London trip report with kids....
Sep 25th, 2006, 11:24 AM
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London trip report with kids....
Basic facts...
Travelers:
Dh (39) anxious first time crossing Atlantic
Dm (Dear me) over zealous travel planning mom
Ds (11) as long as feathered friends are around he's keen on travel
Dd (8) Give her a horse, she'll wax happy
Dd (7) All smiles but a bit shy
Destination: London 5 nights & Cotswolds 4 nights
Shoes: 2 pair Asics, 1 pair Merrel's, 1 Crocs, 1 New Balance, 1 Reebok, 1 Stride Rite
Luggage: 3 20" wheelies, backpack and 1 carryon
Necessities: Passports, 300 pounds (just 50 shy of perfect), 2 for 1 entry coupons, itineraries on index cards, drivers license, cell phone, 2 credit cards, and 2 well-traveled teddy bears.
Day one: Had no problems taking our carry on and saw many carrying fairly large suitcases on (over 26"
...but we were glad we checked our three. Arrival at Gatwick was very easy...no problems, Gatwick Express was quick convenient and with discount a good deal. No rain was a good sign! 
Purchased our Oyster cards...minor glich, the man sold me a one day ticket instead of a 7 day...30 seconds on no sleep passed before I realized the oops, corrected and we offed to Holiday Inn Kensington Forum. We arrived at 9:00 am and really didn't expect to get the rooms, NO PROBLEM, they let us check right in! Always note those blessings! Good hotel for $80 a night...no complaints, yet. Went right outside and hopped on the bus to take us to the American Express office to pick up a replacement card...since I'd charged Mary Poppins tickets on it they needed to see the card (lost it somewhere in my house) hoped a replacement would work....then we went towards Hamley's. Immediate toy exposure needed for 3 children trying to fall asleep. We all were not impressed and would not put this on your list of to do's with the kids...I had this great idea it would be like FAO Schwarz...nowhere near it. Didn't even buy a thing.
Next was a trip to Hyde Park..the kids LOVED the park on the Kensington side with the boat and teepees...we spent many days here...a pure joy for them. Ice cream and all was good. We then realized we really needed some sleep...went back to hotel to try and catch a short nap...kids swore they weren't tired but we all fell fast asleep for 2 hours and woke in time to catch a taxi to Prince Edward's theater and a bite to eat. Kids were trying hard to stay awake in the cab...and through dinner we thought we'd lose them...but by the time we hit Mary Poppins BINGO...eyes wide open! A very special treat was being upgraded to grand circle seats after paying for the cheapest...warm fuzzies for the manager at PE...what a great view we had! Wonderful show, just wonderful.
aside...cabbie asked us where we were from, said Alabama and mentioned the LS song "Sweet Home AL"...the cabbie perked up and pulled out his cellphone and promptly played that song for us...one of his faves he said...made us all feel warm fuzzies!
We had survived being up for 37 hours with a 2 hour nap (kids did sleep for about 3 on the plane so they maxed out at 5)...time for sleep!!!
Day 2:
Sleep, did someone forget to sleep with the draperies open? Yep, we slept until 1pm that afternoon. Oh well, we knew we had the ceremony of the keys at Tower of London so we were actually okay with sleeping this long. Headed straight to the Natural History Museum and Victoria and Albert...NHM, HUGE HIT with the kids...the Dino Jaws not really worth it but we don't mind contributing to such a great museum...VA was like going through someone's attic and finding treasures of all kinds...but for the kids it was a "hurry up and get us out of here" journey. I should have done V&A first, you just can't top NHM for my kids...huge dinosaur and animal buffs.
Found a very nice pub called Bunch of Grapes or something like that and had our first fish /chips bangers/mash...all wonderful.
Ceremony of the keys..really quite a treat. Patrick our tour beefeater was a gem and in his dryest voice mumbled "children should be put in a pot and boiled." He then took to my youngest (the shyest) and made her his special helper and the center of the small group we were with (only about 15 for the keys, until a corporate group of 80 or so joined to our side...kind of took some charm away, but they quickly left and we were back to our small group again)...my youngest immediately bonded with Patrick and made her one special toy request be of a toy beefeater she could put beside her bed to remind her of Patrick and his kindness he showed, although he preferred children in pots. That one special toy limit was purely given to make them think hard before deciding on every bit of fluff that passed their eyes...they ended with several memorable items...so I'm not all scrooge. But that night was a marker to remember for our 7 year old...she'll never forget Patrick.
Day 3....
Pork roast calls...will complete when I get a chance...Our tour of city mouse/country mouse will continue and will have pictures soon!
Tara
Travelers:
Dh (39) anxious first time crossing Atlantic
Dm (Dear me) over zealous travel planning mom
Ds (11) as long as feathered friends are around he's keen on travel
Dd (8) Give her a horse, she'll wax happy
Dd (7) All smiles but a bit shy
Destination: London 5 nights & Cotswolds 4 nights
Shoes: 2 pair Asics, 1 pair Merrel's, 1 Crocs, 1 New Balance, 1 Reebok, 1 Stride Rite
Luggage: 3 20" wheelies, backpack and 1 carryon
Necessities: Passports, 300 pounds (just 50 shy of perfect), 2 for 1 entry coupons, itineraries on index cards, drivers license, cell phone, 2 credit cards, and 2 well-traveled teddy bears.
