beeswing

It's bad form to follow up myself, I know. I slept on it and remembered that we, too, had somewhat of a wait in the passholder line. It was frustrating at the time, but it obviously didn't stick with me -- partly because the general admission queue was so very long. But we had no wait at the cashier.

Back to reading about your travels!

europeannovice

Beeswing--When we arrived, the line for general was slightly longer than passholder. We took it in good stride and was joking with the other pass holders that they let in a big group from the general line just when we arrived at the passholder front line. Of course, they have to let in people from the general group in order to keep things moving. We were just upset that once we were let into the building, we had to wait again for the cashier. I understand it was a nominal fee but it was the idea of an extra fee--I would suggest just build it into the admission fee to begin with.

europeannovice

I forgot to mention at the Tower of London, we did indeed make time to stop by the gift shop so DS can stock up on his knights and horse collection. They have more than one gift shop in the complex and DS loved the one we went into--hard decisions to make when you are presented with so many knights etc.

europeannovice

Day 8--London Walks and More

After a very full day the day before, we got up a little later and took it easy in the morning. We arrived at 10:45AM to the Green Park Station to join the Royal London and Westminster Abbey tour with London Walks.

The tour guide was Tom Hooper. He is a funny, witty, wise and very knowledgeable guide. Tom had a wealth of information to share. He led the group of approximately 60 folks through Green Park and St James Park to the absolutely perfect spot to view the changing of the guards. We got clear pictures right by the curb as the guards passed by in front of us without any obstruction of view. It was great

We then moved on as a group to Westminster Abbey but here we had to break up into three separate groups as the Abbey only allows groups of 26 max. to enter. We entered through a side cloister entrance so we didn't have to wait on line. We received a very good narration of specific areas within the Abbey including the coronation area and poet's corner etc. The Abbey was a marvelous site to see although the crowds were pretty thick again unlike at St Paul where you had a lot more room to navigate about and enjoy your surroundings.

After this tour, DH and DS separated from MIL and myself. They went off to tour around separately and ended up going to the Benjamin Franklin Exhibition on Craven St. which was on the LP. DS did a research project in school recently about Ben Franklin so it was great for him to see the house. In addition to acting as the first ambasador of sorts between the colonies and Great Britain, I think this is the house where he performed most of his scientific experiments.

MIL and I meanwhile ventured off to the Embankmnent tube to join Margaret also from London Walks for the National Gallery tour. Her Scottish accent is so wonderful. She was very knowledgeable indeed not only about the paintings themselves but about the painters and the various styles they used and how some of the painters influenced the others. Our group was about 15 folks. The National Gallery itself sponsors free tours but their tour appeared to have approx. 30-40 people on it--we passed by one when we were with Margaret. Also, having the LP we paid a discount on the London Walks tour.

We covered a lot of different paintings starting with the Wilton Diptych and moving on almost chronologically to the Doge Leonardo Loredan, Titan's Bachus and Ariadne, Rembrandt's self portrait, The Hay Wain by Constable among many others as well. Everyone had a clear view of the paintings and sometimes MIL even got to sit on the bench and still see and hear the presentation. It was a little art history tour.

Margaret did not get to show the group the Vemeer's Young Woman Standing at a Virginal because the National Gallery tour was there at the time. However, at the end of the tour I asked her to point me back to it and she said there were actually two at the Gallery and showed us both. We then saw the impressionist collection on our own.

I have to say that I absolutely loved the two London Walks we went on and wished we had time to join more of them. Something for next time The guides are very well versed in the materials they are to cover and they are fun to be with.

DH and DS met us in the lobby at our specified meeting time. We got to enjoy the art and we didn't bore them with it since they did not share the same interests while they went off to do something interesting to them. That worked out great.

Together we went across the street to St Martin in the Fields Church to the Brass Rubbing Center. Each LP allowed a free brass rubbing so DS did three and I did one--I couldn't let him do all of them They all came out great--even mine surprisingly enough. I have to purchase a frame to put at least one of his favortie works on display.

