong service....
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
More Tween input
Maddy:
Trafalgar Square has lions that are a blast to climb around on. At Covent Gardens we saw a sword swallower and an acrobat. All very cool. Then we watched the movie How to Train Your Dragon and walked around a bit, looking at stores and stalls for dragon jewelry. I ended up getting a beautiful statue of a green and gold dragon. After a few hours of that we when to a restaurant that served ostrich, kangaroo and all sorts of things. It was deliciously nommie. We went home and I slept the whole way.
Chris:
Today we went to Trafalgar square and had a great time. first we watched street performers, one even swallowed a sword! Then we went to get food, first we had afternoon tea in the crypt of an old church. Later we went to go get Gelato after a cool movie. We walked all over then for dinner I got ostrich at a restaurant that served wild animals. That was the best part of the whole day.
Trafalgar Square has lions that are a blast to climb around on. At Covent Gardens we saw a sword swallower and an acrobat. All very cool. Then we watched the movie How to Train Your Dragon and walked around a bit, looking at stores and stalls for dragon jewelry. I ended up getting a beautiful statue of a green and gold dragon. After a few hours of that we when to a restaurant that served ostrich, kangaroo and all sorts of things. It was deliciously nommie. We went home and I slept the whole way.
Chris:
Today we went to Trafalgar square and had a great time. first we watched street performers, one even swallowed a sword! Then we went to get food, first we had afternoon tea in the crypt of an old church. Later we went to go get Gelato after a cool movie. We walked all over then for dinner I got ostrich at a restaurant that served wild animals. That was the best part of the whole day.
More on the Food :)
We really have been good about cooking most meals at "home" for the trip and enjoy it a lot. Yesterday I decided to go hog wild by not even packing snacks to carry in to the city with us, just eating an English breakfast before we set out. In order to cook it, I had my own adventure finding the fuse box for some pre-dawn electrical repairs. Raawrh!
Part of the point of eating-in so much is to save up the budget and health costs for really special experiences. This was a day full of memorable ones. After much great site seeing, we refueled with a late lunch/early tea time in the Crypt Cafe of St. Martin-in-the-Field Church. The tweens went for soup-and-sandwich 'real' meals followed by samples of tea cakes. I had the full plate of scones, treats and tea. The headstones nearest us were from the mid 1700's.
Later, following lion climbing and street performers in Trafalgar Square, we popped into a French bakery for croissants, Apple Snapple and espresso. Then a cool 3D movie (How to Tame a Dragon) with no junk food had to be rewarded with delicious Italian Gelato eaten in chaotic Covent Gardens. More people watching and a little shopping prepared us for the LONG walk to a special dinner.
I had planned and pre-purchased a voucher for this event long before the trip. Some resources I used for reviews, cost-savings, ideas and research: Tripadvisor, My City Deal, Money Saving Expert. These were the most useful coupon and idea sources for museums, transportation, free coffee, free grocery delivery and movie discounts too.
But for this once in a lifetime experience at Archipelago, I found the idea and reviews on tripadvisor and a 20 GBP (about $30) coupon on mycitydeal. The restaurant is hidden far out of the way, is very tiny and very beautifully decorated and serves VERY ODD food. We were semi-cautious and went with Kangaroo for me, Ostrich for both tweens and shared exotic cheeses and chutneys for dessert. Take a look at the other options: http://www.archipelago-restaurant.co.uk/
Later, following lion climbing and street performers in Trafalgar Square, we popped into a French bakery for croissants, Apple Snapple and espresso. Then a cool 3D movie (How to Tame a Dragon) with no junk food had to be rewarded with delicious Italian Gelato eaten in chaotic Covent Gardens. More people watching and a little shopping prepared us for the LONG walk to a special dinner.
I had planned and pre-purchased a voucher for this event long before the trip. Some resources I used for reviews, cost-savings, ideas and research: Tripadvisor, My City Deal, Money Saving Expert. These were the most useful coupon and idea sources for museums, transportation, free coffee, free grocery delivery and movie discounts too.
But for this once in a lifetime experience at Archipelago, I found the idea and reviews on tripadvisor and a 20 GBP (about $30) coupon on mycitydeal. The restaurant is hidden far out of the way, is very tiny and very beautifully decorated and serves VERY ODD food. We were semi-cautious and went with Kangaroo for me, Ostrich for both tweens and shared exotic cheeses and chutneys for dessert. Take a look at the other options: http://www.archipelago-restaurant.co.uk/
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Lions, paintings, dragons and swords
Hokey tourist stuff can be SO cool. The kids loved the lion statues in Trafalgar Square and were right up there climbing them with the other visitors for a long while.
The National Gallery was less of a hit, for us it may have been one museum too much? The paintings are world class and I am glad we walked through. The building itself is amazing. Next door and equally beautiful is St. Martins-in-the-Field where we were lucky to catch the end of a concert and then take tea in the Crypt!
Most of the day was spent roaming and people-watch, mainly in and around Covent Gardens with its street performers. Everyone should have a day of this at least once!
