Because I Can

Tuesday, October 23: Packing and Hairspray

2007-10-25T15:54:00.000-04:00

I figured it would be an odious task and indeed it was. On an extremely positive note however, if I miss anything Jamie is now responsible for finding it and stuffing it in his own luggage. I am very glad we thought to buy a duffle bag and pack it inside Jamie's luggage for the trip over. We used every inch of it despite the dryer having misplaced several socks and a pair of underwear or two. This after me taking great pains to purchase non-breakable and small souvenirs. I managed to disburse all of my souvenir guidebooks among the various suitcases so none should exceed weight restrictions.

No food in the flat so I took the boys up to Canary Wharf for lunch. Colin wanted to see the "Big JT" again which was set up right outside our Jubilee Line Canary Wharf Underground station. Liam was curious and also wanted to eat at Wagamama one more time so we bundled up and headed over towards Jamie's office. He and Garry came down to check out the hype for next Sunday's game so we ran into them on their way to get coffee. People in NY Giants and Miami Dolphin jackets were shoving trading cards and lapel pins in our hands left and right. Colin managed to muscle up to answer a trivia question, "What city are the Giants from?" and won a Miami Dolphin's t-shirt. He wanted to wear it to the theatre that night. Um, think not! Poor Liam couldn't work up the assertiveness to jump in there and of course was a bit out of sorts because Colin got a free cap AND a free t-shirt. Life isn't fair, but I can't blame him. If I were in his shoes I'd be feeling a bit glum myself I imagine.

More packing in the afternoon and then I settled in on my bed with my laptop to watch three more episodes of "The Vicar of Dibley" while putting a heated cloth on my neck. Of all days to wake up with an excruciating pain in the neck...besides the one snoring next to me. Sheesh, I don't think I've had "crick" like this in literally decades. Wonder how in the world I managed to do that in my sleep. Maybe that is what a decided lack of earplugs will do.

I also took the time to arrange for last minute tickets to see a show in London's West End. I thought that might be a nice surprise for Jamie for his birthday. Except as usual the bugger guessed yesterday that I might be up to that. Oh well, at least I got to surprise him on which show. He knew I was interested in "Wicked" and might try to find tickets to "Spamalot" because of the kids. We ended up going to see "Hairspray." It is the first time it has run in London and it's press opening is on the 30th. So we were treated to the opening cast. It was fantastic! I think Liam was absolutely enthralled and Colin even squirmed at an absolute minimum. Every once in awhile he had to ask why people were laughing and these were jokes you just don't explain to a seven year old.

Lest anyone tut tut me taking a child so young to a musical with sexual innuendo I must point out I saw "A Chorus Line" in London when I was almost eight years old and it did me no lasting harm. I am so glad we got to do this for our last evening in England. I really did want to find a way to take the boys to a show and it turned out to be a lovely way to celebrate Jamie's birthday as well since we will be leaving the day before. Hence, the champagne toast during intermission.

Tomorrow it's planes, trains and automobiles. Technically, taxi, train, plane, automobile.

Monday, October 22: Last Minute Cramming

2007-10-23T03:34:00.000-04:00

Liam decided he wanted a quiet day in the flat to himself so Colin and I took off to see whatever we could see over the next few hours. We started at the National Portrait Gallery where Colin was gracious enough to humour me while I roamed the three galleries in which I was most interested. i.e. Tudor, Jacobean and Victorian portraits. Colin was fascinated by the marble busts and had me read out the names and occupations of every bust we encountered. There are usually at least two in every room and sometimes as many as two thousand. Okay, not that many but it felt like it when trying to read the names and look at portraits. We only stayed about forty-five minutes but that was plenty of time to hit the highlights I wanted to see.

Next we popped around the corner to the cafe at Trafalgar Square where we stopped for a mocha and scone. Oh the clotted cream! We couldn't fail to notice the gigantic animatronic model of Jason Taylor of the Miami Dolphins and a jumbotron playing football highlights right in front of Nelson's column. Something just doesn't seem right about that. But just after Colin had enough of climbing up and down the lions (it was rather cold), they began filming something with the crowd where the show's host explained football, quizzed people for prizes and they demonstrated the animatron. I cannot tell you how odd it is to hear a football play called in a British accent. The host noticed Colin, but was unable to quiz him for a prize because of camera angles (we're in the long shots) so he came over afterwards and gave Colin an NFL International Series commemorative baseball hat. Cool! That was the first of Colin's freebies today. When he stopped at a souvenir kiosk on our way out of Trafalgar Square, the gentleman was so amused by Colin he tossed in three free postcards with the teddy bear.

We next wandered over to Covent Garden passing through the Actor's Church (St. Paul's Covent Garden) on the way. Colin wanted to stop and watch a juggler/comedian's act that was really quite funny. Then we picked up a few souvenirs at the market and trudged on to find a pub for lunch. We ended up at Duke's at The Wellington. Very slow service but we passed the time arranging the condiment bottles and cutlery into replicas of the Tower of London, Warwick Castle, Canary Wharf, etc. We both had the sausages and mash with my version being the vegetarian option. Oh my! I want to take home a crate of whatever these were. Best vegetarian fake meat I've ever had.

We waddled down to The Strand and stopped for a bit at Somerset House where Colin had to peek into another gift shop and had fun climbing up and down off of columns and steps. We passed through King's College London where my darling shopaholic had to at least buy a pencil at the college bookshop. I was heading towards Temple where I hoped to stumble upon the ruins of the temple to Mithras the bus driver pointed out two weeks ago. No such luck, but I did get to see the church founded by the Knights Templar for which this region really gets its name. I'm glad we wandered down there because we got to see the Royal Courts of Justice and it is really a beautiful building. Not that I ever want to see the inside mind you.

Our meanderings towards a Tube stop took us right to the steps of St. Paul's Cathedral. Colin wanted to poke his head in to see it, but declined the admittance fee to tour the entire church. I didn't mind as I was ready to get back as we were now getting a bit of a mizzle. (mist and drizzle) We exited through the church gardens, hopped on the underground and brought a snack back to Liam who didn't look like he had moved from his chair since we left. In fact, I don't think he ever changed out of his pajamas.

On Tuesday we begin the arduous task of packing and may look for the animatronic Jason Taylor at Canary Wharf for Liam when we go out for lunch because there is absolutely nothing to eat in the flat.

Sunday, October 21: Two Kings One Field

2007-10-22T16:17:00.000-04:00

A bit of a late start this morning, but that was to be expected. Garry and Pauline did tell us we were most welcome to attend the family service at their village parish church at 10:30 if we so desired. St. Michael and All Angels in Fenny Drayton celebrates a family service on third Sundays at 10:30 A.M. Oh how tempting! My family would have deserted me.

Instead we started the day by walking the dogs...and the boys...through the village. We did stop at the church and I was able to poke in before the start of the service. I did feel a bit guilty when pounced upon by the greeter whom I believe was hoping had found new potential parishioners. Still, she presented me with Fenny Drayton Parish Newsletter for October and a flyer about the church itself. We continued on to a small playground and then round to a memorial to George Fox, birthplace of the founder of the Society of Friends, i.e. Quakers. I was more impressed than the boys of course.

When we returned, Pauline had prepared a traditional English breakfast for us. A "fry up." Oh my! I may not be able to tuck in to the rashers and sausages, but I still had quite the post-rugby World Cup breakfast. Following a refreshing autumn walk through a charming English village, who could ask for more? Well, Liam I suppose, but we did cut him off at one point.

Garry held up admirably and escorted us to Bosworth Battlefield. My entire family, as well as my host, were wonderfully accommodating and humoured my love of history. I am very aware that we simply walked around a field that sports a few battle standards and a handful of historical plaques. The spot where Richard III supposedly took a sip of water looks much as a small child shouted from a distance. "Da, it looks like a barbie!" (That would be outdoor grill, not anatomically impossible doll, for the Americans reading this blog.) I am an unabashed Yorkist who firmly believes Henry VII undeservedly and through a pure stroke of luck achieved the English crown. Richard III has been sorely maligned throughout history and the princes in the tower disappeared on the order of Henry Tudor. Be that as it may....

The battlefield exhibition is under rennovation, but the visitor center did enable Jamie and Garry to watch a brief film while the boys drew pictures of knights and I rung up our inevitable souvenir purchases. The walk around the battlefield was just glorious in this weather. I did a few "brass rubbings" and then we left for the Coventry train station. We actually caught a slightly earlier train an would have arrived even sooner had not a small child not pulled the emergency lever. We wondered what had happened when our train stopped in the middle of nowhere. I am so ever grateful the train manager bawled out a mother that was not me. Though given her ethnicity and the expression on her face I'm going to take a wild guess that she hadn't a clue what he was yelling at her and we were quite lucky the little shit didn't do it again.

Jamie taught Liam how to play a variety of poker variations while I taught Colin how to nap on a train. I win!

After returning home Jamie contacted a co-worker who had arrived earlier today to begin training the "superusers" at the newspaper tomorrow. We all went to an Indian/Bangladeshi restaurant where the children were total shits. I ended up leaving a bit early with Colin, poured him into the tub and was asleep before Jamie could get both Colin and Liam to bed. All night long I dreamt of hiding out in a tornado shelter as oodles and oodles of tornados descended upon Melbourne, FL. Before and after I moved into the bed with Colin because of Jamie's snoring. I wonder if that means anything.