On Fridays, the National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery are open late so after our brass rubbing techniques were tried out, we went back across the street to the National Portrait Gallery.

I thought I read somewhere that the NPG has portraits of the Harry Potter actors. When I inquired of a staff person, she said they do have them but just not on display.

I think we covered one floor and we didn't see much else of the National Portrait Gallery because DS spotted a free drop in art class that he wanted to attend.

The teacher was having everyone sketch the sculptures that were in the room in fun ways. First do it by looking at the sculpture. Then re-do it by closing your eyes and just drawing it out. Use your left hand if you were right handed. Use two pencils--one in each hand and draw each side that way. Some folks sketches were phenomenal. Some people are really talented artists.

I am somehow deprived or devoid of any artistic talent and my sketches were so hideous that even the teacher was holding back laughter. DS and DH held their own and did a good job! MIL gave up on the first try so she just watched in amusement. DS was having so much fun he did not want to leave for dinner but after an hour and a half of drawing, it was time to go. Makes great souvenirs--at least DH and DS's, certainly not mine.

Close by in proximity we had reservations for J. Sheekey. This restaurant often comes highly recommended by most folks and I must say I agree with the recommendations. Yes, it is a pricey place but the fish is excellent.

I was surprised though when the famous salmon fish cake was not on the menu. The waiter told me that after 12 years they decided it was time to take it off the menu but if someone asked for it they would make it. So make it for me, they did. It was delicious. The others each had a different fish and everyone raved about their dish.

Back to another tube ride at Leicester Square to return to the hotel.

Next up--Palaces and Gardens. I am more than half way through with this extremely long report.

PatrickLondon

Going well. You've found out things I've not known or bothered with, like those art classes.

Nancy_W

I am enjoying your trip report very much! Please don't leave us in suspense!

europeannovice

PatrickLondon--The art class we just happened upon and DS was really intrigued.

Day 9--Hampton Court Palace and Kew Gardens

Early Saturday morning we took bus #1 to Waterloo station for the Southwest trains to Hampton Court Palace. We arrived at HCP a few minutes prior to opening time so we watched them open the gate.

I loved loved loved Hampton Court Palace! I enjoyed Hampton Court Palace better than Versailles and Windsor. At Versailles, the crowds were so thick in the Chateau that you could not really enjoy the fantastic art in each room because you were jostled by so many other people either on a group tour or just passing you by with the headsets. At Hampton Court, you were able to really appreciate all the rooms at leisure with very few others hovering about. Hampton Court Palace was much more fun than Windsor too especially for DS. We ended up spending most of the day at HCP.

We even took pictures with "King Henry and Lady Katherine". First, we saw Young Henry's story. Then we went to the Tudor Kitchens and they were setting up for their kitchen demonstrations that they perform the first weekend of every month. DS was able to light the tinder box which is what they used in Henry's time to light the fire for the kitchen. The "kitchen staff" were so friendly and explained everything from the outfits they wore in those times to the spices used and the meats served. They told DS to come back a little while later to turn the spigot as they were preparing mutton and he could help to cook it.

We thoroughly enjoyed the gardens--they are magnificent! DS was watchful of the clock for the first time in history and in the middle of us viewing one of the gardens, he said we have to run back to the kitchen because it is time. He was running off ahead of us. He made it to be the first of the day to turn the mutton at the large fire pit. What a great picture.

Back to the gardens some more and then on to William and Mary's apartments and of course to the star of the show--Henry's state apartments. We even saw the Georgian state apartments. We were having so much fun, we forgot it was time to eat.

After touring all the apartments in the main grounds, we walked over to the Tiltyard Cafe around 2PM for a late lunch. The Tiltyard was also on the London Pass where you get 20% off. Why not, we were there anyway and again just like at the Tower of London the food was good.

After lunch we walked through the rose garden but that was past its peak and then we did the maze. Thanks to Sassy-cat we had a peak at the map of the maze and I guess because of that we were in and out of the maze after reaching the center and going back to the beginning in less than 20 minutes.