Breaking up all the fun chaos, we took in a 3D movie: How to Train Your Dragon. It was actually really cute and we had the theater nearly to ourselves. The only thing left after that was an exotic dinner at Archipelago and the long ride back out to the 'burbs.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Easter at the zoo
I hope Kraft, the evil corporate giant of crap food, leaves their newly purchased subsidiary Cadbury unchanged. We had a fun day at the zoo in Battersea Park following the trail of clues and winning the Cadbury egg prizes.
It is a cute little zoo, fun and not overwhelming. We could get up close to everything and could even feed and pet many of the animals which I don't think I have ever seen at a zoo before. The Meercat exhibit even had tunnels under it where the kids could pop right up in the midst of the critters. There were also little playground areas scattered around just for fun. If it had been warmer the day would have been perfect and lasted much longer.
Chris: At the zoo we had a great time. Not only were there prizes at end but there were loads of great animals to see and play with. It is pretty small but big enough for me. It was fun to use clues to find the eggs hidden in the exhibits. My favorite part was the meercats, they are cute standing up and playing. My favorite monkeys were the yellow ones.
Maddy: We saw so many cool animals. My favorite was also the adorable meercats, I loved them. We enjoyed the egg hunt (painted stones in the cages) with the chocolates at the end. The petting areas and feeding the animals was really awesome.
Chris: At the zoo we had a great time. Not only were there prizes at end but there were loads of great animals to see and play with. It is pretty small but big enough for me. It was fun to use clues to find the eggs hidden in the exhibits. My favorite part was the meercats, they are cute standing up and playing. My favorite monkeys were the yellow ones.
Maddy: We saw so many cool animals. My favorite was also the adorable meercats, I loved them. We enjoyed the egg hunt (painted stones in the cages) with the chocolates at the end. The petting areas and feeding the animals was really awesome.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Town Weekend Market and small local Pub
It is hard to pick a favorite part of today. This is our first Saturday here, so we stayed local and did the town's Weekend Market. The kids had luck, finding a vintage Lego set and a cute ring for Maddy, both bargains. I wanted everything and got nothing due to lack of luggage space. I'll hit eBay when the trip is over.
We followed up the exploring and shopping with a simple lunch in the very cute local pub called Whitehart. The old building is warmly decorated with fabrics and cushions and couches. Their music selection kept me giggling, especially when they alternated Beach Boys with Akon. And my attempt to request root beers for the kids resulted in an accidental attempt to serve them mildly alcoholic ginger beer. The Tweens made new friends when we got back to the flat, a family with boys was checking in upstairs. Great stuff, all around.
Chris:
We followed up the exploring and shopping with a simple lunch in the very cute local pub called Whitehart. The old building is warmly decorated with fabrics and cushions and couches. Their music selection kept me giggling, especially when they alternated Beach Boys with Akon. And my attempt to request root beers for the kids resulted in an accidental attempt to serve them mildly alcoholic ginger beer. The Tweens made new friends when we got back to the flat, a family with boys was checking in upstairs. Great stuff, all around.
Chris:
Earlier today we went to the weekend market and bought cool things then went to a pub and had really good hamburgurs for lunch then we went home and relaxed. We had a very good day.
Maddy:
Another really nice time today, we went to the weekend market to buy rings and antique legos. After that went to a pub to have fries and burgers. Yummy in my tummy!
Friday, April 2, 2010
Homeschool and Leisure Center Pool
We had fun today despite having to catch up on tons of homeschooling. We broke off for long enough to walk through town and find the community pool. The place is massive with 3 indoor pools but we only had an hour to swim so stuck to the little one. Back home in the US there are no big community supported Leisure Centers but some areas have a semi-private similar system called YMCA. It was well worth the cold walk home and I am glad we visited this one. The large wide-open changing room was a bit of an awkward surprise for these dull Americans though. I didn't realize until it was too late that I had sent Chris in alone to what must be a male version of the same setup. The smart boy turned right around and brought his clothes into the WC he had noticed in the hall where he dressed without embarrassment. Now that we are prepared it won't be as uncomfortable if we go back. Hopefully.
As for the school work, both Tweens kicked butt, getting several days' worth of assignments done. Maddy even wrote a play about the Reformation featuring Henry VIII. Poor Chris is having to slog through endless fractions.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Foodie stuff, the good and the ugly
Thinking we were getting a bright, dry day in London I had the kids choose between Covent Garden and Borough Market for activities today. Both were foodie destinations that appeal more to me but they DID get to tear up the Science Museum all day yesterday. Their choice came down to the restaurant options for the dinner/bribe at the end of each. I had gift certificates for sushi near the Borough Market so there we went.
Even though the day changed to cold rain interspersed with grey drizzle, the market was fantastic. It has existed as a food-buying center since at least 1014. The stalls were beautiful and varied from organic vegetables to exotic fruits to wines to whole animals and everything in between. We sampled fresh soup, turkish delights and hot drinks. I can't guess how many languages were spoken all around us. When I tried to practice my French at one shop the gentleman laughed in a nice way and asked in English were I was from.