Saturday, October 20: Out to the Midlands

2007-10-22T12:03:00.000-04:00

Oh I do so love waking up children before dawn who screwed around at bedtime and swore they would be fine in the morning. Ha! Parent's revenge. We took the Underground to Euston and then on to a Virgin Train to Coventry. I've decided Branson must own a substantial percentage of England. I've also come to the conclusion that this is a people who have invented an astounding array of ways to flush a toilet. Pull, push, tug, wave, flip, depress, and of course the mystery flush where you stare at the back wall of the stall and pray you can figure it out before the next lady in the queue suspects you are either a dullard or blocked up.

But on to Warwick Castle. Garry and Pauline picked us up at the train station and took us to Warwick Castle. Like any locals, they had not been to the most popular tourist spot in their backyard in two decades. That's right. Ask me when the last time I went to the Kennedy Space Center was. However, their lapse resulted in a delightful car tour of Warwick. Lovely town.

Warwick Castle is nothing short of spectacular and the weather was absolutely perfect. The company managing the property has maintained it well and the staff is in period costume. Given the entry fee I would expect nothing less. All in all though, I'd consider it a value. We saw an archery exhibition as well as the boys trying their own hand at it. Colin may have a future there. We watched the launch of the world's largest trebuchet. Being this close to Halloween the projectile was of course a pumpkin.

We had a proper carver lunch at the castle, walked the ramparts, explored the Great Hall and State Rooms, visited the mill and engine room and best of all, I got to lie on the grass and simply immerse in the history of the spot. Both Colin and Liam thought the best exhibit was the Dream of Battle exhibit which follows the thoughts of 12 year old Squire William the night before the battle that took the life of Neville the Kingmaker in 1471.

After the castle we drove to Garry's village of Fenny Drayton stopping in the local pub for a pint and a cider. The boys fell asleep on the way. It took us awhile to figure that out because they were in rear facing jump seats in a Renault. I need one of those! It was a bit chilly so we didn't hang around long. We settled into Garry's house and were treated to a fish and chips with mushy peas dinner before heading over to the squash club for the World Cup Rugby match between England and South Africa. Imagine my delight to walk in and see the new season of Robin Hood broadcast twenty feet high on a squash court wall. Imagine my dismay when they switched to the rugby match with five or ten minutes left in the episode.

Exciting game. England may not have prevailed (I personally believe the Australian ref blew it and that WAS a legitimate try), but I scored some points by bringing a flag of England for the club owner to display during the match. Back to Garry's home where we all convened in the dining room for more spirits, cheese, biscuits and lively conversation. I put the boys to bed around midnight and followed shortly thereafter. I hear Pauling went not long after I and Jamie and Garry tasted a variety of scotches while talking business until 3:00 a.m. Ay yi yi!

Friday, October 19: Horse Guards and High Tea

2007-10-22T03:22:00.000-04:00

After the disappointment of obstructed view at Buckingham Palace I decided to take the boys to the changing of the Horse Guard. It is a simpler ceremony but since it is less popular you can see absolutely everything. The only rough spot was the twenty minutes of five horse guards simply staring at one another across the short ring in the parade ground while the other half of the contingent switches places inside the building. Needless to say there was much shuffling of feet. I did get to explain what was going on to two German families though. It was a wild guess on my part, but in the end turned out to be accurate so I'm either supremely logical or just lucky.

I videotaped much of the change, albeit not the staring at one another, while Colin photographed it. He got about five absolutely brilliant shots and 50 of the sky, my nostrils, Liam's crotch, pidgeons, etc. I am sorry to report that I deleted most of them so they are not in the Facebook albums. I didn't really think anyone would be interested in the state of my armpit or the condition of the gravel on the parade ground. Not even our own family in posterity.

After the changing of the guard I gave the boys the option of going to a souvenir shop or back to the playground at St. James's Park. Colin surprised me by picking the playground. I told them I would take them out to lunch after the playground, but then ended up enticing them out of there with hot dogs from the kiosk canteen. Much more economical!

As I've mentioned, London is incredibly tourist friendly in terms of public transportation, accessibility of toilets and signage. May I suggest to the Lord Mayor that he invest in a few more rubbish bins? I understand completely why you don't want them right near Buckingham Palace. But give me a good reason why they aren't located more conveniently elsewhere.

We spent the early part of the afternoon relaxing in the flat until Jamie came home. They knock off early on Fridays so I had made a reservation at the Crowne Plaza St. James for high tea. My nightmares of being kicked out of the place (literally dreamed this the night before) were unfounded. We dressed up the boys with minimal fuss and were beyond deighted to be escorted to a small private room already set up beautifully for the training of young gentlemen who haven't quite gotten there yet. I hadn't even warned the staff that our party of four would include two minors. The set up was perfect!

Liam and Colin were gobsmacked. This made their previous "teas" with mom look rather pale by comparison. Jamie and I got to relax totally as we were away from public view...but of course the boys behaved fantastic without an audience. As we were leaving Liam turned to the tea room manager and said, "Thank you, the service was exquisite!" Makes a mum proud.

Jamie has had limited opportunity to explore the city over the course of his six trips so I took the boys back over to the St. James playground and walked with Jamie up to see Buckingham Palace. It was nice to be able to take him through the park and down to the Horse Guards parade ground, stopping for a glass of wine at the cake house in the middle of the park. The temperature was a bit on the cold side, but the weather was clear and the late afternoon sun cast lovely shadows. Jamie was amazed at all the flowers still in bloom. Come to think of it, so are the English. I guided the family past the Defense Ministry and across Downing Street to the Westminster Underground station. Thus ending Jamie's precious few hours of London site seeing. I gather the view from One Canada Square (tallest building in England), just isn't the same as being in the streets.

Two comments about the children:

1. Liam was embarassed by all the people, including us, having photos taken with the Horse Guards, i.e House Cavalry. He felt is disrespectful. Okay fine.

2. The English are enamored of Colin and seem to really enjoy his enthusiasm and energy. I suspect he is right on the cusp of leaving childhood cuteness behind. If he looked any older they'd probably be scorning his obnoxious behavior. As it is, he seems to be a source of great amusement. Especially his endless questions. I reallly should have been writing them down. On the train ride to high tea I thought a smartly dressed man obviously on his way home from work was going to split a gut trying to hold in the laughter as Colin grilled me. He whispered "good luck" to me as he got off the train.

Tomorrow we head out to the country. I am so excited to spend a weekend in the midlands away from the city.

Mind The Gap

2007-10-20T02:27:00.000-04:00

And you thought it was going to be an entry about the London Underground didn't you? we are off to catch a train to Warwick so I will once again be about three days behind when I return. I will valiantly try to update as much as I can about Friday, Saturday and Sunday when we're back Sunday evening.

Thursday, October 18: Buckingham Palace

2007-10-18T12:29:00.000-04:00

This morning did not begin with the best of portents, but once I had the boys dragged into Green Park the day picked up. The changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace was not as interesting as I remember it from when I was a child. Colin spent the time whining about wanting water and Liam got a bit squirmy there as well. Thankfully the American tourists around us were amused by the boys rather than perturbed. I've decided to take the boys to the changing of the Horse Guard tomorrow as that is supposed to be a much less obstructed view and more pomp and circumstance. We ducked out before the conclusion of the ceremony which didn't bother me at all.

I took the boys to The Phoenix for lunch and it was fantastic! I had a butternut squash and cumin soup, fish pie and side salad. Colin even ordered the fish pie and pointed out that unlike his brother he has not had a hamburger since leaving the states. I was going to link to the pub, but they are all old reviews prior to the rennovation and new management. Suffice it to say it is no longer "grotty" or particularly over-priced. At least not compared to everything else here in London. It is, however, conveniently tucked away in a quiet street quite near the Royal Mews which was our next stop.

I loved it! Despite her school-marmish look, the tour guide was a delight and had a wonderful sense of humor. She had to do some fancy dancing to change the order of the tour to avoid a stampeding horde of primary school children. I thought the guided tour and access to a working stable was well worth the entry fee. The boys both stayed attentive and seemed to enjoy it thoroughly. We were extremely lucky. The Irish Coach was brought out into the yard as it is being prepared for a state visit on October 31. We also saw the Royal Mail coach which only comes out once or twice a day.

If the Gold Coach looks attractive in pictures and on television, nothing compares to seeing it in person. It is most definitely a piece of art. The next time it would be brought out would be in 2012 for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee or Charles' coronation. I think even the boys were impressed with it. Though I suspect the highlight was the gift shop where I allowed them to pick out two more medieval knight action figures.

At this point I felt it best to let them play in St. James' Park, but right before we got there we saw a contingent of soldiers lining up down a flight of stairs at Wellington Barracks where a carriage was waiting to carry someone of importance away. I'm pleased to report we were hardly the only gawking tourists waiting to see who the dignitary was. For a brief moment I thought it was Prince Charles and Camilla, but in my defense that was at quite a distance, I did not have the thought for long and I do not have the best eyesight as it is. I snapped lots of pictures and came to the conclusion that it is absolutely no one I would have heard of before. If anyone recognizes his picture do please comment as I am very curious.

The boys loved the playground and I do believe I might have some vague memories of it. It certainly looked old enough to have been around in 1976. While the boys played I drank my first cup of coffee since arriving in London and called home to speak to my baby who cannot be bothered to hold an ongoing conversation with mommy. I interrupted Sesame Street. On the walk back to the Green Park station I took the boys past St. James Palace where the Queen Mother used to live. A bit disappointing as the traditional guards that I remember are no longer in the boxes by the front door. Still had to stop and photograph the boys out front though. Took the train home, fed the boys dinner and I'm in for the night!

