London: Part 4 (The Final Days)

Our final few days of the trip continued to be busy.  It was about that point in the trip when we really realized that we had not run the trip like we had initially imagined.  We had dreamed of a time of leisurely experiencing London and being like locals who just "soak it up".  What we ended up doing was busting our buns to show as much of London (and Paris, Bath, Edinburgh, and York) to our kids and parents.  Yep, we took the kids and parents on an old-style "Eric and Heather do Europe" trip!  Go! Go! Go!

Can you tell that we are now home and I'm already doing my post-trip assessment?  But, you haven't yet seen how the end of the trip went.  So, here you go!

On Friday, our main outing was to the British Museum.  It is said to be one of the best in Europe and when you see that massive place and think about the treasures it has, you can understand why it has that reputation.

On our way, we spotted this interesting vehicle.  Yep, I am pretty sure that car is covered in turf.

Our first stop was the Rosetta Stone.  I think we did a decent job of explaining its importance to the kids, and if our words weren't enough, they saw the massive crowd that surrounded it.  We got up close for a quick look and photos.

We decided to split up our group for a while so my parents could explore separate from us (our kids were less than thrilled to be in ANOTHER museum and it is hard to keep a group of six together in a crowded museum).

There are really so many things to see at the British Museum.  Unlike the Louvre, where we decided to try to see many of the most famous works that are scattered around the museum, we decided to just stick with the Egyptian stuff, with a little Assyrian thrown in because it was next door.

Eric was showing Carter the inside of a sarcophagus, not throwing him in, as it appears.

 We were amazed by the great condition of many of the items (I guess it pays to work in stone).

 A little Assyrian

This horsey one is for Laurie!

Back to Egyptian

 Fist bump

 We then took a lengthy break followed by a visit to the families desk where we picked up some pretty good kids guides that focused on Egyptian mummies (there were like 5 guides to chose from).

Drinking my "Mum" Coke

We went upstairs and got to work.  I really loved how the guides were kid-friendly (we tried out many kid guides, quizzes, etc. on this trip and so many weren't easy to use and ended in frustration) and got the kids really looking at the art and thinking about it.

 Our kids are expert fan finders.

 They loved hunting for items!

Ashlynn was quite disturbed by two ancient skeletons.  I thought it was amazing how well the desert preserved their bodies.

 The mummies were pretty cool; I guess because you couldn't see their skin and bones.

 Things for the after life.

 Cleopatra's mummy

 Just a few months ago the kids made cat mummies at the Kidseum, so it was cool to see real cat mummies.

That was about all we had in us at the museum, so we braved the scattered rain showers and walked to Coram's Fields, which is a children's park.  Like a few other children's parks in London, adults must accompany children to come into the park and there is a person who mans a gate for safety.

 Our bus trip back to the house on a Friday late afternoon was quite busy!

For dinner, we met up with Cameron, the owner of the house that we were house swapping with.  In case you're wondering, his family stayed in LA for the full three weeks, but he had to come back to London for work, after a week's stay.  He stayed with a college friend at a nearby house and dropped by a few times to pick up mail and see how we were doing.

He took us to the Black Swan, an old and very cool looking pub in their neighborhood.  We had a great time hanging out and chatting with him.  It was fun to hang out with a "local" and hear about life in England.

On Saturday, my mom left to fly home, and Ashlynn, Eric and my dad went to the Cabinet War Rooms and Churchill exhibit.  We didn't think Carter would appreciate yet another museum, so he and I stayed at the house so he could play and I could clean up and blog.   I had seen the place with Eric in 2004, so I was okay with it and Carter really needed the down time.

 When they finished, they walked through St. James Park so my dad could see Buckingham Palace.

 While they travelled, Carter and I took a bus and met them at Portobello Road so Eric could look at a few places that interested him when we visited at the start of our trip.