We were at Hampton Court from 9-3:30PM. We were going to head back into London and do Kew Gardens on Sunday like so many wise fodorites suggested we do to split the two up on separate days. However, the weather forecast for that Sunday was rain and we knew we wanted to see Kew. I remember FlannerUK stating that Kew was more a museum of trees and plants rather than a gorgeous landscaped English garden. From that description I didn't expect it to be like Butchart Gardens in Victoria Canada or Huntington Gardens in Pasadena, CA which it clearly is not. Plus we knew Kew was open until 7:30PM that evening so we would at least see it for a couple of hours. The last reason is that bus #R68 was right in front of us as we exited HCP so we could all sit down for a while instead of having to walk another five minutes back to the train station. A chance to rest our sore and my blistered feet for an hour. So, we all hopped on the bus and took the leisurely hour long ride to the Kew retail park.

We actually had to ask someone once we got off the bus how to get to Kew and it was a 15 minute walk from the retail park through a residential area. We arrived around 4:45PM and the greenhouses close at 5:30PM but the gardens are open until 7:30PM. We knew we only had time for one greenhouse so we chose the Prince of Wales Greenhouse with the orchids and butterflies. It was very pretty but I have seen a larger orchid collection at flower shows and other botanical gardens. The butterflies were cute and roaming about. Butterflies are always great to see. I can't speak to the other greenhouses. We will have to come back another time at a more reasonable hour to view them.

We did enjoy the outside grounds and we wandered over to the rock garden which was quite impressive. The azaela area was past its peak as it flowers in the spring so we saw beautiful green grounds but not much in the way of flowers in that area--just wrong time of year for that. I am sure they are wonderful in the spring.

On a side note, as far as beautiful landscaped gardens even in summer I highly recommend Butchart Gardens in Victoria Canada and my all time favorite in the states Huntington Library, Art Collection and Botanical Gardens in Pasadena CA. Huntington is a real treat--the cactus garden is like a disneyland for plants--so many different varieties some flowering. The way they are arranged is just great and that is just the cactus garden. The Chinese garden which just opened a few years ago is so wonderful--words can't adequately describe it. The art gallery in Huntington has many Gainsboroughs too. It is a real gem.

Back to London. At around 7PM we took the district line and transferred at Hammersmith to the Piccadilly line to Covent Garden for our 8PM dinner at 32 Great Queen Street. We had the excellent lamb dinner that they recommend for groups of 4-5 people. Thanks Cholmondley-Warner and FlannerUK for recommending the place. DH and I had a pint and we all really enjoyed the food. It was an easy walk back to the hotel.

janisj

Finally got a chance to catch up -- loving your report!

You definitely squeezed in a lot, but it sounds like you also made good choices what to do/skip . . . .

europeannovice

Janisj--glad you and the others are enjoying the report. We thank you for the advice on making sure we allow enough time for the Tower and HCP because both really do need a lot of time to do them justice. We loved them both.

Ideally we would have liked to have more time at Kew but we enjoyed what little we saw. It is more the greenhouses that are of importance there. Whereas, at Butchart and Huntington the landscaping is truly wonderful. Along with Queen Elizabeth Park in Vancouver--spectacular places. I don't know if you ever went down toward Pasadena ( a good long drive down from northern CA) but Huntington is really worth the trip down. Not only are there wonderful gardens 10 or 11 different themes--Desert and Chinese are simply outstanding but the art work in the mansion is also world class. I am glad FlannerUK provided the description he did of Kew because it was accurate and we were not expecting the likes of Butchart at Kew.

We did make a mistake in going to Kensington Palace but that report is forthcoming. We were in the area and since we had the LP, we did it. That turned out to be a big mistake in more ways than one. I'll get to it later.

europeannovice

Day 10-Windsor and Afternoon Tea

It ended up being very cloudy, cool and windy on Sunday but no rain that day although it was predicted the day before. It was so cool in the morning in fact we had to run up and get our jackets. It wasn't even that early in the morning because we got up late after Saturday's adventures. I would say it was around 11AM. We wanted to wait to go to Windsor until after the hordes of bus tours have arrived and left since it is usually their first stop of the day.