Day one: Had no problems taking our carry on and saw many carrying fairly large suitcases on (over 26"
...but we were glad we checked our three. Arrival at Gatwick was very easy...no problems, Gatwick Express was quick convenient and with discount a good deal. No rain was a good sign! Purchased our Oyster cards...minor glich, the man sold me a one day ticket instead of a 7 day...30 seconds on no sleep passed before I realized the oops, corrected and we offed to Holiday Inn Kensington Forum. We arrived at 9:00 am and really didn't expect to get the rooms, NO PROBLEM, they let us check right in!
Always note those blessings! Good hotel for $80 a night...no complaints, yet. Went right outside and hopped on the bus to take us to the American Express office to pick up a replacement card...since I'd charged Mary Poppins tickets on it they needed to see the card (lost it somewhere in my house) hoped a replacement would work....then we went towards Hamley's. Immediate toy exposure needed for 3 children trying to fall asleep. We all were not impressed and would not put this on your list of to do's with the kids...I had this great idea it would be like FAO Schwarz...nowhere near it. Didn't even buy a thing.Next was a trip to Hyde Park..the kids LOVED the park on the Kensington side with the boat and teepees...we spent many days here...a pure joy for them. Ice cream and all was good. We then realized we really needed some sleep...went back to hotel to try and catch a short nap...kids swore they weren't tired but we all fell fast asleep for 2 hours and woke in time to catch a taxi to Prince Edward's theater and a bite to eat. Kids were trying hard to stay awake in the cab...and through dinner we thought we'd lose them...but by the time we hit Mary Poppins BINGO...eyes wide open! A very special treat was being upgraded to grand circle seats after paying for the cheapest...warm fuzzies for the manager at PE...what a great view we had! Wonderful show, just wonderful.
aside...cabbie asked us where we were from, said Alabama and mentioned the LS song "Sweet Home AL"...the cabbie perked up and pulled out his cellphone and promptly played that song for us...one of his faves he said...made us all feel warm fuzzies!
We had survived being up for 37 hours with a 2 hour nap (kids did sleep for about 3 on the plane so they maxed out at 5)...time for sleep!!!
Day 2:
Sleep, did someone forget to sleep with the draperies open? Yep, we slept until 1pm that afternoon. Oh well, we knew we had the ceremony of the keys at Tower of London so we were actually okay with sleeping this long. Headed straight to the Natural History Museum and Victoria and Albert...NHM, HUGE HIT with the kids...the Dino Jaws not really worth it but we don't mind contributing to such a great museum...VA was like going through someone's attic and finding treasures of all kinds...but for the kids it was a "hurry up and get us out of here" journey. I should have done V&A first, you just can't top NHM for my kids...huge dinosaur and animal buffs.
Found a very nice pub called Bunch of Grapes or something like that and had our first fish /chips bangers/mash...all wonderful.
Ceremony of the keys..really quite a treat. Patrick our tour beefeater was a gem and in his dryest voice mumbled "children should be put in a pot and boiled." He then took to my youngest (the shyest) and made her his special helper and the center of the small group we were with (only about 15 for the keys, until a corporate group of 80 or so joined to our side...kind of took some charm away, but they quickly left and we were back to our small group again)...my youngest immediately bonded with Patrick and made her one special toy request be of a toy beefeater she could put beside her bed to remind her of Patrick and his kindness he showed, although he preferred children in pots. That one special toy limit was purely given to make them think hard before deciding on every bit of fluff that passed their eyes...they ended with several memorable items...so I'm not all scrooge. But that night was a marker to remember for our 7 year old...she'll never forget Patrick.
Day 3....
Pork roast calls...will complete when I get a chance...Our tour of city mouse/country mouse will continue and will have pictures soon!
Tara
Oct 23rd, 2006, 02:40 PM
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I missed this first time around. Really enjoyed it, especially the Patrick part. Very familiar with the pub, too. The flat I rent is just a couple blocks west of there. Hope you come back & finish!
Oct 24th, 2006, 06:13 AM
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Where's the rest of this report ma23peas?? And did you take Dd (8) to the Royal Mews?
I agree with you about Hamley's; don't like it, and can imagine it would be awful with jet-lagged kids.
Toy department in Harrods is nicer.
I agree with you about Hamley's; don't like it, and can imagine it would be awful with jet-lagged kids.
Toy department in Harrods is nicer.
Oct 24th, 2006, 06:48 AM
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I missed this the first time around. Guess it's not indexed to "United Kingdom?" I'm pretty sure that we had Patrick at the Ceremony of the Keys also. He really did make the idle moments lots of fun.
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