The Pub Culture Will Be The Death Of Me

2007-10-18T04:12:00.000-04:00

So I met Jamie and his customers/co-workers last night for a few drinks. Good God can they pack it away. Once again I had a bottomless glass of wine. Gee, could this be the reason I'm barely fitting into my clothes? I think I shall stay in tonight and leave Jamie to his mates for a pint.

I am a bit gratified to hear some of them are a little worse for wear this morning while I'm feeling surprisingly fine. I'm even up for traipsing over to Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guard today.

The boys wanted to try Christmas pudding. I warned them not to expect it to be like American pudding, but they didn't heed me. Both of them promptly spit it out into their hands. Not exactly Jello brand chocolate pudding is it? Beats fruit cake, but not by much.

This is the picture of our neighborhood pub, but not where we were last night. Davy's is their den of iniquity of choice.

Wednesday, October 17: The Globe and Random Odd Musings

2007-10-17T11:36:00.000-04:00

The pace of this week is certainly much more relaxed than the last. Once again we didn't make it out until noon, but this time we were back by 4:00. I was tempted to cross the "Wobbly" Bridge, aka Millenium Bridge, and press on to Temple Court or St. Paul's Cathedral but it was a bit on the cold side and frankly all I wanted to do was hide in my bedroom from the children. Which is exactly where I am now.

I took the boys to lunch at Nando's and then hopped on the underground to Southwark and a quick walk to the recreation of The Globe theatre. We lucked onto a tour just starting. Liam found it interesting, I found it fascinating and Colin found most of it sailing right over his seven year old head. For those who are curious, the movie "Shakespeare in Love" was not filmed here, but the director did visit to get ideas. The set recreation was quite good.

When it came time for picture taking I offered to take a photo together of at least five couples who were photographing one another in turn. They all accepted gratefully....yet not a single person offered to respond in kind and photograph me with Liam and Colin. Okay then. The exhibition hall isn't really all that impressive, but the tour was informative and entertaining. Plan on no more than an hour for the entire thing. I would recommend it for children 10 and up. Be sure to fill them in on who exactly Shakespeare was before going though. And if you have your own favorite theory assuming he was not the man from Stratford-on-Avon, discuss that with your kids before or after the tour. I did not get the impression they were going to relish any sort of debate on the subject. For the record, I favor the Edward de Vere, Seventeenth Earl of Oxford theory myself. Debate me on that later.

Now for some random commentary:

I was rather surprised to see an article in the paper the other day about the growing concern...oh please do pardon the pun...about obesity in England as one of the first things I noticed was how fit the Londoners are compared to Americans. I realize full well I am seeing a very small proportion of the British citizenry, but given the pub culture and the cuisine the people I am seeing are by and large....whoops, another horrific pun...more svelte than Americans. No offense to my fellow countrymen, but we are simply staggeringly huge by comparison.

Colin has developed two traveling habits that can be either endearing or maddening depending upon the mood or level of fatigue of the adult accompanying him. He absolutely must be the first of the family on any escalator, up or down. And heaven help you if you try to stand on the step immediately behind him. You must be at least one full empty step back. The other is to climb on anything climbable within reach. Items that can be both climbed and leap-frogged are particularly prized. I do not exaggerate when I estimate I will have at least fifty photographs of this child perched on some kind of pole, fence or whatever the heck those things are just sticking out of a sidewalk. He insists his photo be taken each time.

Who knew how long it would take to find sunglasses, a mobile phone charging cord or a pair of socks in a four room flat. Liam started our with four pairs of underwear and I swear I can only find two now. How exactly do you lose things when there is nowhere for them to go?

I think I have figured out why so many elderly Londoners are walking around the city muttering to themselves. They raised their children in small flats such as this. Only a parent will understand the following statement. All others will think me a monster. I love my children with all my heart and soul. I would die for them. But at the moment I do not like them very much.

It is a good thing I do not live permanently in London or care much for being fashionable. From what I can tell, the current styles would look positively hideous on me and I question whether they should be worn by more than 5% of the female population anywhere. Thick colored tights and baby-doll dresses just don't do it for me. Suits and jeans are worn at least one to two sizes too small...which given my laundry situation has landed me right in the midst of the highly fashionable. Jewelry, particularly rings, look like bling on steroids. I quite like that actually. I go with the adage, it's only gaudy when it's on someone else's hand.

What do you get when you boil four pans of water, heat up two instant-hot tea kettles, microwave two teapots and two large bowls of water in the microwave? A barely lukewarm bath. AGGHHH!

And lastly, American media fascination with the sensationally mundane at the expense of politically and socially meaningful is alive and well here as well. More's the pity. Lest I sound overly critical, I do believe I would move here in a nano second provided I could find a nice quiet village akin to Dibley.

Tuesday, October 16: National Museum of Childhood

2007-10-17T05:12:00.000-04:00

Our original plans today were to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace but with a forecast of rain we decided to wait until Thursday when we will presumably have colder but clearer weather. Not a bad idea considering I didn't drag my body out of bed until 10:00 a.m. and we didn't leave the flat until 1:00 p.m. Changing of the guard was history by that time.

I didn't tell the boys where we were going and that drove them predictably crazy. I do so love that. Yesterday we had a discussion about daily budgets and made them make the choice between nice restaurants for lunch or tourist attractions with entrance fees and souvenirs. My boys came to the conclusion that we are taking tons of photos, there is plenty to do that is free and souvenirs don't really last as long as photos and memories anyway. That sound you heard was my jaw dropping. Today they begged to have lunch at Nando's, but we arrived at Jubilee Place at peak lunchtime and there was already a line. We ate at a little counter cafe that had the best panini I've ever had and the boys agreed...at half the price, whew! Still, with the exchange rate, three sandwiches cost $35. Ouch! See my point?

We took the DLR to the Central Line and emerged from the Bethnal Green tube station. We had to fly blind at this point because my handy dandy book map does not extend to this part of the city. At least the museum was visible from where we popped out of the ground. At first the boys were skeptical. Oh no, another museum! Not like this one boys. When we entered they assumed it was just cases and cases of toys they couldn't touch. And there is that. But then they noticed there was stuff you could actually do too. The boys first made houses out of construction paper to be mounted on the wall. The docents were very amused by our discussion of how much easier it was to be featured in the National Museum of Childhood than in the Tate Modern and you don't even have to open a tuna can to do it. I forgot to mention the boys have been speculating on and off for the last three days how the Tate decides which person's red square, torn canvas, paint drippings or empty tuna can has been rendered art worthy of preservation in a museum. Hell if I can explain it to them.

At any rate, they had the opportunity to make their own art, create their own toys and play a video game with them, play Checkers and Snakes & Ladders, dress up as a fireman, ride rocking horses, etc. I was thrilled to learn both of their absolute favorite hands on activities was playing with a doll house. Who'd have thought it! I think I see a Christmas present on the horizon. I adored watching them let loose while browsing through toys dating from about 1700-2006, and resting on couches to read children's books from around the world. I was tickled pink to stumble upon some marionettes of Hansel and Gretel dated 1977 that are the exact ones my parents bought for my sister and I at Harrod's in 1976. Oh, and of course we had afternoon tea. We were there for almost three hours.

Here's the best story of the day. An elderly lady and her granddaughter were riding the two rocking horses. I asked if she had a camera and would like their picture taken. She was startled, but delighted and brought out a digital camera from her purse. I took the picture and returned the camera. A few moments later she came up to me to ask if I knew how to review the pictures because her granddaughter wanted to see it. Her daughter-in-law had given her the camera with little to no instruction. After fiddling with it, I determined we first had to overcome the problem of dead batteries. I always have spares on me so I popped some in and solved that problem. She tried to pay me for the batteries, but of course I wouldn't hear of it. If I've got one spare battery here in the flat I've got fifty. I taught her how to use the camera and we went our separate ways passing one another off and on throughout the afternoon. I ran into her again in the dollhouse section and she pointed out one particular Edwardian dollhouse and informed me her mother had made it. Wow! Just wow. Of course I am including a photo of it.

Relatively uneventful trip back to the flat with the exception of changing trains at the one station that has woefully inadequate signage for finding the Jubilee line. A kind Londoner sent me in the right direction. After that it was home for dinner. Jamie and I ran out to the grocery store for a few items and stopped at a truly local pub for a pint on the way back. The North Pole. I must take a picture of it. It is right around the corner from the flat. I can't think why I haven't photographed it already. I feel like I've taken a picture of everything else in this city. Including bicycle racks.

Monday, October 15: Imperial War Museum

2007-10-16T15:40:00.001-04:00

"No fighting in the war room!"
One of my favorite lines in cinema history. Non sequitor. We got a late start today. The boys and I didn't even leave the flat until noon. We had to as there was virtually no food left in the flat. Nothing that could be magically transformed into an edible meal anyway. Liam wanted to go to the Imperial War Museum and I had no particular plans whatsoever so off we go. I must say exiting the Elephant & Castle Underground station is an adventure in itself.

There is a traffic circle right there with no street crossing access for pedestrians. It took me a moment to orient us and find the subway (that would be the British term for an underground walkway) to get us on our way. The signage is of course excellent, but I suspect I went 3/4 of the way around the circle when I could have taken a left turn and walked a much shorter distance. Oh well, I can use the exercise. Despite the amount of walking we've been doing I doubt I've lost a pound, stone, kilogram, whatever. That or our drier shrinks the shit out of every piece of clothing. Maybe it's a combination of the two.

