6 countries, 4 weeks, 2 kids, and 1 trip to the hospital-Part I
Aug 6th, 2009, 07:13 AM
#21
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What a stroke of luck to see the prince! I would have climbed IN a trash bin to see him. Maybe he was stopping by to grab a sceptre or mace or something for a party that night...Love your trip report. Just returned ourselves and the drifting to the left thing was pretty scary at first. Kept seeing the beginning of stone walls coming up and having to cover my eyes. Love what your son said at Stonehenge--what a great memory for all of you. We didn't make it there. Also, I agree- -at the Tower many years ago there was such a long line to get in and it didn't move much. This time, we joined the queue just at the entrance to the building, and we were out of that exhibit within 15 minutes but without feeling cheated or rushed. They were displayed in a much better and less claustrophobic way. Also, after you get off the people mover, you can double back for another view from a raised platform behind the people mover row.
Aug 6th, 2009, 08:19 AM
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Hi jspen,
I was at the Tower the same day as you! My tour group had just arrived and finding out the Prince was coming out for the photograph session No one moved until trying to catch a glimpse. Two ladies on the tour were lucky enough to get a hand-(prince?) shake. For the 20-something it was heavenly!
Cheers.
I was at the Tower the same day as you! My tour group had just arrived and finding out the Prince was coming out for the photograph session No one moved until trying to catch a glimpse. Two ladies on the tour were lucky enough to get a hand-(prince?) shake. For the 20-something it was heavenly!
Cheers.
Aug 6th, 2009, 01:58 PM
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Hi, Scotlib--can't believe you were there that day as well! What a coincidence... My son REALLY wanted to sneak up through the crowd to get a hand-shake, but DH wouldn't let him, as he thought we'd lose him in the crush. I did manage to get him up on the trash bin, though, for a good look!
Thanks to all for your comments--that was really a special addition to our trip! Will try to get to the next installment soon...
Thanks to all for your comments--that was really a special addition to our trip! Will try to get to the next installment soon...
Aug 6th, 2009, 05:56 PM
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i am enjoying this very much....i've been to london dozens of times, but it always holds new sights and seeing it through other's eyes is fun...
you might be interested that my first visit to stonehenge, maybe 35 years ago, you could walk right up to the stones and all around them, and touch them....the last time i was there you could only walk around on a rubber mat quite a ways from the center of the stones....i thought i will never come here again!! i hope it has improved..
we bostonians are so lucky to have some many things similar to london right here in our back yards...
you might be interested that my first visit to stonehenge, maybe 35 years ago, you could walk right up to the stones and all around them, and touch them....the last time i was there you could only walk around on a rubber mat quite a ways from the center of the stones....i thought i will never come here again!! i hope it has improved..
we bostonians are so lucky to have some many things similar to london right here in our back yards...
Aug 7th, 2009, 04:41 AM
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I had just finished Scottlib's tale of London travel when I began yours and when I got to the tower and seeing the prince, I thought my computer had flipped back to scottlib! what an interesting coincidence!
I too had visited Stonehenge when you could go right among the stones (more than 40 years ago). It was pouring that day but exciting. When I took two of my nephews 19 years ago, Stonehenge was #1 on the list for one of them, so it was included. It was a sunny Sunday afternoon and most of the tourists and about half the population of England were there, but it was still sort of special seen through a 12 and 10 year old's eyes. One of the boys mangaged to get a picture that made it seem as if we were the only ones there. The 10-year-old wrote an essay about it in fifth grade the following fall and it gave me shivers reading and reliving the day.
I am sure that your kids will enjoy all their memories of this trip.
Thanks for sharing!
I too had visited Stonehenge when you could go right among the stones (more than 40 years ago). It was pouring that day but exciting. When I took two of my nephews 19 years ago, Stonehenge was #1 on the list for one of them, so it was included. It was a sunny Sunday afternoon and most of the tourists and about half the population of England were there, but it was still sort of special seen through a 12 and 10 year old's eyes. One of the boys mangaged to get a picture that made it seem as if we were the only ones there. The 10-year-old wrote an essay about it in fifth grade the following fall and it gave me shivers reading and reliving the day.
