2nd Week in London - The Rest of the Week!

My friend Heather Hill Ford from Camp Bishopswood was in London with some students for an English Themed trip. We were able to get together on one of her free days. Alden and I met her and her students at the London Aquarium. It was great to see her! I haven't seen her since 2001 or 2002 at camp. Heather has a son named Alden as well!

All of us looked in the Aquarium - which I think was quite lovely. Alden seemed to enjoy looking at the fish and all of the colors and lights. After the Aquarium, we all decided to take a boat trip on the Thames. The boat ride that we chose goes from the Aquarium/London Eye to the Tower of London and back. Heather and I got to catch up on the boat while her students went upstairs onto the deck. I drank an over priced White wine and Alden took a nap. :)

On the weekend, the family enjoyed a GORGEOUS day outside at the Tower of London. It was about 70 degrees and sunny. We went on a "BeefEater" tour at the Tower and our Yeomen Warder was quite funny. I recommend taking the free hour tour because it is the only way that you can see the chapel where some of King Henry's VIII's wives are buried. We also viewed the Crown Jewels (okay, not that exciting) and the White Tower where all of the swords and armor are kept.

After the ToL, we headed home so that we could get ready for our dinner reservations. We were lucky enough to be in London for Restaurant Week, so we ate a three course meal at Villandry - in Marlybone - which is considered to serve "modern European" cuisine. Alden ate his dinner of sweet potatoes in his stroller (a lot of the restaurants don't have highschairs)and it was an enjoyable meal.

On Sunday we went to the British Museum. The Museum has an amazing collection of Egyptian artifacts so we started there and moved into the Greek/Roman statues and Parthenon Sculptures (aka Parthenon Marbles which Greece currently wants back!) Chris wants to go back because it is an amazing building with many many things to see.


My friend Heather and I.

The family outside the Tower of London.

The Beefeater realy liked Alden a lot!

Chris and Alden in the British Museum.

2nd week in London - Tuesday

Alden and I stayed home in the morning so Alden could get a decent nap in - he didn't get one at home yesterday morning. After lunch, Alden and I ventured out to Baker Street and we got on the bus heading toward Westminster. Our original purpose of heading out was to go on a walking tour, but the bus was really slow so I was late again. I decided to get off at Trafalgar Square and make a dent in the National Gallery instead. By the way - in 1995 Trafalgar Square was full of pigeons that you could feed for 10 pence. The birds landed all over you - your arms, head - everywhere.... They are all gone now thanks to the Mayor of London. The statues look much better now. :)The weather was over 65+ degrees F and it was sunny. Everyone was outside. It would have been a great day for a walking tour but.... oh well.

I caught a short one hour tour at the Gallery and wandered around the Impressionist Rooms for a bit. I was holding a wiggly Alden and looking at a George Seurat painting when I hear, "Ms. Kingman?" I turn around and Casey Levesque and Maureen Reagan are standing there, two of my students from when I taught in Salem, MA! Holy Smokes! They were in London with their PoliSci Class. Completely crazy!

2nd Week in London - Monday

I don't want to spend all day everyday by myself, so I found some Mommies' Groups on Meet.com to join. I ventured out to Chelsea to the National Army Museum to meet some other moms for a 10am playgroup...but I was LATE! The darn Circle line took forever. Not to mention that taking a baby and a stroller ALONE on the subway is not fun - esp. when many of the stations don't have elevators and you HAVE to fold up your stroller and hold your baby going down the escalator. And did I mention that I am also carrying a bag and a purse? And then there is the GAP between the subway car and the platform which give "Mind the Gap" a whole new meaning...... so I was late and when I got to the Army Museum, the lady at the desk wouldn't let me into the playspace. Luckily one of the other moms was late too so we chatted for a bit in the cafe over coffee. And I got to see Chelsea - which is a beautiful borough of the city.

I got on a bus from Chelsea to Westminister Station and then I WALKED across the Westminster Bridge to Southwark and followed the Queen's Walk to Shakepeare's Globe Theatre. This was a long walk - I am guessing about 2 miles. I love this walk. We took it often when I lived in London at St. Olaf because it was the best way to get to the National Theatre. So Alden and I strolled past the National Theatre and many fine shops and cafes until we reached the Globe. I dined at The Swan cafe - I had a great tuna and cuke sandwich with crisps and Alden ate his favorite dish which is cereal and Spinach with Basil. After lunch we went into the Globe and toured the exhibition as well as the theatre space itself. In 1995 the Globe was still being constructed, so I enjoyed getting to see the finished product this time.

After the tour, Alden and continued along the Queen's Walk past Southwark Cathedral to the London Bridge Underground. It had been a long day!

Schreibers of London?

We arrived in London on Saturday, April 12th. The flight went great considering it was a redeye. Alden slept for most of the trip. So far, he has been a GREAT plane traveler on all of our journeys. I am glad for that.

So what have we done this first week? Alden and I have ventured out on our own as tourists when Chris is working. Chris didn't go to work until Tuesday the 15th, which gave us time to gather electric cords for our computer and got our VOIP (Vonage) phone system up and working with our local WA number. But once Chris went to work, I had to find things to do. So Tuesday, Alden and I went to Regent's Park and looked at the ducks and the other kids playing. For those of you who don't know, I spent a month in London in college for a "Theatre in London" J-Term program. We lived at Regents College, which is right by Regent's Park. Our flat is by Baker Street as well in the Marylebone Neighborhood. I like the location.

Alden had a runny nose on the flight and had developed a cough, so we stayed in on Wed. as a recovery day. But on Thursday, Alden and I went to Hamley's which is the biggest 5 story mega toy store in London and it has been in London for over 100+ years. Alden got a couple of small new toys because he was doing his best adjusting to the 8 hour time difference.

On Friday Alden and I went to Buckingham Palace where I took a picture of him by the front gates and them we went to the Queen's Gallery where I looked at some of the paintings, sculptures, and jewelry owned by the Royal Family. Getting to Buckingham Palace was an adventure. We took the bus! I had to lift the stroller up onto the bus, but there is a spot without seats (reserved for wheelchairs and "Prams" as strollers are called here). But I got to Victoria Station and managed to get to Buckingham Palace. Returning home, I did discover that some bus driver are real sticklers regarding how many "carriages" they will let on their bus. Unfortunately for me, the first bus that came by the driver said that we couldn't board because there was already a "carriage" on board.

On Saturday, Chris and I did a walking tour suggested in Lonely Planet and went to see Dr. Samuel Johnson's house - he wrote the first English Language Dictionary - and walked to the Tower of London via the London Museum, London Wall, and the Barbican. We were planning to go into the Tower, but the last tour with a Beefeater had ended for the day and I didn't want to wander through it on our own. (This was the BEST experience when I was in London in 1995. The Beefeaters make a GREAT tour!)

On Sunday, we took "The Original Tour" bus to see the city. The bus took us around the city to all of the sights with a guide - we didn't get off - you could if you wanted too, but we stayed on since we had Alden. It was nice to see the "whole" picture. We came back to Marylebone at the end of the day and decided to have dinner at a small restaurant across from our flat - The Beehive. It was really good!


Alden at the gate of Buckingham Palace....well, I took the photo so he had to pose!


Chris and Alden at the underground station.


Samuel Johnson House


Alden and Daddy on the tourbus.


Mommy and Alden on the bus.