On a side note I would like to take the opportunity to make a suggestion to the city council of Bilbao. I understand they would like to transform their business and industry oriented community into a tourist mecca. A word of advice. Visit London. Signage and toilets. The key to any successful tourist area. Label everything and encourage people to empty their bladders in plentiful, well-marked and clean facilities. Build toilets and they will come.

Oh yes, the Imperial War Museum. Well done, well done! The experience through the trenches has the most disgusting smells piped in which I suspect do not remotely approach the squalor actually experienced by WWI servicemen. The blitz experience scared the daylights out of Colin who damn near ripped my arm from its socket, but Liam thoroughly enjoyed. Go figure. The view of the Battle of Britain from the child's perspective is an exhibit that should not be missed. Wow, wow, and more wow. I hope I did not terrify my children, but I could not refrain from reading some of the poignant first person experiences and providing contemporary analogies.

Liam and I wanted to go through the Holocaust exhibit. It is not recommended for children under 14 but Colin did not want me to leave him on the bench outside. He insisted on coming in while holding my hand and staring at the ground the whole time. Fortunately, the exhibit was highly informative without being too graphic. Again, a fantastic exhibit.

The boys got to go through a sub mock up, an airplane that dropped spies into France and watch a film of the SAS raid on the Iranian embassy in 1980. And of course had afternoon tea in the museum cafe. I sure hope they don't think this will become a ritual when we return home. But most important to me, after they played for awhile in the playground adjacent to the museum we wandered through the Tibetan peace garden dedicated by the XIV Dalai Lama in 1999.

Once we returned to Canary Wharf I had the most lovely time located the low cost grocery store. Translation: Stopping into a pharmacy to ask where it was before my head exploded and then handing the crumpled up mall map to the cashier telling her she was more than welcome to throw the useless piece of garbage in the rubbish bin. What a wonderful experience dragging two bickering boys through a colossal mall trying to find a grocery store when you know they are going to act like assholes once you start shopping. And then I get a message from Jamie asking me where I want to meet him. We might as well have been in the middle of Moscow asking the same question. Hint: If I don't know where I am, I cannot possible tell you where we can meet. This was surely a low point of the trip.

But on to the plus side. After dinner we tucked the boys in and went back to Canary Wharf for wine and snacks at two pubs near Jamie's office. Jamie and I needed that time else we'd never have a completed conversation here.

Sunday, October 14: Bid Bilbao Adios

2007-10-16T13:22:00.000-04:00

My apologies to the lovely people of Bilbao, but I couldn't resist. The idea of a hot shower with seemingly no end was too much to resist. I think my shower exceeded ten minutes this morning. And it was glorious! We set the alarm for 7:45 (oops, that would be London time. My husband pointed out it was actually 8:45 local time) because we were meeting Fernando and Alejandra at 10:30 so we needed time to not only get ready but also have breakfast. Good thing we started early because we did not take into account the half hour of banging on the door, pounding on the wall and ringing the boys' room non-stop in order to get them to wake up. Thankfully Colin groggily answered the phone shortly after Jamie gave up and stalked off to hunt down some rolls at a local bakery.

We had a few minutes to allow the boys to run in the beautiful park within the roundabout before our hosts arrived right on time. They drove us to Las Arenas to show us where Fernando and his friends sometimes go to a local beach. The area is lovely and the boys certainly enjoyed playing in the sand after having their tea and a snack. I was a little amused to see the boys cheerfully building a sand castle oblivious to the fact that they were on a topless beach. Jamie, ever the pig, had to point out that the only women topless were those you wouldn't want to see anyway and the ones that made you a bit curious kept everything covered. I think that made it through translation and Fernando agreed.

After walking the length of the half-circle beach over to the houses previous generations of fishermen inhabited, we made our way back to where we left the car and stopped into a food court type place for lunch. Sandwiches and tapas of course. Jamie and I continue to be amazed by how many people stop to greet Fernando or Alejandra on the streets of a big city. Small town as a big city. I love it! We drove by some beautiful one-family homes on the way back out of town. Alejandra wanted to take us to a footbridge that has a lift to take you way up high to cross the river, but we really didn't have time. Especially after some idiots blocked a small street resulting in a bit of a delay and eventually driving up on the sidewalk to get around it.

Jamie, Fernando and I fell asleep on the car ride out to Vitoria airport. Did I mention there is nothing there? We were out of Euros so we couldn't even buy a bottle of water from a vending machine. Way to plan! I slept most of the flight back so it felt like all of fifteen minutes to me. Just the way I like it. The boys got add a new country to their passport stamps, experience another culture, immerse in another language and have the distinct honor of being welcomed into a Spanish home. I'd say the weekend was well worth it.

Saturday, October 13: Excursion to Bilbao

2007-10-16T05:45:00.000-04:00

Before I start describing the trip, I have to make one little comment. The boys are now referring to each other as "git" and "prat" as if I'm going to overlook the fact that this is still name calling and just as annoying. Okay, on to Spain.

Jamie and I were a little worried the actual travel would make the weekend hardly worth it, but quite the contrary. We took the DLR to the Central Line. Our train to bank was waiting at the station and the sprint wasn't a breathless on t all. Our train in Liverpool St. station was just pulling in and the Stanstead Airport Express train was sitting there waiting for us. We figure that stroke of luck saved us about thirty minutes. Figuring out how to check in for our flight with Ryanair took a bit of doing, but security was a breeze. Except that someone had to do some kind of analysis test on my liquids, which consisted of a tiny bottle of eye drops for contact lens wearers, Mary Kay cover up and Clinique lip stick. I'm not sure which substance appeared alarming. We now had at least two hours to kill so we had a bite to eat and did a bit of duty free shopping. When flying Ryanair I highly recommend paying the extra couple of quid for priority boarding. We boarded first and sat up front. The flight was smooth and I would have slept the whole way but for a seven year old with a window seat constantly jabbing me in the ribs, "Mom! Is that a boat?" or "Mom! Is that a farm?" and "Mom! They really have farms in France?" Agh!

Passport control into Spain at Vitoria airport was a breeze and we could see Fernando and his mother waiting to greet us on the other side. For those familiar with the Melbourne airport, our terminal building is absolutely huge, luxurious and packed with accommodations by comparison. The drive to Bilbao was spectacular. We had gorgeous sunny weather (both Jamie and I forgot our sunglasses because we hadn't needed them for so long in London) and the countryside is beautiful. Alexandra and Fernando dropped us off at our hotel to check in before we began our sight-seeing.

We walked down the main shopping thoroughfare, down through a beautiful park to the river and then over to the Guggenheim museum. We did not go inside but instead let the children play in a playground right next to the museum and then took pictures in front of the puppy. We next took an above ground train into the old quarter of the city. The boys found that amusing because you could walk right across the streetcar tracks that are difficult to spot because they are almost covered in grass. Oh, the architecture is simply breathtaking. We were even able to get a brief peek inside the opera house. We also saw the university Fernando would like to attend in two years. Below is a picture of Fernando and his mom in front of it.

Fernando and his mother treated the boys to an ice cream because they fast learned the meaning of the word "helado." They stayed outside with Alejandra while Fernando took Jamie and I through a magnificent cathedral where mass was just starting. After that brief side trip we went to a plaza to sit down for drinks and tapas. On Sundays this is a market where all sorts of goods, including animals are exchanged. The boys had the opportunity to run wild through the center with other children playing jump rope, chasing footballs and just running madly in circles. The food was excellent of course and I was delighted I was able to try the local delicacy of river eels so vividly described in the book, The Basque History of the World which I highly recommend. The sun went down while we relaxed in the plaza and before we knew it it was time to go to Alejandra's parents flat. We took the Metro this time. We were all startled by how clean and new their subway system is. No graffiti.

We were extremely honored to have been invited to Fernando's grandparents home. They invited an old friend of theirs who is from Cheshire and has lived in Spain for over forty years. She and her Spanish husband were delightful. It was also helpful having a more fluent translator. We were worried about the boys behavior, but perhaps the Spaniards have it right starting dinner around 9 PM and ending after midnight. The boys were probably simply too tired to get into it. Dr. and Mrs. Sanz, Fernando's grandparents, seemed tickled the boys tried everything and were enthusiastic about all the food. Colin wasn't too taken with the chorizo and cerrano ham, but went nuts over the cheeses. Our traditional Spanish meal was completed with a trifle and a pavlova made by Jillian, the British lady. I'm not quite sure how, but my glass of champagne never seemed to empty. Jamie thinks it was Jillian's husband who was the champagne fairy.

Dr. Sanz is a retired pediatrician and Fernando showed the boys his old surgery. They enjoyed playing with those thingys that test your knee reflexes. Sorry, don't know the technical term. They also had a blast playing with Fernando's dog, Nara, once the doctor had gone off to bed. Nara doesn't come in to the living room until the doctor is away. Dinner was around a table in the living room while we all made ourselves comfortable on sofas and puffy chairs. Very relaxing, gastronomically exquisite and an all around wonderful adventure. Oh how I wish my Spanish was eons better. I think I caught about every sixth or seventh word. Thank goodness Fernando and his mother know more English than we know Spanish.