We took bus #7 to Paddington Station National Rail. Of course, Waterloo was closer to our hotel but we could travel to Windsor for "free" since we had the London Pass and transportation to and from along with admission was included in the price we paid for the pass.

Paddington Station was different in look and appeal than Waterloo or St Pancras where we had arrived via eurostar. We changed at Slough--an industrial place. There was another family doing the same thing and we chatted with them while we waited for the Windsor train to appear. They had seen a concert at the Royal Albert Hall the night before and said how great it was.

The castle is very impressive as the train approaches and becomes even more impressive the closer you get as you walk the short distance to the entrance. I showed the guard at the front gate the pass but he said we would have to wait on the line which looped all around the gate of the castle. It was a pretty fast moving line though. When we entered by the gate, I saw multiple ticket stations and one of them was labeled pre-purchased tickets or passes so we went on that shorter line. Once they validated the pass, we then proceeded to security. It was like visiting the White House in Washington D.C.

Once past security there were two lines--one very long line for the Queen Mary's Doll House and State Apartments and one shorter line for the State Apartments only. We went to the Castle line first and then looped around to the doll house line later hoping the line would be shorter by then.

They don't let you see many rooms--just a good sampling of rooms. We enjoyed the room where you see the shields of honor. After the state apartments we did loop around for the line for the doll house which was still long but not as long as before. MIL really wanted to see the doll house. It is one big massive doll house!

If you like miniature furniture and miniature rooms, the Art Institue of Chicago--one of my favorite places which I have visited has a series of miniatures representing different periods of time in European history from the 13th century to the present and American history from inception to the present. Those are fabulous to see if anyone gets a chance to go to Chicago.

As I mentioned before, Windsor was nice to see, especially the outside, but just was not my favorite place. The town was very cute and we did a bit of browsing before heading back to London. I bought some chocolate--which ended up being our very nutritious lunch.

We got back to Paddington station around 3PM. What I found odd was not once either coming or going did a conductor stop by to ask for a ticket. We just walked out.

We walked over to the Lancaster Gate entrance of Kensington Gardens to find the Peter Pan statue. We walked by the Italian gardens and right next to Peter Pan is the bird sanctuary which DS loved. We did discover quite a few different bird species there. As it was a Sunday, Kensington Gardens was filled with people. DS did not want to leave the bird area so we stayed until it was time for our afternoon tea.

Back out of the gardens to the Central tube line to Bond Street for Claridges Afternoon Tea. I loved the Chihuly glass chandelier.

I informed our waiter of DS food allergy and they promptly prepared a plate just for him. They provided a wonderful selection of finger sandwiches--cucumber, salmon, ham, egg, and chicken. Each was scrumptious. They re-filled our plates too. Since we hadn't eat any lunch we gorged ourselves on the sandwiches. The tea was excellent too. You are provided with a tea menu from which to choose.

After sandwiches, then part II is served which are the scones and clotted cream--they have a special cream they serve. I love scones. Yummy! I wanted to box those up and take them home. If that was not enough then the final desserts are presented. Again they prepared a special plate for DS with no nuts. The setting and service were fabulous. We rolled out of there.

As we were walking back to the hotel, early for us, MIL almost fell on her face. I grabbed her arm to prevent her fall and she luckily landed against the wall instead of going down. I still have the bruises on my arm to prove I blocked her fall. It was hard for her though this trip because everywhere in Europe there are cobblestones--especially at Versailles and the Tower of London etc. We just tried to walk very slowly and I made her buy good walking shoes. She tripped though when the ground was flat--I guess she was being extra careful on the cobblestones but on a flat surface you sometimes mistakenly feel more secure.