I am sure that your kids will enjoy all their memories of this trip.
Thanks for sharing!
Aug 7th, 2009, 11:00 AM
#28
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Yes, it's really so funny to read someone else's account of the same place on the same day... Such a big city, and so much to see, but we happened to be in the same place at the same time! Scotlib, I enjoyed reading about your Prince-sighting as well!
Alas, I missed Stonehenge in the days when you could walk right up to the stones, which is why my last visit so many years ago was disappointing. But as I learned on this trip, seeing things through my children's eyes really did give me a fresh perspective at times--though there were also times when it would have helped if THEY could see things through MY eyes!
Which brings us to...
DAY 11-JANE AUSTEN'S HOUSE MUSEUM, CHAWTON
In every vacation, a little rain must fall, and this was our first truly rainy day. DH had gotten up early and gone off on the bus to Southampton for work, and the kids were a bit tired and out of sorts, so we lay low in the morning. This was one of those days when a bit more advance planning probably would have helped matters, but because several of the activities I had wanted to do with the children involved being outdoors, and it was not looking like a good outdoor day, I had to rethink things.
I was excited by the idea of seeing Jane Austen's house, which is only a short drive from Winchester, in the little village of Chawton. My son, who saw the BBC version of "Pride and Prejudice" this past spring at school, expressed moderate interest in going, but DD proclaimed that she absolutely did NOT want to go and in fact really didn't want to go ANYWHERE, because it was raining, and she was TIRED. (Sometimes it's hard to be 7 and away from home...)
I finally managed to get everyone out of the house by promising that after we visited Austen's house, I would take them to the InTech Science Centre, on the outskirts of Winchester. (Sometimes a little bribe does wonders...
) By this time is was nearly noon, and I was in a rush to get going, so I just grabbed a few snacks for the kids and dashed out just as the rain really started to come down. The weather made driving a bit trickier, as I hadn't really figured out the windshield wipers yet, but I finally got the hang of it...
Though the drive to Chawton is relatively short (about half an hour), we had to leave Winchester by a different route than usual, and I made a wrong turn almost immediately, which ironically took me past Jane Austen's Winchester residence (where she lived right before she died). Unfortunately, those streets are very narrow, and it was difficult having to turn around and back-track to where I'd missed the turn. The rest of the drive wasn't bad, but I was feeling cautious because of the rain and must have been a little poky, as a lot of drivers passed me on the roads...
We finally made it to Chawton, but either because of the rain or because my mind was just muddled that day, I had trouble figuring out where to park--we finally parked in a sort of field where we'd seen a sign that said "Parking for Jane Austen Event." As it turned out, the signs were left-over from an event that had taken place two days before, when the Museum was celebrating the 200th anniversary of Jane Austen's arrival in Chawton. So we ended up walking a few blocks in the rain along a roadway, only to discover when we got to the Museum that there was a regular lot right across the road.
You enter the Museum through the gift shop--I had a discount coupon I'd gotten through the tourist office in Winchester, so we were able to get one free admission, which the kind ladies at the desk decided could be my one adult ticket, so we only paid for the two kids (I can't recall what the entrance fee was for them, but it was not too much). Outside the shop, there is a short video that explains a bit about the history of the house and Austen's time there. Then we started our exploring. The first stop is the bakehouse, which also contains a donkey cart that was used by the family, then you enter the house itself.
The kids were again offered a quiz--this appears to be quite the tradition in British museums! (And one we really loved...) Once again, the questions were a bit tough for my little one, so I had to help her, but my son enjoyed it. At the end, they could choose an eraser or a ruler, both with a drawing of a quill and ink pot.