We went back to the hotel after midnight and it turned out to be a short walk from the flat. We had two rooms with the boys in one and Jamie and I in the other. We gave the boys a quick bath and put them in their pajamas. When Liam first went into the bathroom we heard, "How handy! They have two toilets in here.....oh...wait...one's a sink." It took awhile for Jamie and I to stop laughing before we could explain the concept of a bidet. At any rate, the boys were tucked into bed and Jamie and I retired to the other room to pass out as well. Whew! Long day!!!!

I realize I am still two days behind on this blog, but it shouldn't take too much to catch up. As it is now 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday and all three of us are still in our pajamas and we got a late start yesterday my reports of Monday and Tuesday aren't likely to be nearly as long. I will catch up a little bit later. Now I need to get these restless animals out of their cage even if it is raining.

Don't forget more photos available at Facebook.com

2007-10-15T05:15:00.000-04:00

Many many more as a matter of fact.

1. http://www.facebook.com
2. Email: ann@brevardminister.com
Password: london
3. Click on teeny tiny link that says "photos" on the left. First in a list under the heading Applications.
4. After you do that, click on a teeny tiny link that says "My Photos" in the top middle underneath the word Profile.

Ignore anything asking you to register for an account or find friends. That will take you to a list of photo albums and navigation should be pretty easy from there.

Cheers!

Friday, October 12: Tate Modern & Doggett's

2007-10-15T04:53:00.000-04:00

Jamie's class ends early on Friday so we were all headed out to the Tate Modern Art Museum by about 4:00 p.m. Liam had tried to talk me into taking him somewhere else, but I thought it more important we have some family time since Jamie has been working so hard while we are here. We took the train to Southwark on the Jubilee line and were delighted to find not only excellent directional signs, but a very cheery string of orange painted light poles that lead you straight to the museum.

Of course the boys' favorite piece was the brand new crack down the length of the turbine hall. It is meant to convey the split in humanity due to racial and ethnic hatred. It is a powerful piece and I had the impression many of the people were walking the length of it much like a contemplative labyrinth ritual. Others were merely photographing the daylights out of it. I suppose we were in the latter category.

The boys weren't too bad as we traipsed them past Picasso, Miro, Kandinsky, Pollock and the like. Liam was disappointed they do not have any Dali. The "melty clock" painting is a favorite of his. I think we've finally taught him the correct name for the piece. It was a bit rough going towards the end but I sent Jamie into the last gallery by himself while I played with an interactive instructional video exhibit with Liam and Colin.

After the museum Jamie tried to find a great pie house with traditional British fare for our dinner. We had a bit of a wrong turn, but at least it took us past the recreation of Shakespeare's Globe theatre. Nevertheless, our intrepid wanderings did eventually take us to Doggett's Coat and Badge which has a spectacular view of St. Paul's cathedral from the third floor dining room.

Liam: Cottage Pie
Colin: Bacon and Cheese Melt
Jamie: Steak, Stilton and Potato Rosti
Ann: Spinach, Brie and Red Currant Bundle
All: Sticky Toffee for dessert (Oh My Goodness!)

Straight home after dinner to pack for our flight to Vitoria, Spain tomorrow. A little nervous about the train to train to train to plane to automobile trip but slept fairly well for all that.

I am going to go insane if I have to stay in this small flat for much longer with two hyper and bickering children. I will blog the trip to Spain later on today. Needless say...el fin de semana fue maravilloso!

Friday, October 12: Greenwich

2007-10-12T10:09:00.000-04:00

If Jamie and I ever have an opportunity to return by ourselves I think I would like to stay in Greenwich as the base camp for our London touring. Once again, I could have spent far more time there and covered more ground on my own. C'est la vie!

Greenwich is a quick DLR train ride from where we are and an entirely different pace of life. We managed to orient ourselves and make it to Greenwich Park with no wrong turns. No mean feat considering my map of Greenwich is woefully inadequate. It was a foggy day which meant the views of London from Greenwich weren't spectacular, but the temperature was just perfect. No need for coats which is why I end up carrying the boys' jackets by lunchtime. We really have lucked out with the weather.

Our first stop was at the Royal Observatory with which I was greatly impressed. We skipped the modern planetarium portion but as I'm more of a history buff than a scientist I wasn't terribly disappointed Liam and Colin wanted to press on. We took turnings taking one another's pictures standing astride the prime meridian with our bodies in both the east and west hemispheres. The boys had no trouble comprehending that part, but understanding this is where the calendar day officially starts blew some synapses. Heck if I could explain it to their satisfaction.

We headed down the park to the Queen's House, a 17th century Inigo Jones building. I saw some spectacular Tudor paintings I didn't even realize were housed there. We did not continue into the National Maritime Museum which is also located there, but I was just happy to have wandered through the house, seen the paintings I did see and climb the tulip staircase.

Behavior indicated empty tanks so we went on a pub quest and found one fairly close to the end of the park where I had planned to take the kids next. This one was certainly no chain. The pub owner had to be called and told he had customers and then he left us alone for a bit while he popped over to the store to pick up some things for the kitchen. Cider and fish and chips in a musty old pub on a foggy day in a fishing villiage which is actually a burough of London. Paradise!

After lunch I took the kids to the playground in Greenwich Park while I sat there and listened to more of Thomas Cahill's "Desire of the Everlasting Hills." We left when a school crowd descended upon the playground about twenty minutes later. Even the bobbies commented my peace had been shattered. The boys feigned fatigue and dehydration but I was bound and determined to see the ruins of the Roman-Celtic temple unearthed in the park in 1902. To quote the kids, "You dragged us all the way up here to see a stupid brick?" They had a point. It was a stupid brick surrounded by an iron fence with a plaque explaining the stupid brick. One or two more growing seasons and you may not even be able to see the stupid brick. Oh well, the boys don't know it but this just bought them a trip to the remains of the temple to Mithras in Temple Court some day next week. And they get their own "dinosaur tracks" story to tell their kids. Yes, Marilyn, that one was for you.

We wandered back down to the entrance with Liam moaning for water and Colin entranced by all the fallen chestnuts. I convinced him not to take a bite and wait until we can roast some...maybe at Christmas. Filled the tanks with water and a cafe by the park, where of course they began begging for tea instead of water when they saw the teapots. Sorry boys, not today.

Train back to the flat where we are going to rest a bit before meeting up with daddy. Jamie let his class out early this afternoon and wants to go out to dinner and take the boys to the Tate Modern. Colin really wants to go and Liam is trying to find a way out of going. This ought to be a nice loud row when Jamie gets home. Can't wait.

The blogging is going to slow down for the next few days as we leave for Bilbao in the morning. I imagine it will take me awhile to catch up after the weekend.

Cheers!
(photos will be embedded as soon as I find where the housekeepers tucked the camera download cable)

Thursday, October 11: Tower of London to St. James's Park

2007-10-11T14:55:00.000-04:00

The grammar in that title drives me crazy, but it is correct as far as signage goes. I had to chase the kids out of the flat this morning but they picked up enthusiasm as we made it to the DLR.

Our first stop was the Tower of London which was a favorite when my family visited in 1976. I even searched high and low for a Henry VIII and wives coloring book for my sister but they don't sell it anymore. Shoot! Would that have been a nostalgic gift or what? I was thrilled to have my picture taken with the first female Yeoman Warder in history. We joined a tour in progress missing only the first stop. Liam got many of the jokes, but I'm afraid it was over Colin's head. Sometimes literally.

After the tour we went through the armory in the White Tower and then saw the Crown Jewels. I wanted to get a picture of the boys with Henry VIII's prodigious phallous protruding from his armor (psychological warfare I suppose), but Liam ran on ahead. They have an interactive exhibit which allowed us to sample pulling a bow. The boys rated "need practice," but I am proud to say I ranked "yeoman archer" which was just one notch down from "dead on target." I am woman, hear me roar.

Next stop was the crown jewels for Colin who I think was a tad disappointed. I think the photos in the brochures made him think they were going to be larger them him or something. Sadly they do not allow you to take photographs inside. Well, I was impressed even if the boys were underwhelmed. On to lunch at the New Armorie Cafe!

After lunch we toured the various towers including of course the Bloody one. We breezed through the torture exhibit and saw the raven's home. By this time the weather was so darned spectacular I was almost too hot in my outfit. We had been at the Tower for three hours so I told the boys they could pick where we went next. "Oh mommy. Mommy dearest. Favorite woman in our lives. The lady who gave us life and loves us dearly. May we please. Please. Please. Go back to the Lions." (And she buys them ice cream from a truck outside the Tower Hill Tube station)

Let me think. Sit down, put up my foot, sit in the sunshine and listen my Thomas Cahill book on iPod? Sure! We can go back to the lions. And mommy got a bonus. Very shortly after we emerged from the Embankment Tube station we ran into a film shoot. Dustin Hoffman 10 feet away! He is in London filming "Last Chance Harry" to be released in 2008. You know, as much as I've heard he is short, he was taller than I expected he'd be.

So we press on to Trafalgar where I let the boys loose and settled down at a table at a cafe with a glass of white wine, soaking in the sun and listening to Cahill's "Everlasting Hills." Life is so tough. I also had the opportunity to call my parents and speak to my dear Aidan briefly. He was too busy eating so I got a "Hi mommy, love you mommy, bye mommy" from him.