That was one of the many things I worried about prior to the trip because the year before we took her with us to the Intrepid Air and Space Museum in NY and she did trip over herself on the sidewalk and took a flying leap landing face first on the ground. She was all bloody and we of course ended up in the emergency room with her. She had a broken nose and a broken wrist. We were trying to be so careful on this trip to avoid an emergency room visit--which we ended up doing anyway but not for MIL this time. To be continued...

europeannovice

I wish we could adjust our typing after we submit. I should have said we go for "free" as long as we go to Paddington Station and transfer at Slough. We would have to pay extra if went to Waterloo station which made no sense to do.

europeannovice

Day 11--Day of Mistakes

We were debating to do the Imperial War Museum and the London Zoo that day or something else and the zoo. We wanted to do the zoo in the late afternoon because we wanted to be near Primrose Hill where we had reservations for Lemonia--rated the best Greek (Cypriot) food in London and we wanted to give it a try. We read mixed reviews about the zoo and knew it was a small city zoo. DS was mostly interested in the bug pavilion and the zoo was included on the London Pass.

We decided to do the Victoria and Albert Musuem that morning instead. After the near miss with MIL the day before, we did not want to separate and have DH and DS go to Natural History by themselves. MIL really wanted to see V&A. We saw the Rapheal cartoons, the dress collection, the British Galleries and the spectacular jewelery collection. They had some interactive displays for kids and DS had a good time desigining his own shields. He must have emailed home about 10 different designs. The computer said we could go up to the 5th floor to print out the designs but when we went up there they told us they no longer do that. You just email it to yourselves only. Anyway, while we were up there briefly we saw miles and miles of glass display cases covering ceramics and glass. I wish I could spend a couple of hours just viewing those but we refrained.

After the V&A, we were walking over toward Kensington Gardens south side vs. the north side we covered the other day. We stopped by a Barclay's ATM machine since we had a BofA card and wanted to avoid the extra bank fee if you use a partner bank. We had no problems using the ATM machine at Paribas in Paris or at previous Barclay's machines on this trip until this day. DH made his selection and then he was waiting patiently for the money to come out. However, at this particular machine the money comes out at the bottom and when I noticed the money was sitting there I told DH to grab it but it was too late! The money got sucked back into the machine. I am thinking now that maybe that machine was handicapped accessible and that is why the cash came out below where it would normally. Do they have such machines in London? We had to call BofA and they said that we could not do anything for 24 hours. We asked them to credit our account for the money we never received. We couldn't believe we waited too long before we noticed the money and that it went back into the machine before we could grab it. Mistake #1.

We continued on our way and did see the Albert Memorial. We attempted to visit the Royal Albert Hall but was told there were no tours that day. We then decided to take bus #10 over to Kensington Palace despite the bad reviews we read on trip advisor and on this forum because we were close enough to it and it was included on the pass we had.

Before entering the Palace we stopped by the Orangery at Kensington Gardens for lunch. Three of us had soup, tea and scones. DS only insisted he wanted shrimp cocktail and nothing else. I tried to convince him actually to order something else but he was insisting that was the only thing he wanted to eat. When it came, it had a glob of a mayo type dressing on it that looked gross. He said he didn't like it. He didn't say it tasted bad just that he didn't like it. I should have returned the dish and ordered him something else. I don't know why I didn't do that. Instead, I told him to remove the mayo glob which he tried to do and he proceeded to eat the shrimp. Bad mistake.

After lunch we went into Kensington Palace and boy was it hokey and a big waste of time. They try to make it interactive for the kids by pretending and talking to the kids but it was rather lame. We spent a total of 30-45 minutes there.

From there I think we took two buses over to the zoo. I know one of the buses was #274. We arrived at 4:30PM just when the last entry is allowed and when we walked over to the ticket window, the guy at the desk proceeded to close the gate right on DH's head. DH got a bump on his head to the amusement of the ticket guy who let us in while laughing at what he had done. We didn't find it amusing.