Seeing Jane Austen's writing table, where she sat to revise her earlier manuscripts for "Sense and Sensibility" and "Pride and Prejudice" and where she wrote 3 other novels, was rather striking to see in person--it's really quite small, almost like a side table, not a proper desk like I'd imagined. Maybe because I write myself, and because I'm already a few years older than she was when she died, it was quite touching to think of her sitting there at this little table by the window, writing her manuscripts by hand. Of course, this was one of those moments that was hard for the kids to understand--despite my attempts to put it in perspective for them by pointing out the lack of a computer or any kind of "entertainment system" in the house! DD was rather bored, unfortunately, but she did find some of the costume displays and the bedrooms with their canopies somewhat interesting (though she was frustrated that you weren't allowed to SIT on anything). She did enjoy the separate Learning Ctr., where kids can play with a doll house and some interactive exhibits.
As it turned out, the day we were there (July 7) was the actual anniversary of Jane Austen's arrival in Chawton, so despite the main weekend festivities being over, there was a small celebration going on in the house's kitchen area, where we were offered a slice of cake with a beautiful picture of the house on it. There was also a camera crew wandering about and interviewing people, some of whom were in costume--we never did find out what that was for.
After a visit to the gift shop and a walk around the garden (it had finally stopped raining), we went to try to find something to eat, but there wasn't much in the village, so we left, thinking that we could get something at the InTech Science Ctr. By this time, however, it had gotten rather later than I'd planned--about 3pm! We arrived at the museum to find that it was closing shortly (at 4pm), so we decided to come back another day when we'd have more time. The kids were disappointed, and I felt that I'd let them down a bit, so we ended up heading back into Winchester to get a treat and do a little shopping--nothing like a little chocolate to perk up everyone's spirits (including mine)!
We had planned that night to go to an outdoor performance of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" at Winchester Cathedral, but the weather gods were just not in our favor--though we'd had a brief break in the rain, it started to pour again once we got back to the apartment, and we ended up deciding to skip the show and stay in. Now it was MY turn to be disappointed...
DAY 12-INTECH SCIENCE CENTRE
To make up for our somewhat botched outing the day before (at least as far as the kids were concerned), I decided to devote most of our day to taking the kids to the InTech Science Ctr., about a 15-minute drive away. This time the driving was considerably easier, since I already knew how to get there... I won't go into a huge amount of detail here, but if you're in the area and have kids, this place is definitely worth a visit. It seemed a bit unimpressive at first, as we've been to many much larger science museums, but at this one the exhibits are virtually ALL hands-on, which meant that the kids were engaged and busy the whole time we were there. They loved it... In the end, I couldn't believe that we spent 4 HOURS there (including lunch, which we ate in a nice picnic area outside). Again, we used a coupon from the tourist office booklet to get one free child admission.
Next up, Portsmouth (overpriced) and London again (fabulous!)
Alas, I missed Stonehenge in the days when you could walk right up to the stones, which is why my last visit so many years ago was disappointing. But as I learned on this trip, seeing things through my children's eyes really did give me a fresh perspective at times--though there were also times when it would have helped if THEY could see things through MY eyes!
Which brings us to...
DAY 11-JANE AUSTEN'S HOUSE MUSEUM, CHAWTON
In every vacation, a little rain must fall, and this was our first truly rainy day. DH had gotten up early and gone off on the bus to Southampton for work, and the kids were a bit tired and out of sorts, so we lay low in the morning. This was one of those days when a bit more advance planning probably would have helped matters, but because several of the activities I had wanted to do with the children involved being outdoors, and it was not looking like a good outdoor day, I had to rethink things.
I was excited by the idea of seeing Jane Austen's house, which is only a short drive from Winchester, in the little village of Chawton. My son, who saw the BBC version of "Pride and Prejudice" this past spring at school, expressed moderate interest in going, but DD proclaimed that she absolutely did NOT want to go and in fact really didn't want to go ANYWHERE, because it was raining, and she was TIRED. (Sometimes it's hard to be 7 and away from home...)