Liam got a bit frustrated unable to climb on the lions. Kind strangers would life Colin, but Liam is just too big and heavy. His behavior deteriorated so I dragged them out of there immediately. I intended to take them straight to Westminster station and home on the Tube, but decided to detour through the Horseguards parade grouind and into St. James's park. We dawdled a bit while the boys tried to tempt squirrels and pidgeons with niblets of leaves (they weren't deceived).

Back on the train and meet daddy at Canary Wharf for dinner at Wagamama. I was a bit worried Colin wouldn't appreciate the noodle dishes, but lo and behold they had a children's menu and he admitted during dinner he regretted his previous desire to head straight back to the flat instead of stopping for dinner. Thanks to a co-worker of Jamie's this evening may be spent watching either "The Vicar of Dibley" or "The Black Adder" on DVD.

Forever will this day be remembered as the Day of the Latchless Toilet. Every single place I went to empty my bladder, and that is considerable considering I am a thrice-time post-partum female, I ended up in the stall with a broken latch. However, due to quick reflexes I do not believe any strangers saw anything they shouldn't. As for weird bathroom behavior, I am not sure if I top Jamie's Japanese tourist photographing himself in a washroom or not. I was treated to two German ladies studiously picking their noses. Goodness that took a long time. Exactly what is up there?

No Dad, I Won't Get Killed Crossing The Street

2007-10-11T03:26:00.000-04:00

Besides having a healthy respect for a people who can drive 50 mph on congested city streets avoiding tourist buses and presumably the tourists themselves, many crosswalks have bright friendly letters painted right there on the street at the curb. Look Right or Look Left as the case may be. I do not remember if those were there when we were here in 1976 but they have come in handy this trip. If nothing else it stops little boys in their tracks who have been staring at their feet instead of the marvelous sites of the city. Still I remain ever vigilant mama bear.

Wednesday, October 10: Science Museum & Hyde Park

2007-10-10T13:18:00.001-04:00

First Observation: I have come to the conclusion I would thoroughly enjoy touring London all by my little lonesome for three weeks. The experience with two children is a study in glorious highs and appalling lows. I am assuming the passage of time will erase the memories of the lows. God I hope so! If I never remember the poking, prodding and bickering on the Tube it will be too soon.

Second Observation: Perhaps a half day stuck inside the flat isn't the best disciplinary tactic. I think I was the one punished most. Two boys in 800 square feet without television is not a fun experience. Especially after learning there is absolutely no escape when all three males snore loudly: one in the master bedroom, one in the other bedroom and one on the sofa. Agh! I am happy to report that not only did I get a hot shower, but I learned another trick that enabled Colin to take one right after me and still have hot water. I'm getting the hang of this! Still struggling with the position of light switches though. Up is off and down is on.

We set out at lunchtime so the first thing we did at the Science Museum was eat lunch. Logical decision because we have little to no food in the flat. We stumbled upon a nice sit down restaurant which was a relief to me because I am weary of figuring out the self-service counters with the boys. And women have a bad reputation for changing their minds.

The boys were not nearly as enamored of the Science Museum as they were of the Natural History Museum. The only things they were really interested in either cost extra or were closed for refurbishment. We were still there for three hours, but if you ask Liam and Colin they'll tell you we didn't do anything. Nothing including an interactive exhibit on spying that was pretty cool, a motion simulator thingy that was fairly disappointing to me but Liam enjoyed, interactive energy exhibit and breezing through galleries with cool cars, steam engines, space craft, history of plastics, history of computers...yep we didn't do anything at the Science Museum.

I got to the point where I needed fresh air and could tell Liam was reaching his limit. So I dragged the kids two whole blocks to Hyde Park with which they were initially underwhelmed but then decided it was a pretty cool place after all. The picture above is of the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain where we entered the park.

The boys wanted afternoon tea again so we stopped at the Lido for tea and biscuits. They are so funny about that! On to the playground where they ran off their ya yas for quite a bit. The sun had broken through the fog and it was a glorious autumn day. They chased pidgeons and geese, annoyed bicyclists and explored the rose gardens. I was thrilled by how much joy the boys got out of the rose gardens. I'll let them wander through those paths as much as they want. Colin recognized the lambs' ear that also grew in granda's old garden.

We exited by the Wellington Arch and caught the Underground home. Have I mentioned how awful the kids are on the trains? Stopped at a grocery store on the way home to pick up a few things for dinner and breakfast. Plans are to finally go to the Tower of London tomorrow. It's supposed to be similar weather so hopefully that means spectacular. The boys are itching for more fish and chips. I haven't told them yet, but I believe I may try to take them to Greenwich on Friday followed by the Tate Modern when Jamie dismisses his class early so his trainees can catch their trains home for the weekend.

Londoners are quite lovely and helpful. But seriously, someone must teach them about salad dressing.

Tuesday, October 9: Natural History and Harrod's

2007-10-10T04:47:00.000-04:00

Today started out a little differently. Besides the warm shower that is. The boys practically shoved me out the door. They were up and ready to go before me! We were smart enough to check the weather last night so we changed our plans from the Tower to the Natural History Museum. In retrospect a brilliant idea because South Kensington station has an underground walkway that allows you to emerge quite near the museum entrance.

I had forgotten the beauty of the exterior of the building but definitely remembered much of the interior. I don't think they have changed the taxidermy models since I was there in 1976. Some were a bit threadbare in spots. We checked our coats and then went through the dinosaur and human biology exhibits. Based on behavior, I'd guess Colin enjoyed the dinosaurs more and Liam the human biology section. In another reversal of circumstance, I was hungry for lunch before them. Colin insisted we see the blue whale I had told him so fascinated my sister and I thirty-one years ago before he would go eat. He and Liam agreed it was pretty damn big.

We spent enough money at the restaurant to get one of the kids into the temporary Antarctic exhibit for free so the boys insisted we do that. Except first we had to go experience the earthquake first. Both of them were incredibly disappointed. All that happened was the floor moved back and forth. I had to explain to them that it was the consequences of an earthquake that were frightening and catastrophic, not the earth shaking itself. Although that can be a bit unnerving when you aren't expecting it. They both did like the Earth sciences halls though and were riveted by the crystals and jewels, if a tad disappointed they could not find any black onyx.

The Antarctic exhibit was really cool if you'll pardon the weak pun. I'm glad the boys wanted to do it. They have it set up as if you are in a training course to become eligible for a job in Antarctica. You scan your ticket at different places to play games. I killed one of my co-workers by not dressing him fast enough, smelled penguine vomit, drove a snowmobile into the water, but correctly predicted when a storm was ending.

After Antarctica Colin wanted to go through the mammal hall more closely. We had been there for four hours and Liam was getting antsy. He perked up a bit when we concluded our trip to the museum by stopping at their gift shop. He picked out a crystal keychain and Colin picked out a loose crystal and a model white tiger. I bought my obligatory Official Souvenir Guide that I have purchased at virtually every place we have been.

Liam wanted to go straight to the Science Museum but I convinced him to do that another day. Instead I dragged their soggy butts to Harrod's. I had it in my head we would do afternoon tea at one of the most famous department stores in the world. Miraculously the boys not only behaved they had a fabulous time and both said it was their favorite part of the day. "Please mommy can we do this again when we come back to the science museum?" Needless to say we did not go to the fine dining establishment, but one of the numerous cafes. They still got their own teapots and biscuits so they didn't know the difference. I wanted to go upscale, but 1) not a snowball's chance in hell I'd take the boys and 2) I probably would choke on the price.

I had to take the boys to the toy departments. At first they didn't see the big deal because it was "just a bunch of stuffed animals." Uh, boys...this is one room this isn't the entire department. They were absolutely blown away by one of the other toy rooms where we picked up a gift for their cousin and I went ahead and bought something all four boys can play with when we get back home. Hint: I believe you can see it in the picture. They had a wonderful time playing with both the staff and other children in the department.

I was amused to be mistaken for an Australian by two employees until I figured I must look like I've been on a plane for thirty hours. I also learned later that England had just beaten Australia in rugby this past weekend in a huge finals match, so perhaps I was viewed as a chance to gloat. The boys were impressed with the "luxury gentleman's washroom" and blown away by the prices. Liam loudly proclaimed I was too poor to shop here and if Colin said it once he said it fifteen times, "Mom, the stuff in here is waaayyy over-priced." Yes dear, but please don't shout it!

We knocked off a little early today and headed home around 5:00 p.m. Thankfully there is a Tube stop just next to Harrod's. The boys' behavior lost them the privilege of site seeing in the morning, but they probably weren't too bad. Combination of tired mom and somewhat crowded train car. Oh well, it gives me a chance to rest my feet for half a day.

Success!

2007-10-09T12:53:00.000-04:00

I had a hot shower this morning. Jamie's tinkering with the heater last night produced a four minute hot shower. I am learning how to achieve cleanliness in record time. Not only that, but I returned from our day of site seeing to discover the dishwasher had indeed run and the clothes in the laundry were washed and dried. I don't know what I did, but whatever it was, it worked. Yippeee! Good thing because the unit holds maybe four articles of clothing and I'm going to have to run it 24x7 to keep up.

I'm off to have a drink at the pub with Jamie and his co-workers. His customers want to meet me. When I return I will add the update with pictures from today's excursions.

What do you do when it rains in London? Change your plans! I took the boys to the Natural History Museum and then to Harrod's for tea and a romp through the toy sections. More later......