We knew we wouldn't have time to see many animals but we were there mainly to see the bugs. We did see some birds and monkey's on the way in and out of the zoo. The zoo closed at 5:30 so we had ample time to view the insects as well as the animals along the way.

After the brief visit at the zoo, we walked through Prim Rose Park to Lemonia for dinner. We all ate the same foods--we shared all the dishes amongst ourselves and it was quite good. We took bus #168 back to the hotel.

Next day--the effects from the DS lunch kicks in.

annhig

Oh Noooo - I think we all know what's coming [up] now.

I'm sure you have the sympathies of us all, but mine particularly - DS got a dose of ??&*$%** at the beginning of our recent holiday in France and very nasty it was too. we spent ages trying to work out what it was, but there was nothing that just he had eaten, though he did have a lot of something that the rest of us ate very little of.

then later in the trip, DH got a milder dose and again, we couldn't pin down what had caused it. [not my cooking, thank goodness].

you can't blame yourself - how often do these things happen when there are no nasty consequences? more often than you think - we just don't remember them.

keep it coming...i think.

europeannovice

Thanks Annhig. I was blaming myself for not sending the dish back. It was the only thing different that he ate that the rest of us did not.

Here it starts...it was not actually until Day 13 that we made the hospital visit with him though.

Day 12 DS the Trooper

DS woke up with a headache and stomach pains. At first we did not have a clue what was going on with him other than he said he didn't feel right. He did not want any breakfast so he only had some tea. We originally planned to go to Greenwich that day but scrapped it for the Imperial War Museum instead which is closer. We had tickets to Oliver later that evening.

He went to the bathroom at the hotel before us leaving for the museum. When we got to the museum he had to go again which was unusual for him. We spent about 5 hours at the musuem. Unfortunately some of that time was spent visitng the bathroom with DS multiple times.

Despite his discomfort, we all really did enjoy the IWM. They do a wonderful job with the trenches exhibit for kids. We also saw the Ministry of Food exhibit discussing how they rationed the food during WWII. The section dedicated to the Holocaust was very moving and really well done depicting such a depressing aspect of hisotry.

After DS's third visit to the bathroom, I started to think about what he ate differently from us that would cause this and the only thing was that shrimp cocktail at the Orangery. I am glad he removed most of the mayo from the shrimp prior to eating or I suspect his situation could have been a lot worse. I think the mayo dressing probably sat outside too long before being served.

Of all nights, we had tickets to see Oliver that evening. I asked DS how he was doing and if he wanted to go back to the hotel rather than sit through the play. He was so much looking forward to Oliver--we were reading the book prior to our trip that he was a real trooper and wanted to see it.

Needless to say DS did not eat much lunch at all because he could not retain it. Luckily it was only come out one end and not both. We had experience with that too.

We proceeded to Cote where we had dinner reservations which is a French restaurant right across from the theater. I chose it for convenience to the theater and because of fodorite recommendations. The food was fabulous. Except of course DS just could not eat anything. We made sure he drank to prevent dehydration.

DS went to the bathroom at the restaurant, before the show Oliver began, at intermission and of course he had to go again 10 minutes before the show ended. He was so enjoying the play. The people playing Faigon and the artful dodger were excellent. The lead Oliver was very cute and the settings were fantastic. DS and DH missed the last ten minutes because they had to run out and DS was so disappointed and upset that the show was over when he came out of the bathroom. I explained to him the ending but of course it is not the same thing as seeing it for yourself.

Luckily we were within walking distance back to the hotel. I noticed that DS felt hot too. He was now also running a fever. I gave him some motrin but did not want to give him anti diarrhea medicine because I did not want to keep the poisons in him.

europeannovice

Sorry fot the typos--it is late.

I meant to write history not hisotry.

I also meant it was coming out of one end and not both. We had experience with both ends when he had rotovirus as a five year old as well as other times too. Those times were truly awful. This was unpleasant--at least at the beginning of the day but it kept coming as the day wore on even though he ate nothing and I got very worried when he began to develop a fever too.