 In addition to the market, Portobello Road has some cool shops.  One particular one sold things like tweed jackets and wool hats, which are a little warm for our usual weather, but Eric did pick up a t-shirt.

 Carter was very happy with his blueberry snack from the market

 More colorful houses

 For my dad's final evening in London, we took him out for Indian food.  Yum!

 I think we did a pretty great job with our final full day in London.  We took the tube to St. Paul's and crossed the Millennium Bridge to the South Bank to tour the Globe Theatre.

 The recreated Shakespeare's Globe Theatre was pretty neat.  The original theater was located a few minutes' walk away.  The location of the new theater is different because the river is not as wide now (before being controlled with walls, the Thames was much wider because it is highly tidal) and there is a protected 17th century building that sits on top of the remains of the original Globe.  I think the new location is quite good because you can see it from the river and it is very near the Tate Modern.

 A quick visit to the museum before our tour.

 Our tour

The stage was set for that afternoon's production of "Anthony and Cleopatra" so we couldn't see all of the stage including the patron's box that was a balcony on the back of the stage.

 From the second level

 This is more telling of Carter during the tour:

The theater was built using the methods and materials they used to build the original theater.  The structure was built with pegs, not nails and screws, and the walls are made of wooden lath with plaster that containes goat fur.

We made a quick stop for the kids to sit in the ferryman's seat from at least the 1700s.  The ferrymen were the guys who rowed people across the Thames when the only other way to cross the river was by London Bridge.

 

We ate lunch at The Anchor.  The pub is right on the river and while it is pretty, only had so-so food.

Next, we did what I had looked forward to for the whole trip and turned out to be a favorite activity for the whole family: a tour of the reproduction of Drake's ship, the Golden Hinde.  While this ship is not the original, it is full size and it has circumnavigated the globe, like Drake, and has travelled a distance over about 5 times around the world.  It is legit.

We joined a tour lead by an informative and entertaining guide.

 The guide quickly pointed out that women would not have been allowed on the ship, as it was "unlucky", so Ashlynn was given a new name "Bob".  The guide interacted quite a bit with our kids, regularly involving Carter and "Bob".

 We checked out all of the decks.  Ashlynn LOVED the tour.  She was so involved and giggled throughout.

 One of the places where they raise the anchors (I didn't realize there are actually four anchors).

 The gun deck

 Ashlynn helped ready the guns (cannons).

 The guide told us about all of the challenges that the sailors faced.  Carter plugged his ears when the guy described how they would amputate a leg if someone had an injury or a bad break.  Ewww.

Doctor's materials

Bottom deck

 Back on the gun deck

 Captain's quarters

The decks were not very tall.  Apparently, this helped make England's ships successful because they could maneuver faster than other ships, as they wouldn't tip over in sharp turns.

After finishing at the Golden Hinde, we walked along the river to Tower Bridge.

We stopped for some yummy soft serve ice cream from a truck.  It is sweet and creamy, but yet, it doesn't melt very fast.

A section of the Roman wall

Our tube station for our stay

In the next photo, Ashlynn is trying to look sad "because it was our final arrival at our station".  I think her face looks more like a mug shot.

For dinner we ate at a cool pub/ restaurant in Queen's Park, The Alice House.

My jam jar drink.  Tasty but not amazing for the price.

On our final day in London, we finished cleaning up the house, went to breakfast, and took the kids to the park, one last time, to get their wiggles out before our long flight.

The view from the loft

 "Kids, eat your biscuits outside so you don't drop crumbs in the clean house!"

 Last park visit

 We discovered that there is even a little children's zoo at the park

We love Queen's Park

 Walking back to the house

 One of the many restaurants near the house:

 The street we stayed on:

 On our way to the tube.  I think we did a good job of not over-packing, but that is still a lot of stuff.

 At the airport:

 Waiting for our flight

 And on the plane

 And we are home!  Yippee!  It is fun to travel, and it is also wonderful to be home!

Thanks for sharing our journey with us!