kraav

Just kidding about the going wild part but I thought it might get your attention!

We usually have done skiing or warm weather trips for spring break, but since about two years ago when I took DD1 to Paris, I have gotten totally hooked on overseas travel, my addiction heavily fueled by this board. DH could not take vacation days at this time so sadly could not be with us. So it was me, DD1, almost 15, DD2, 13 and DD3, 11.
We flew American Airlines on FF miles that I booked in December, leaving Sunday and returning Monday, which meant the girls would miss a day of school, a sacrifice they were more than willing to make.

Finding a hotel room for four is not that easy, but easier than finding accomodations for five, when we usually travel together. I looked into various options, including apartments, but because we would be meeting up with friends in a few days, we wanted to be at the same hotel. I found a few hotels with two double beds that slept four, and decided on the Holiday Inn Mayfair. I wanted a very safe, central location and it was perfect for our needs. It was a direct tube ride from Heathrow and a short block to our hotel. I, like many other people on this board was totally confused about which travel card to buy, whether to Oyster or get a pass, what to do with the kids, ect. I ended up getting a 7 day travel card loaded on an Oyster, and paying a quid each day for the girls for travel after 9:30. There was a day I didn't use the tube, so I didn't do the math, but this seemed the easiest and most straightforward solution. We arrived around noon, but our room wouldn't be ready until two. I was ready to stow our bags and get on with the exploring, but the two older girls had a mini mutiny, they were not going to bop around London without a shower, in the airplane clothes they slept in, and certainly not without their contact lenses in place! I placated them with a promise of a short walk around the neighborhood until the room was ready.

Our walk took us to Picadilly Circus and Leicester Square, where I saw the TKS half price ticket booth. We had already prebooked tickets to Phantom of the Opera for the next day, but I knew DD1 really wanted to also see History Boys. Knowing the folly of seeing the theater on your first jet lagged evening, I nonetheless got tickets for the play that night. By now, the girls had really perked up and we took the long way back to the hotel, seeing more of our neighborhood and making note of future stops.

After getting our room and cleaning up, we caught the hop-on-hop-off bus across the street from the hotel. We rode around in it until it was time to grab some dinner and make the play. We found a little Italian cafe not far from the theater, split two pizzas and three cokes and a coffee,(fifty bucks!) said a prayer to the gods of caffeine, and settled in for the play.

It was a coming-of-British-school-boy-age play which DD1 enjoyed very much, DD2 and DD3 enjoyed very much hearing four letter words spoken many times in a British accent, which of course sounds so much more sophisticated. Don't try that at home I warned. Except for a brief period at the end of the first act when we "rested our eyes", I was certainly glad we went, it was an incredible experience for us all to actually be at a London play less than 24 hours of leaving Chicago! Five minutes by tube we were in our hotel crawling into bed waiting for more adventures tomorrow!

julia_t

This is fun to read - please post some more soon!

yasron

I also have teenage daughters - this is great- waiting for more.

kraav

Day 2
I have to say a few words about our meals. I am a diehard foodie. I usually plan our restaurant options before even our hotel. This trip was going to be very different. Even though I was armed with pages of recommendations, the fact was that we were on the move so much, the food was so expensive, the kids were always staaaarrrving, that we pretty much grabbed things on the run in nondescript little places. It breaks my heart to even say that. I even took Missypie's advice and kept granola bars with me at all times, but hell hath no fury as staaaarrrrving teenagers. There was a Sainsbury grocery and St.Arbucks across from the hotel, so breakfast was bought there everyday. So for the four of us it was around 20-25 dollars for breakfast, 40-50 for lunch and 80-100 dollars for dinner. And always, always snacks. Always. And always, always, ice cream at theater intermission. Always. Where the heck did they come up with that? Just another excuse to wring 24 dollars away from dear Mom. I'm putting everything in dollars, because it's just to easy to fool yourself in thinking you're drinking a reasonable $24 bottle of wine, and it's really $48. Not that that ever happened. Really.