I finally managed to get everyone out of the house by promising that after we visited Austen's house, I would take them to the InTech Science Centre, on the outskirts of Winchester. (Sometimes a little bribe does wonders...
) By this time is was nearly noon, and I was in a rush to get going, so I just grabbed a few snacks for the kids and dashed out just as the rain really started to come down. The weather made driving a bit trickier, as I hadn't really figured out the windshield wipers yet, but I finally got the hang of it...Though the drive to Chawton is relatively short (about half an hour), we had to leave Winchester by a different route than usual, and I made a wrong turn almost immediately, which ironically took me past Jane Austen's Winchester residence (where she lived right before she died). Unfortunately, those streets are very narrow, and it was difficult having to turn around and back-track to where I'd missed the turn. The rest of the drive wasn't bad, but I was feeling cautious because of the rain and must have been a little poky, as a lot of drivers passed me on the roads...
We finally made it to Chawton, but either because of the rain or because my mind was just muddled that day, I had trouble figuring out where to park--we finally parked in a sort of field where we'd seen a sign that said "Parking for Jane Austen Event." As it turned out, the signs were left-over from an event that had taken place two days before, when the Museum was celebrating the 200th anniversary of Jane Austen's arrival in Chawton. So we ended up walking a few blocks in the rain along a roadway, only to discover when we got to the Museum that there was a regular lot right across the road.
You enter the Museum through the gift shop--I had a discount coupon I'd gotten through the tourist office in Winchester, so we were able to get one free admission, which the kind ladies at the desk decided could be my one adult ticket, so we only paid for the two kids (I can't recall what the entrance fee was for them, but it was not too much). Outside the shop, there is a short video that explains a bit about the history of the house and Austen's time there. Then we started our exploring. The first stop is the bakehouse, which also contains a donkey cart that was used by the family, then you enter the house itself.
The kids were again offered a quiz--this appears to be quite the tradition in British museums! (And one we really loved...) Once again, the questions were a bit tough for my little one, so I had to help her, but my son enjoyed it. At the end, they could choose an eraser or a ruler, both with a drawing of a quill and ink pot.
Seeing Jane Austen's writing table, where she sat to revise her earlier manuscripts for "Sense and Sensibility" and "Pride and Prejudice" and where she wrote 3 other novels, was rather striking to see in person--it's really quite small, almost like a side table, not a proper desk like I'd imagined. Maybe because I write myself, and because I'm already a few years older than she was when she died, it was quite touching to think of her sitting there at this little table by the window, writing her manuscripts by hand. Of course, this was one of those moments that was hard for the kids to understand--despite my attempts to put it in perspective for them by pointing out the lack of a computer or any kind of "entertainment system" in the house! DD was rather bored, unfortunately, but she did find some of the costume displays and the bedrooms with their canopies somewhat interesting (though she was frustrated that you weren't allowed to SIT on anything). She did enjoy the separate Learning Ctr., where kids can play with a doll house and some interactive exhibits.
As it turned out, the day we were there (July 7) was the actual anniversary of Jane Austen's arrival in Chawton, so despite the main weekend festivities being over, there was a small celebration going on in the house's kitchen area, where we were offered a slice of cake with a beautiful picture of the house on it. There was also a camera crew wandering about and interviewing people, some of whom were in costume--we never did find out what that was for.
After a visit to the gift shop and a walk around the garden (it had finally stopped raining), we went to try to find something to eat, but there wasn't much in the village, so we left, thinking that we could get something at the InTech Science Ctr. By this time, however, it had gotten rather later than I'd planned--about 3pm! We arrived at the museum to find that it was closing shortly (at 4pm), so we decided to come back another day when we'd have more time. The kids were disappointed, and I felt that I'd let them down a bit, so we ended up heading back into Winchester to get a treat and do a little shopping--nothing like a little chocolate to perk up everyone's spirits (including mine)!
