Uh-oh! I'm out of touch! Thanks Stu

Day 35 – London

Today we get an early start. DS1 wants to head back to the coin shop near Leicester Square. There is an army medal he saw the other day that he’d like to purchase. While walking by one of the half-price ticket booths at Leicester Square, we make a spur-of-the-moment decision to get tickets to ‘We Will Rock You’ for tonight.

DS1 happily browses in the coin shop while DS2 and I sit at the outdoor café next door. DS1 joins us for breakfast and shows off his new acquisition, a military medal.

We head off in the direction of TEMPLE CHURCH. DS1 is a fan of the DaVinci Code and wants to see the church. It has limited visiting hours. It seems to be open during the last two weeks of July. Today, the visiting hours are 11:00 am – 12:30 pm. It is very hard to find. Most of the entrances to the Middle Temple, etc., are closed today, so we walk around and around until we find one entrance open. We feel like we are sneaking in, as we walk past the guard. Once we find the church, it is simple but beautiful. The crypt area is very interesting, with raised effigies on the floor. There are gorgeous stained glass windows in the front of the church. Going down the aisle, the pews on the right and the pews on the left face each other, not the front.

Then, we head over to SOMERSET HOUSE. We’ve been here before. Last year, we came to visit the HERMITAGE ROOMS. They display part of the Hermitage Collection from St. Petersburg. I’ve always been interested in Russian history, so I’m happy to go back and see what they are displaying today. It is a tiny museum, just a couple of rooms.

There is a 4-day children’s festival at the Somerset House. There is a huge courtyard, filled with fountains. Today, kids of all ages are frolicking in the fountains. Suddenly, the water stops and a band starts to play. They march around the perimeter of the fountains. Then, a group of silly people start dancing in the fountains. It looks like one man is in his underwear. This seems like a modern dance troupe. It is silly and fun to watch. The show only lasts 15 minutes. Then, in one corner of the courtyard, a hip hop demonstration starts.

We have some sandwiches and then the kids go attend a crafts class. They make a zoetrope, which is a round sort of pinwheel with sections cut out of it. There are pictures inside and as you spin the pinwheel around, it looks like the pictures are animated. It is a fancier version of a flip-book. Afterwards, we go back to the apartment and make dinner.

Then, it is time for the show. We take a taxi to save time, but (ouch) it costs 18 pounds. ‘WE WILL ROCK YOU’ is a rockin’ good time. It is not the best play I’ve been to, but maybe the most fun. It is more like a concert of Queen’s songs. I enjoy it tremendously. The kids think it is good, but not as good as ‘Blue Man Group’.

On the way home, we take the tube. Even though it is late, there are tons of theatre-goers, so we feel safe. It is a bit of a party crowd. DS2’s eyes bulge when he spots a transvestite. We have a little talk about diversity and how it is often easier for people who are different to live in a city because people are usually more tolerant of diversity.

As we approach the platform, we jump onto a train just as the doors are closing. We soon realize that we are headed in the opposite direction of the apartment. We get off at the first stop and change trains. We go three stops and then get off to change to the District/Circle lines. As we are waiting, they announce that the District/Circle lines have a signal failure, so we have to go back to where we started from and take the Piccadilly Line. So, we do. Finally, after 4 trains, we arrive home.

There, it is time to start packing, for we are headed to Amsterdam tomorrow morning.

Don't forget us t-girl!

Hi! No internet access this week. Will get back to posting asap. Have a great day, wherever you are! - TG2

I've missed your posts!

so how did you just post that message?

Travelgirl -
You have great travels, too. Please catch us up when you can. We miss you, but hopefully you are continuing to enjoy your trip of a lifetime!

Best wishes,
Linda

If I'm counting right, I think that Travelgirl is about to start the last week of her trip. While I think we all admire what her family is doing, when I think about it, I don't think I would like to have been away from home since June 15th. I'd be so sick of my clothes, so sick of eating out. I'd be so ready to spend an afternoon on the couch with a book or magazine, but then I'd feel guilty for being in some great place and not seeing it to its fullest.

I'll be interested to hear if travel girl had any similar feelings.

Stellarosa: she probably posted on the run. Maybe at the hotel before leaving or at the airport while waiting for a plane? So, we'll all have to wait with bated breath for the next installment. This has really been fun.

I, for one, shall not be turning purple.

That's good... cuz then you would be Stellapurpura rather than Stellarossa

My-o-my TG2, what a large and loyal fan base you've created! Why don't you just send future posts to me and I will distribute to the fan base at a nominal little fee, ahem! Seriously...we all await the next post.... impatiently.

Stu T.

Travelgirl
I just found your trip report today and read it in one sitting! It's fabulous. Thank you for taking us along. I'm suffering from terrible morning sickness - all day 'morning' sickness. Worried that I may still be suffering in 10 days when we leave for our trip to Greece, but more importantly wondering how long it will be before we can do a major trip again now that we are having a baby. I'm inspired by you and your family. Happy to know that it doesn't have to be all kiddie parks and Chuck E Cheese for the next 18 years! What a relief!!! Thank you.

Missypie -

I agree with you - I love to travel more than just about anything in this world, but I can't imagine being gone for 11 weeks, and with kids to boot!

What I don't understand, and I hope travelgirl can illuminate me on this when she once again logs on, is why all the zig-zagging. It sounds like they travel fairly extensively every year, so why the rush to see the whole world in one summer, even repeating many places you've been to before?
To me, it seems such a waste to go ALL the way to Japan and then just spend 1 1/2 days in Tokyo! I guess I don't understand why you wouldn't spend an entire trip on just one hemisphere, say Japan, China, Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, if you had all that time. At least, you're staying more or less in certain time zones. I would be dead keeping their pace. My hat's off to them, that's for sure, for keeping their spirits and attitudes up, even under very trying (and tiring) conditions. I feel like I've been reading a season of "The Amazing Race". And looking forward to the next installment!!!

Gia-I topped a thread for you that will give you hope-called traveling with kids yay or nay?

Lots of good trips with kids that cheered me on...

Thank you! I appreciate it.

Great Report! I love reading this, even if it's keeping me from work.

Gia, just wanted to say that you will be the parent and you can just say "no" to Chuck E. Cheeses, forever. That place is hell on earth; you don't have to EVER go there!

Hagan: &quot;<i>What I don't understand, and I hope travelgirl can illuminate me on this when she once again logs on, is why all the zig-zagging.</i>&quot;

Early on in the thread TG2 explained in some detail why the itinerary evolved the way it did.

missypie, I was wondering about the same thing when I read your post above. I absolutely love to travel, and would love to travel for weeks on end, but I think I would tire of it after awhile. However, if I did a trip like this I would have utilized apartments or villas and stayed in one place for a week or two at a time. This way I wouldn't feel too guilty about spending a day lounging on the couch!

Still, what a fantastic adventure travelgirl is doing with her family. I love reading this report, and anxiously await the rest.

Tracy