Our friends, a couple with two teenage girls, came in the morning. Since their room wasn't ready, they showered in our room (lucky girls!), and we were off. This was their second trip to London, so we thought we'd see the sights they missed the first time around together. We walked to Trafalger Square and the National Gallery. Without thinking, I asked for five of the audio guides for our family. "Five! Mom there's only four of us!" After realizing DH wasn't with us, I fake sobbed, saying I couldn't get used to him being gone from us, totally embarrassing the girls. Wonderful gallery.

Our friends went back to the room to regroup, but we still had time on our hop-on bus, so we toured the other half of the city. Time to go change clothes for the theater, (the only time we had time to change clothes for the theater) and we were off for dinner and to see Phantom. What a show. The music, the staging, the third row seats! We were in heaven. It remained the favorite show of the week. We walked back to the hotel, (have I mentioned how much I loved the location?) and got to bed for the early day tomorrow.

kraav

Day 3
Thinking that a week was a long time to spend in just one city, I planned two day trips. Silly me. We left London with tons we still wanted to see. That said, I'm really happy with the day trips we took. Sometimes it's easier to have someone else tell the girls what they're going to do, not
just me all week. We booked a tour with Astral Travels that went to Oxford, Stratford, and Warwick Castle. Now the good news was the pickup point was across the street at the Ritz Hotel (have I told you yet how much I loved our hotel location?). The bad news was that it was a 7:30 a.m. pickup. Four females, one bathroom, one very early wakeup call, one DD(1) who takes forever in the shower but waits till the last possible moment to wake up and could not possibly shower at night because eeww, she might sweat at night and by the way this is vacation she needs to sleep. This is a parental challenge that I have to face and I reach deep down inside and come up with a solution. Bribery. If they are ready by 7:15 with no squabbling, moaning or threats on my part, they may have mocha lattes from Starbucks. Worth every penny.

Actually, this tour may have cost me more than I anticipated. All three girls fell in love with Oxford, and think it is a perfectly reasonable place for them to go to college! More on that later.

jgg

kraav - Enjoying your report, as it brings back memories of our trip to London last spring break. We also did the Astral Tour to Oxford, Stratford and Warwick and really enjoyed it.

noe847

I am enjoying your report! I took a London spring break trip with my 17 year old last March, went again with her to London in August. This spring break I went to London with my 21 year old daughter. I've stayed at the Mayfair Holiday Inn each time (although we did 2 days this most recent trip at the Royal Horseguards) - it is an amazing location. I love that the tube and the bus are pretty much right outside the door. We also used the Marks and Spencer food hall that is located right at the station.

What dates were you in London? We were there from March 10 to the 18th and had the most amazing weather! Look forward to reading the rest of your trip.

Carrybean

You're quite a witty writer. Can't wait for more adventures of you & your girls.

WillTravel

I loved the mocha bribe! Taking three girls to London would be an adventure for sure.

kraav

Jgg, yes I've read all your trip reports, and awaiting more on your Morocco trip, which of course I want to see someday as well. I love how you prefaced your report with your family history because that is exaxtly what happened to us. When the kids were little, it was easier to go to a resort and play in the sand, but now it is just so much more interesting for us and for them to see where history actually happened and to get a taste for other cultures. Although there are so many places in the US to still see, I really want this opportunity to take the girls while they're still around to see as much as we can.

Noe847, we were in London from March 26-April 2. We only had one day of rain, the other days were pleasant. I was totally expecting rain the whole time, so we were very lucky.

I have to thank everybody on this board for all your reports and advice. I spend hours reading here even though I don't post as often as I would like. It is because of everybody's generosity of time that have made all our trips so successful.

noe847

Ah, that's when I was in Berlin with Daughter #2 for her spring break, and we had fabulous sun the entire time (March 24-April 1.) I was in London with Daughter #1 from March 10 to the 18th, with wonderful weather. Boy did we luck out. Last March we had mostly rainy and <i>very</i> cold weather in London (but we still loved it!)