We had planned that night to go to an outdoor performance of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" at Winchester Cathedral, but the weather gods were just not in our favor--though we'd had a brief break in the rain, it started to pour again once we got back to the apartment, and we ended up deciding to skip the show and stay in. Now it was MY turn to be disappointed...
DAY 12-INTECH SCIENCE CENTRE
To make up for our somewhat botched outing the day before (at least as far as the kids were concerned), I decided to devote most of our day to taking the kids to the InTech Science Ctr., about a 15-minute drive away. This time the driving was considerably easier, since I already knew how to get there... I won't go into a huge amount of detail here, but if you're in the area and have kids, this place is definitely worth a visit. It seemed a bit unimpressive at first, as we've been to many much larger science museums, but at this one the exhibits are virtually ALL hands-on, which meant that the kids were engaged and busy the whole time we were there. They loved it... In the end, I couldn't believe that we spent 4 HOURS there (including lunch, which we ate in a nice picnic area outside). Again, we used a coupon from the tourist office booklet to get one free child admission.
Next up, Portsmouth (overpriced) and London again (fabulous!)
Sep 5th, 2009, 11:19 PM
#33
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Fascinating report. Seems a shame to correct a common delusion, but:
<b>" I KNOW it normally rains a ton in England, " </b>
It doesn't. Never has.
London gets about as much rain per year as Jerusalem, for example. That's about a third less than Boston and just over half what New York gets.
What happens in England is that it rains relatively frequently, but extraordinarily lightly and briefly. And what looks like the remnants of overnight rain is very often just dew.
<b>"when they show someone staring out a window in England, it's always raining,"</B>
Not if "they" are any good it's not. When it rains in Jane Austen, it's a significant event. It scarcely ever rains in Shakespeare or Dickens (though Dickens, writing towards the end of the Little Ice Age, describes a Britain where snow was far more commonplace than it's been for the past century)
A quick rule of thumb about any modern work of "art" set in Britain. If it starts with a scene set in the rain, the work concerned is machine-generated gibberish, churned out by the yard by an untalented hack. Like those absurd, inaccurately cliche-ridden, Hugh Grant films made for Americans.
<b>" I KNOW it normally rains a ton in England, " </b>
It doesn't. Never has.
London gets about as much rain per year as Jerusalem, for example. That's about a third less than Boston and just over half what New York gets.
What happens in England is that it rains relatively frequently, but extraordinarily lightly and briefly. And what looks like the remnants of overnight rain is very often just dew.
<b>"when they show someone staring out a window in England, it's always raining,"</B>
Not if "they" are any good it's not. When it rains in Jane Austen, it's a significant event. It scarcely ever rains in Shakespeare or Dickens (though Dickens, writing towards the end of the Little Ice Age, describes a Britain where snow was far more commonplace than it's been for the past century)
A quick rule of thumb about any modern work of "art" set in Britain. If it starts with a scene set in the rain, the work concerned is machine-generated gibberish, churned out by the yard by an untalented hack. Like those absurd, inaccurately cliche-ridden, Hugh Grant films made for Americans.
Sep 6th, 2009, 06:27 AM
#35
<<Fascinating report. Seems a shame to correct a common delusion, but:
" I KNOW it normally rains a ton in England, "
It doesn't. Never has.>>
that's london of course. there is a significant difference between the eastern, dryer side of the UK and the west, like cornwall. where I live. where it rains a lot.
" I KNOW it normally rains a ton in England, "
It doesn't. Never has.>>
that's london of course. there is a significant difference between the eastern, dryer side of the UK and the west, like cornwall. where I live. where it rains a lot.
Sep 6th, 2009, 08:09 AM
#36
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Coastal Devon and Cornwall - just about the wettest lowlying bits of England - average around 90-100 cm/year: 40-45 inches.
Somewhere between the average in New York and the average in Boston. Oddly, no film-maker thinks he can get away with telling his audience it's always raining in either of those places.
Somewhere between the average in New York and the average in Boston. Oddly, no film-maker thinks he can get away with telling his audience it's always raining in either of those places.
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