Monday, October 8: Colin's Birthday at the Zoo

2007-10-08T14:04:00.000-04:00

Colin woke me up at 8:30 and then again at 9:30 when he insisted I make breakfast. After an ice cold shower because we cannot figure out the water heater, I headed off for the London Zoo since that is what Colin wanted to do for his seventh birthday. Liam originally said he was going to stay behind but ended up going with us. There were only a handful of times I wished he'd have followed through on his threat. Overall the boys were pretty decent. Then again, they weren't being dragged through boring historical crap.

It was a great day for the zoo. A bit overcast, but no drizzle. A bit cool, but not cold. And no crowds whatsoever. We could do whatever we wanted whenever we wanted to do it. I let the boys set the pace for the first two and a half hours and then I pretty much guided them along for the second two and a half hours. Yes, we were at the zoo for five hours. Time went by quite quickly.

They have a fantastic exhibit with gorillas. The boys recognized the reptile house from the first Harry Potter movie and they do indeed have a plaque commemorating the filming schedule. I didn't recognize as much as I thought I would from my visit as an eight year old, but the reptile house and the giraffe house seemed vaguely familiar. Of course, the reptile house could be because of Harry Potter I suppose.

I don't know if the boys enjoyed seeing the animals more or running up and down slanted walls that reminded them of skateboarding half pipes. They spent a little bit of time in the playground, but really didn't need it. The London Zoo is filled with walls, steps, and tunnels that provide plenty of activity for two hyperactive immature male human animals. Feeding time at the zoo was a bit of a pain with the birthday boy getting in a snit because his brother grabbed the last sandwich in the case that he wanted. By 4:00 p.m. the zoo was practically deserted and I finally got the boys the ice cream we've been promising them for days. $5.00 American for a little tiny tin of ice cream with the teeniest tinieset of plastic half-spoons. This exchange rate is killing us!

Liam and Colin both decided their favorite animals were the Gibbons. They were fun to watch and looked like they were putting on a show with kung fu fighting. I liked seeing the little statue of Winnie the Pooh with the plaque that explained the stories' origin. The boys enjoyed playing on it, but Colin insisted it looked more like a pig than a bear from Canada. Granted, the snout was a bit pig like but the ears were definitely all bear. Still, Colin keeps referring to it as Winnie the Pig.

The boy who kept leaping off stairs, twirling around slanted walls and strangling his brother all of a sudden developed a sprained knee and broken ankle when dragged across Regent's park to get to the Baker station on the Jubilee line. Thank goodness we were counter-commuting and got seats all the way home to Canary Wharf. Liam did take a break from his dramatic limping to run up and down a hill in the middle of Regent's park though. I wish we had had more time to explore it some more. What I did see was quite pretty and must be absolutely glorious in summer. Liam took a break from his bitching and moaning to collect fall leaves and toss them on his brother when he wasn't looking. That was kind of funny.

We beat daddy home by maybe fifteen minutes. Jamie picked up a cake, birthday card and present for Colin on his way home from work. We dutifully signed it in his presence and wrapped the gift in a bath towel. He got a model Rolls Royce from the '007 movie Goldfinger. He chose delivery Chinese food for his birthday dinner. Works for the adult slugs in his life. We didn't have any birthday candles so he "blew out" a AA battery for the camera. He's got a weird mother, what can I say? I thought it was a pretty cool birthday for a seven year old, but only time will tell how he remembers it.

WEIRD TOURIST COMMENT: Yesterday Jamie saw a man actually take a picture of himself in the bathroom of the British museum. And I thought I took too many photos! I don't think Jamie will ever complain about my shutterbugness again.

If I have one more person ask me for directions I am going to scream. How in the world can I look like I know where I am, where I've been or where I am going???

Oh, and we have messed around with the water heater hoping there is something we can do to affect access to a hot bath. Tommorrow....the Tower of London.

Photo Access Instructions

2007-10-07T15:46:00.000-04:00

Facebook

Email: ann@brevardminister.com

Password: london (case sensitive)

Click on "Photos" under the Applications list on the Left

Click on "My Photos" at the Top under Profiles

Ignore anything that looks like it is trying to get you to sign up your own account or instructing you to complete the sign up of this one. The link for Photos is rather small, but you can bypass and go to the page with the My Photos link.

Sunday, October 7, 2007: Uber Iron Man Day

2007-10-07T15:45:00.000-04:00

I have discovered it takes a minimum of two stupid Americans to learn how to operate a flat in London. What Jamie can't figure out I stumble upon by accident and vice versa. It is truly a humbling experience. I also suspect there is a governor on the water heater. Hot showers last approximately 3 minutes and forget about taking a shower or a bath in the evening. Brr! On the other hand, heated towel racks totally rock!

This was the last full day Jamie will have to toodle around the city with us. Next weekend we will be in Spain and the following out in Warwick so we did know ahead of time that we'd be pushing Liam and Colin a bit. We had a devil of a time waking Liam up. I was prepared to leave him behind and head out anyway. Too bad we didn't do that.

We took the DLR into the city which the boys just loved. It's almost as good as a roller coaster ride with quite the side to side jiggle. Wear a good sturdy bra if you require one. Some of the line is above ground and we sat in the very front car. They had a ball. Thank goodness it was a Sunday morning with no grumpy commuters to annoy.

We started our day at the British Museum. Our children have no appreciation for its contents. Did they really spring from my loins? Jamie and I could easily have spent all day there. Liam started whining and moaning after fifteen minutes. Colin showed much more enthusiasm and even asked questions about specific items. He was enamored of all the helmets and every time we went into a room he wanted to know if there were any helmets there. His favorite was from the Sutton Hoo burial site. I think he was also a bit taken with "Ginger," an Egyptian buried in the sand about 5,000 years ago. I was really disappointed that Liam did not exhibit more interest. We had just finished a unit on ancient history. You'd think the Parthenon pieces and its conflict would have at least piqued his curiosity. The kids lasted somewhere between 90 minutes and two hours. Yes, that made for way too fast breezing through most of the exhibits.

After the museum we went into an authentic old British pub called The Crown for lunch where I tried alcoholic cider for the first time. Not too bad, but I shan't become an afficionado. I did receive a welcome compliment from a lovely lady who took the time to lean over and congratulate me on my knowledge of British history and government. She said I got my facts absolutely correct. I had been answering countless questions from Colin. For example, "who is the king of London?" and when he discovered the king was a queen he said, "Oh, so she isn't married?" I did so enjoy telling him that not only was she married but she outranked her husband. So there!

Two things about the pub. First, I found out what brown sauce is. We saw a hilarious Irish movie in the last year or two that included a great quantity of the stuff so I have been wondering exactly what it is and what you do with it. Think thick worcestershire sauce. I guess. Not too bad to dip fries in but I certainly wouldn't dump it in my tea. The boys sure loved it. Second, about three blocks away I saw another authentic old British pub called The Crown that looked suspiciously like the one we had just left. If you think there are chains and franchises for everything in America, you should see London!

We looked into getting half price matinee tickets for a show in the West End, but the theatre district is dark on Sunday afternoons. Whoops, should have tried yesterday I guess.

After lunch we walked down towards Covent Garden. It reminded me much of Faneuil Hall in Boston. Shops, crafts and street performers. Once again I was deeply disappointed by the boys. They just wanted to go back to the flat. Are you kidding me?! Not a chance. After I picked up a present for my sister and Colin aquired a schlocky teddy bear, we walked to Trafalgar Square where two woefully exhausted boys miraculously transformed into acrobats leaping onto the backs of the lions again. I darted into the National Gallery to use the facilities and took the long way through the 1250-1500 A.D. halls. We discovered why there are not remotely the number of pigeons in Trafalgar Square as there were the last time I visited...in 1977. There is a guy who comes out four times a week with a hawk. Yes, I can see why the pigeons might not want to hang around.

Our Big City Bus Tour tickets were good for 48 hours so we went to the Trafalgar stop to catch the other half of the routes we did not cover yesterday. Our bus was delayed by a pro-Palestinian/boycott Israel march. I must say the metropolitan police force is remarkably efficient and the protest passed by without too terrible a delay in traffic. I found the western half of the bus tour remarkable and noted at least three or four neighborhoods I could easily settle in...if I had a spare five million quid or so. We were a bit on the cold side as the boys have to sit on the open top level of the bus of course. By the time we got off at Paddington station I was shaking pretty hard and looking for a nice warm restaurant to thaw my blood. There is always a nice warm restaurant nearby. We found Maxim Cafe, a Greek/Lebanese eastern Mediterranean influenced place that luckily served bangers and mash for the likes of Colin and a hamburger for Liam. No accounting for taste. Jamie and I were a little nervous after we were served dreadful wine and there wasn't another soul in the place, but the food was phenomenal. Londoners do not dine at 5:15 p.m. so if you want a restaurant all to yourself, that is the time to go.

We finished up around 6:00 and had been out since about 9:30 a.m. The Tube ride home took a bit of figuring out because a good 15-20% of the Underground was closed for engineering maintenance. The children were once again suffering from acute fatigue and Liam whined about not getting a seat on the train. This is the same child that danced and skipped off of walls and hedges on the walk back from the Canary Wharf Tube station and has been wrestling and screaming with his brother for the last hour.

Tomorrow the boys may sleep as late as they want. We'll mosey on up to the zoo when we feel like it if the weather is decent. For now I have two or three loads of laundry to wash if I can figure out how.

Saturday, October 6, 2007: Iron Man Day

2007-10-07T15:43:00.000-04:00

I learned two things about London today.