Not to keep you in suspense...

Day 13--Emergency Room Visit

Upon waking up, DS still felt like he had a fever and he had to wake up a few times in the night too. I called the front desk, explained the situation to them about my DS not feeling well, and asked if there was a doctor available. The front desk manager actually suggested that we should go to the emergency room instead because if they have to treat him or prescribe something that it was better to do it there rather than seeing a physician. They recommeded we go to the University College Hospital.

Per my previous thread concerning emergency room visits, they quickly took DS in and the doctor said we did the right thing by coming in to the children's ward because he wanted to check the appendix given the symptons of fever and stomach cramps, etc.. Once that was ruled out we all suspected food poisoning. The doctor said of course that it had to run its course but he prescribed a paracetomol rather than motrin which he thought would be too harsh on DS's stomach. He said it would take a day or so to feel better and sent us back to the hotel.

Back to the hotel for DS to do nothing but rest in the room and recover.

We had planned on going to Oxford with London Walks that day. We will have to go another time. I love the folks at London Walks and was emailing to Mary a lot to gather so much information prior to the trip. They are very pleasant to deal with and we very much enjoyed all the walks we went on with them. Oh well something to look forward to next time. At that moment the most impportatnt thing was to get DS well.

MIL and DS stayed in the room the rest of the day so DS could sleep. MIL needed the rest too by the way.

DH and I ventured out to the John Soane Museum around the corner. A school group was given the tour and a guide was discussing each panel of Hogarth's Rake's Progress. Interesting the way she described the panels to the children. The house is really eclectic and what a collection he had.

We also walked over to the Courtauld Gallery and I did enjoy the impressionist paintings there. We then went back to the room too.

By evening DS was beginning to feel a little better and the fever had worn off. DH and I went out to a pasta place and brought back plain pasta no sauce for DS and brought back food for the rest of us to eat in the room. DS was finally able to eat a little bit. Yay, the road to recovery.

Next, our grand finale which was a whirlwind day. We were so grateful DS felt a little better and we did not have to cancel it. It was MIL's dream to visit Bath and since this was her once in a lifetime trip having never traveled abroad before and realizing she probably won't be able to make it back it was good for her to see it.

annhig

phew, EEN, glad that's over. sometimes I think that those episodes are worse for the onlookers than for the sufferers, who just suffer, whereas you have all the worrying to do as well.

you did all the right things, AND got to Oliver!

HeaAndrews

bookmarking

europeannovice

Annhig,

We weren't sure about getting to Oliver as the day progressed for him. Thank goodness he tried to clear away most of the mayo dressing so the impact was bad but not severe. I am glad he did get to see most of the show and that his bathroom episodes coincided with the right timing for the most part (before the show and intermission). Too bad for him about the ending of the show.

He really did not want to go back to the hotel that day and wanted to perservere despite his feeling really lousy by the end of the day. We didn't think it was a virus at all because we suspected the food right away and usually viruses with my DS come out from both ends as we have experienced with him in the past. Trying not to sound too gross.

I'll explain the tour we took a bit later but for the next day I took extra provisions for DS which we needed to use. He still had to visit the bathrooms many times but not as bad as that Tuesday. Wednesday he rested the whole day after the emergency room visit but it really wasn't until Thursday evening that he felt really well again and thank goodness because we flew back home on Friday!

europeannovice

Annhig,

Meant to also say:

I agree with you that it is bad for the onlooker too because you want to do something to make them feel better but are pretty helpless.

Sorry to hear about your DS and DH experiences in France. Hopefully it did not impinge upon the trip too much.

annhig

Sorry to hear about your DS and DH experiences in France. Hopefully it did not impinge upon the trip too much.>>

"fortunately", DS's collywobbles co-incided with the beginning of our trip when we were trying to aclimatise to the very hot weather, and spent a lot of time indoors, or driving round fairly aimlessly in the car just to enjoy the airconditioning, or swimming in the local school's pool which was thankfully open to the public.