I'm impressed that you have already started your trip report. I haven't even finished unpacking yet(!) but hope to write a report from each trip.

sharon1306

Enjoying your report...

kraav

Who says I'm unpacked?

Astral Tours have mini busses that hold 16 people. Together with our friend we were a party of 8, and 6 more people joining in we were only a small horde. Our driver was full of good stories and information both to and from our sights and except for the guide at Oxford, left the exploring of Stratford and Warwick to ourselves. We had a walking tour with a wonderful woman who was an Oxford native who really connected with all five of the girls, regaling them with stories of the Harry Potter filming, the different colleges and teaching systems,the library, the various robes that must be worn at exams, ect. She really captured the girls' imagination and they fell in love with Oxford and the idea of going to school there. She also mentioned an author who had a series of books a la Harry Potter being made into a movie that was to become as big of a phenomenom. Phil Pullman was the author. The girls were so excited to hear that since they are all voracious readers and always looking for more books to read.

On the bus ride home we decided to try and get half price tickets for Les Miserables. We had 15 minutes to get to the ticket booth and we raced there to find they only had six instead of the eight we needed. So we decided to forage for a place to eat that would seat eight together, satisfy the girls' appetites and our pocketbooks.
Finally around 10:00 we crawled home and went to bed.

kraav

Day 4

Another early morning, another worship at the temple of St. Arbucks, and we were out the door at 7:30 to meet our bus for our trip to Stonehenge and Bath. Since our pickup point was in a completely different neighborhood and taking the tube at that time of day would cost much more because of the congestion tax, we called two cabs to take the eight of us to meet our bus. Anderson Tours had a day trip to Stonehenge and Bath for 39 pounds, including admission to Stonehenge and the Roman baths in Bath. This time it was a full size coach, but rather luxurious with tables and tv screens, and it held only about 25 people.

Stonehenge certainly evokes mystery. Although everyone prepared us to be less than impressed with it, we were all happy to have seen it. The tour allows you about 45 minutes to walk around it, and with the blustery weather it was enough. I took lots of pictures both individual and group shots, because as those of you with kids know, they always have projects and posters (what I did for spring break, ect.) and Stonehenge is such a recognizable background.

At Bath we had about 31/2 hours to visit the Roman bath house and city. With the girls in tow it was just enough. I scooped up all the girls to go shopping and let my friend and her husband explore on their own. After a lunch of pasties, which was the most reasonable meal we've had so far, the girls and I wandered around and bought a few trinkets. As we were meeting for the bus ride home, my friend excitingly showed me the two sets of Phillip Pullman books she bought for both our families, even finding another bookstore to find the second set. Unfortunately, all of the girls already had the books at home, the titles and covers had been slightly changed for the American audience, and they weren't as enamoured with the author to have remembered his name. By then it was too late to return them, but friend graciously gifted the books to me anyway, saying to pass them on to anyone else who would like them. We'll wait and see if J.K. Rowling has competition when the movie version (The Golden Compass) of the books come out.

Another mad dash to the TKS office before it closed to get tickets for Les Miz, and again they were out, but were told they would probably have tickets available at the box office for full price. We decided to try the &quot;unofficial&quot; half price ticket brokers that were scattered all over the theater district when we were approached by a well dressed young man looking to sell Lion King tickets. Now my scam alert was on full blast as he suggested he could help us with Le Miz tickets. However, he just looked at his watch and said it was too late for him to do anything, but he said since there were eight of us, to go to the box office and ask if they could give us a group rate. Lo and behold, I did just that and we saved $40 a ticket for that night's performance! Now we just had 30 minutes to feed the staaaarrrving girls. We stumbled onto the most nondescript almost spooky place and ordered some sandwiches. My appetite was not at all whetted by this joint, so I abstained. I think I was also still full from my pasty and finishing off the kids' pasties from lunch. I wondered why I could be not hungry after the relatively light lunch. Then it dawned on me that the reason those pasty crusts were so tender was the six pack of lard used to make them. Yum. Good thing my pedometer showed we walked six miles that day!