1. It is an incredibly friendly city to visitors with a smallish bladder, even if you have to pay 50 pence to get into public facilities every once in awhile. A dollar to pee. Worth every penny.

2. You can't throw a tuppence without hitting a Pret A Manger deli. Not that this is a bad thing. Their sandwiches are quite tasty and reasonably priced.

Despite our warnings that we were going to have a long day the boys were nightmares at bedtime last night. Oh well. We still dragged them out of the flat at 9:00 a.m. in order to make our ticket call time at the British Airways London Eye. We had a guided tour at 10:30. It really is quite lovely and a spectacular view of the city. We lucked in to a pretty clear morning. After our thirty minute flight above the Thames we bought tickets for the Big City Bus Tour. It includes 48 hours of touring by bus, a water cruise from the Tower of London to Westminster and walking tours from Trafalgar Square.

We took the bus from the London Eye to the Tower of London on the red line which has live guides. We stopped for fish and chips for lunch and then caught the water cruise to Westminster. This was one of my favorite parts of the day. The pilot/tour guide had the dry British wit I absolutely adore. A pity more people on the boat didn't understand his jokes. He was a riot! Oh, and Westminster Pier was where I had to pay hard earned money to empty my bladder.

We hiked to another Big City Bus Tour stop and took the blue line which has headphones with recorded messages. We breezed past the side of Buckingham Palace, around to Hyde Park, through the West End, Soho and Picadilly Circus. Liam fell asleep on the bus and Colin began begging to get off for ice cream. We decided to disembark at Trafalgar Square and knock out the National Gallery.

A little bit of tort and hot chocolate in the gallery cafe fortified the boys and prepared them for mom and dad to drag them through a bunch of stupid paintings. Indeed they whined a bit, but dad got to see the Monets and mom got to see Holbein the younger's portrait of Erasmus. Little do they know it, but we may return again tomorrow. At least they thought the paintings of St. John the Baptist's beheading were cool. And like all kids they had to point and giggle at all the little baby Jesus penises.

After the National Gallery we let the boys loose on Nelson's column and the lions at Trafalgar Square. All of a sudden these poor downtrodden little waifs with barely an ounce of energy in their bodies could have danced all night. Anyone surprised? Oh that brings back memories of when I was eight and in London with my parents for three weeks in October. Consider this a formal apology mom and dad!

Charing Cross station is right there so we took the Tube back to Canary Wharf where we picked up a few things for dinner and headed back to the flat to recharge for tomorrow. On to the British Museum!

Friday, October 5, 2007: First Full Day

2007-10-07T15:41:00.000-04:00

Amazingly the boys went right to bed at 10:00 p.m. and slept through the night. I even had to drag Liam out of bed at 9:30 a.m. so we could get out to see the sites. Purchasing an Oyster card for the Tube was a bit of a challenge. After blankly staring at the bank of automatic machines for a few minutes I decided to wait for the sole human teller instead. I walked up said, "I'm absolutely clueless. I'm here for a few weeks, what do I need?" She was very helpful and even explained that the boys were free after 9:30 in the morning. Yeah! Later Note: I have since discovered they are free all the time with a paying adult.

We took the Jubilee Line from Canary Wharf to Westminster. I deliberately chose the exit right by Big Ben so Colin could get the full experience. I wish I'd had my camera out to catch his jaw dropping. He admitted it was pretty big. The weather is spectacular today so the gilt on the tower was shimmering and just gorgeous. It took me a few minutes to get my bearings and find the correct heading to the first place on our itenerary. We traveled a bit further off course than I thought based on the map. That's okay we ended up taking the "scenic" route to the Cabinet War Rooms which took us through an absolutely darling back street with town homes that must be worth a king's ransom.

The Cabinet War Rooms is very well done. The boys were free. Yeah! And the self-guided audio tour is free. Another Yeah! They even had a kid's version of the narration for Colin. We stopped in their snack bar for a sandwich about half way through the tour. Colin wanted to bail out pretty early on but I convinced him to keep going. Didn't give him a choice actually. When all was said and done he thought it was okay. It is located right next to St. James park so I offered to take the boys in so they could run around and play but they decided to press on to Westminster Abbey.

Wow, wow and wow. I thought I was going to have to pay admission for the boys, but amazingly they were free there too. Yeah! It defies all description and is one of those places you really just need to experience. The only downside is that you are experiencing it with about a thousand other people that day too. I wish the boys had gotten into it more, but they were predictable with the "mom, my feet hurt, can we go now?" Hmmm...where have I heard that before? Oh yes, when my parents took me to Westminster Abbey when I was eight years old. I could kick my former self for not appreciating it more.

I again offered to take the boys to St. James park and over to the kids' playground. They declined in favor of going back to the flat to rest. Oh well, it got me a 40 minute nap. In the late afternoon we wandered around a bit more as we went over to Canary Wharf to meet Jamie for some minor grocery shopping. The boys got into a 45 minute argument over whether red or yellow is the better color. Can you imagine how annoying that is?

We went to dinner at an Indian restaurant around the corner. It was divine and far less expensive than we had predicted. I got a little speech about tipping from Jamie as I apparently am want to leave entirely too much. It just doesn't feel right to leave 10%. The rest of the evening will be spent learning how to use the appliances in the flat. We have a washing machine and dryer all in one. Kind of ingenious with the exception of not being able to wash a load while drying another. The stove is not remotely intuitive and the coffee pot downright intimidates me. Goodness, it was hard enough figuring out how to turn on the lights. Thank heavens the shower is easier to use than my own back home. The boys are tickled pink that you have to push a button way far into the wall to flush.

Tomorrow is our first day out with daddy. We have reservations on the London Eye and then we're considering a bus tour. At least that way the kids can't complain about their feet. As soon as I figure out how to download and rescale pictures I'll try to put a few up on this page.

I miss my baby!

October 3-4, 2007: Travel Day!

2007-10-07T15:39:00.000-04:00

I started our first day of travel with an early morning trip to Premium Urgent Care in Suntree to learn I broke my toe the previous evening. Tripping over the crap in my sons' bedroom while trying to pack last minute items of all things. Not much you can do about such an injury but tape the offending toe to the ones around it and press on. My dad drove us to the airport with three hours to spare.

Changing money was an experience. Wow, look at that value disintegrate! It was positively painful to see $450 become less than 200 pounds.

When checking in, the kind Virgin Atlantic gate agent moved our seats to the upstairs portion of the Boeing 747. God bless companies that pay for Premium Economy. Board early, handed a glass of champagne, seat with a foot rest as well as headrest recliner, packet with toothbrush and toothpaste....

The boys were pretty good at the airport and absolutely wonderful on the plane. Several of the flight attendants commented on their exceptional behavior and speculated that they were seasoned travelers. Makes a momma proud!

Because of Liam's (10 year old) seat refusing to recline the flight attendants moved them back a row so I ended up all by myself with an absolutely fascinating travel companion. He was so entertaining I never watched a movie or cracked a book. I slept for a few hours but kept dreaming the plane was landing. I have no idea how much my children slept but I am guessing not very much. The flight was smooth with the exception of a 30 minute holding pattern over Gatwick. Colin (7 year old) was so excited I thought she was going to jump out of his skin. Liam looked like he was going to puke. I rapidly discovered Virgin Atlantic does not automatically stock barf bags in the seat pocket in front of you. Thankfully it wasn't necessary.

Passport control to Baggage Reclaim to Gatwick Express to Taxi Queue at Victoria Station Kensington was uneventful. Just as I like it! Signage wasn't quite as self-evident in places as my husband had lead me to believe, but since we didn't make any wrong turns it must be adequate. The taxi ride to the flat was uneventful with the exception of me cringing every time I saw a car hurtling at us from the wrong direction. Actually only one near collision and the cab driver apologized. We are not in New York. We passed right by Westminster Abbey (to my delight), Big Ben (to Colin's delight) and a Starbucks (to Liam's delight). Just after passing the Tower of London we all three fell asleep in the cab.

Jamie, my husband, was waiting right outside the flat and let us in. I think I kissed him hello, I honestly do not remember. The next thing I knew I was waking up three hours later in the most comfortable bed I have ever slept in. I showered, emailed my sister and dragged the boys' butts out of their jet lagged stupor. We wandered over to Canary Wharf (our flat is right by the foot bridge) and explored the teeniest tiniest fraction of the mall and financial district. We had a lunch at 4:00 p.m. / 11:00 a.m. and enjoyed the bright sunny brisk cool day. Weather doesn't get any better than that. So what are the odds I can order that for the rest of our three week trip?

Jamie had a business dinner with his big boss and the clients, so he brought some bangers and mash for the boys and curried prawns home for me. We found The Simpsons on the television and here I sit starting my travel blog and planning tomorrow.
The flat is quite nice. Jamie thinks it is a little small, but you won't hear me complaining. The boys are in their own room. The television has cable, though I can't figure it out for the life of me. And there is this cute as a button washing machine and dryer in the kitchen. Personally I'd slap some cheery colors on the walls but I can understand a corporate apartment leasing company sticking with stark white. Or is this eggshell...who can tell? I had a hot shower and have a place to lay my weary head. What else is there?

As it stands, tomorrow I am planning to go to the Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms (for the boys) and nearby Westminster Abbey (for me). Probably followed by a romp through St. James park so they can run off their ya-yas. Wonder what time I'm going to get them to bed tonight after a three hour nap and feeling like it is 3:00 in the afternoon at 8:00 p.m.