To make all of it up to the kids I had to tear myself away and head for the sushi. Unfortunately they weren't serving dinner yet, so we popped over a few blocks to Tate Modern. I hadn't planned to tour this one because it would bore the Tweens. It exceeded that expectation. I could barely stand to spend an hour there myself and enjoyed the view of the Thames from the 5th floor more than anything else. A helpful guide did point us towards 2 exhibits that were interesting: a VW bus surrounded by WW2 era rescue sleds and a pair of "trees" carved from huge blocks of wood. The vast majority seemed like pure nonsense to me. Maddy liked a few of the sculptures but not nearly as much as she liked the classics in the other museums.
Finally, time to run through the rain back to the restaurant, Tsuru. The waiter who earlier pointed us to the Tate had saved a nice table for us with a cool little place card. The Tweens ordered edemame and a huge platter of various sushi and sashimi while I wimped out with katsu curry. They finished the tray of RAW ugly fish, squid, lobster and god knows what else before I was done and were still hungry. Since my certificates covered more than we had spent so far I let them reorder. We are back in the flat, warming up and relaxing. Their full bellies are putting them to sleep faster than I can write this.
Even though the day changed to cold rain interspersed with grey drizzle, the market was fantastic. It has existed as a food-buying center since at least 1014. The stalls were beautiful and varied from organic vegetables to exotic fruits to wines to whole animals and everything in between. We sampled fresh soup, turkish delights and hot drinks. I can't guess how many languages were spoken all around us. When I tried to practice my French at one shop the gentleman laughed in a nice way and asked in English were I was from.
To make all of it up to the kids I had to tear myself away and head for the sushi. Unfortunately they weren't serving dinner yet, so we popped over a few blocks to Tate Modern. I hadn't planned to tour this one because it would bore the Tweens. It exceeded that expectation. I could barely stand to spend an hour there myself and enjoyed the view of the Thames from the 5th floor more than anything else. A helpful guide did point us towards 2 exhibits that were interesting: a VW bus surrounded by WW2 era rescue sleds and a pair of "trees" carved from huge blocks of wood. The vast majority seemed like pure nonsense to me. Maddy liked a few of the sculptures but not nearly as much as she liked the classics in the other museums.
Finally, time to run through the rain back to the restaurant, Tsuru. The waiter who earlier pointed us to the Tate had saved a nice table for us with a cool little place card. The Tweens ordered edemame and a huge platter of various sushi and sashimi while I wimped out with katsu curry. They finished the tray of RAW ugly fish, squid, lobster and god knows what else before I was done and were still hungry. Since my certificates covered more than we had spent so far I let them reorder. We are back in the flat, warming up and relaxing. Their full bellies are putting them to sleep faster than I can write this.
Laundry Challenge
Our flight from Budapest to Venice will be on a small regional carrier that is very affordable but charges outrageous fees for luggage. Their free allowance is for a smaller than normal (20x14x9) carry on with no added objects other than a coat. So I decided to try to get through the whole trip with the children using that size bag and mine being not much larger so we only have to pay one penalty. The clothing that fit in these small bags has lasted nicely for this first week but it was important to get some wash done today.
Waking up to a sunny sky was a great start. Going down stairs to the washroom and looking at the tiny European sized unfamiliar washer was a bit daunting but with the kids help I figured it out. Luckily I had packed little sheets of paper-soap made for washing machines. Problem? Less than half of the laundry would fit in the little thing. And with a nice sunny day ticking by I decided not to waste more than one load's worth of time. So we triaged the dirty items, shoved in what needed it most and rushed on with getting ready for the day.
It finished spinning right as we finished eating breakfast, dressing and packing a cheese, cracker and fruit picnic. The kids helped me drag the wet clothes out and drape all of it on ourselves to carry to the clothesline. We improvised and struggled, learning how to hang everything to dry. Not much was dropped. After running back inside to hang the underthings more discretely indoors and double-check the bus transfer number we were off. Just in time for the clouds to roll in and rain to come pouring down.
Waking up to a sunny sky was a great start. Going down stairs to the washroom and looking at the tiny European sized unfamiliar washer was a bit daunting but with the kids help I figured it out. Luckily I had packed little sheets of paper-soap made for washing machines. Problem? Less than half of the laundry would fit in the little thing. And with a nice sunny day ticking by I decided not to waste more than one load's worth of time. So we triaged the dirty items, shoved in what needed it most and rushed on with getting ready for the day.
It finished spinning right as we finished eating breakfast, dressing and packing a cheese, cracker and fruit picnic. The kids helped me drag the wet clothes out and drape all of it on ourselves to carry to the clothesline. We improvised and struggled, learning how to hang everything to dry. Not much was dropped. After running back inside to hang the underthings more discretely indoors and double-check the bus transfer number we were off. Just in time for the clouds to roll in and rain to come pouring down.
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