I had seen Le Miz many years ago, but I don't remember it having the emotional impact on me as this time. Most of the audience was sniffling at the end. This time we took the tube back to the rooms we left 15 hours ago.

kraav

Day 5

Today our friends split up from us in the morning. After a respectable meeting time of 10:00, they decided to see the Dickens Museum, and we went on the changing of the guards and Westminster Abbey walk with London Walks. Unfortunately, this was the day of pouring rain, so we didn't see the guards, however had a facinating tour regardless. I don't know how they keep their Charles and Henrys and Elizabeths and Marys straight, but even for me at the end of the week some of it was sinking in. We then met up with our friends at the Imperial War Museum. That is where the staaarrving girls spent a cool fifty bucks at the cafeteria only to pronounce most of it inedible. Actually, I had to agree, and kicked myself for not planning a better lunch opportunity. The museum held everyone's attention for the rest of the afternoon, which I didn't expect, but it remained one of DD3's favorite experiences.

jgg

We loved the Imperial War Museum as well. Was the Holocaust exhibit still going? - it was incredibly moving and very well done.,

PatrickLondon

&gt;&gt;I don't know how they keep their Charles and Henrys and Elizabeths and Marys straight&lt;&lt;

There's a mnemonic verse that seems to have been updated since my mother's remembering:

Willy, Willy, Harry, Ste,
Harry, Dick, John, Harry three,
One, two, three Neds, Richard two,
Henries four, five, six – then who?
Edwards four, five, Dick the bad,
Harries twain and Ned the lad,
Mary, Bessie, James the vain,
Charlie, Charlie, James again,
William &amp; Mary, Anna Gloria,
Four Georges, William and Victoria,
Edward, George, then Ned the eighth
quickly goes and abdicat’th,
leaving George, then Liz the second,
and with Charlie next it’s reckoned.

That’s the way our monarchs lie
since Harold got it in the eye!

NewbieTraveler

I'm enjoying the report. I can't wait for the next installation.

kraav

PatrickLondon that's brilliant! I wish I had known that last week, it would have saved me some head scratching!

Jjg, yes the Holocaust exhibit was still there, very touching. Also the exhibit of how the children of London managed during the war was so enlightening. How families sent thousands of children out of the city and into the countryside to escape the bombings every night, and it was just a matter of potluck whether you got a loving family that would feed you and make you a part of their family, or someone who treated you as a servant and made you sleep in the barn. There were some docents there that actually were part of this and talked about how they saw siblings being separated because some seemed more desirable. I didn't want to become preachy, but several times I had to point out how blessed we have been.

kraav

A British Airline flight attendant recommended to our friends a pub near Covent Garden to go to and try their spotted dick. Yes, the English have a good sense of humor, or is it humour. We didn't have an address, but took the tube there to try and find it. Covent Garden is a happening place, even in the rain. We milled around looking for the place, it was called Porter's, and even asked a few people to no avail. My girls were bombarding me with their staaarrrvation, (of course since they threw away their $50 lunch) so we started looking around for plan B. We found a cute brasserie right off the square that looked relatively inexpensive in spite of the fact that it had real tablecloths. It was a real find because not only was the food good, but they had a children's menu, you could order entrees for half price if you were under 12. Evidently they weren't too strict about it because all the girls were charged half price. We were then all dry, warm and fed as we started to walk home. Of course that's when we spotted (dick) Porter's. Excitement mounted as we thought at least we can have dessert there. Disappointment reigned when they said they couldn't seat us. Hopes were raised when another hostess said we'll make room, just to be dashed again when I let it slip we were just having dessert, so, they wouldn't seat us. Oh well. We found our chocolate fix at Paul's bakery where the desserts were named much more elegantly.

It was our last night with our friends, and the girls were dying to just go to our hotel and watch a movie. By then it was 9:00, we had gotten our money's worth of sightseeing for the day, Mom and Dad still wandered a bit while the six of us went back to the room to watch The Holiday. Good byes were later said and I had two whole days to catch up with the rest of London.