Trip Report - 5 weeks with kids
 

It's hard to believe that we have been away less than two weeks. It seems that we have been traveling forever. Left 7:50PM flight from Atlanta to Manchester on June 4. It was totally exciting getting to the airport with the kids, with 5 weeks in front of us. I love that feeling when all the bags are checked, and all we have to do is get on the tram, go to the gate, and wait to board.

The kids (7, 11, and 15) did great on the flight. DH and I sat together (window and aisle)and the 3 kids sat together in the middle. It was really cute -- our youngest son, age 7, was at the far end of the row away from us, and was totally absorbed in the movies.

Arrived around 9 AM, with a 12 PM connection to London. We had originally stressed over how exactly to make this connection, and whether we should do a shorter layover time (1 hr, 50 min), take the train, or do this connect. We did this right. The 3 hour layover in Manchester was totally fine, especially since 2 of our bags didn't make it. It took a little time sorting this all out, and arranging for the delayed bags to find their way to our apartment in London (it turned out 2 days later). But instead of sweating out rushing to make the next flight (on British airways) we didn't feel pressed for time. This was especially important since we had flown Delta to GB and then were switching to a British airways flight, because of the much lower fare. This meant getting all of our bags in Manchester, and then rechecking them at the British Airways counter. It turned out not to be bad for us, since we discovered in Manchester the bags that had not made it. One thing, it was a very long walk from the Delta terminal to the British airways terminal - but doable with a lot of bags because you can use the trolleys to go from terminal to terminal.

Arrived at Gatwick around 1:00PM, tired but excited. We sat in Gatwick airport though for over an hour trying to figure things out. We had booked an apartment (more about this later) through an agency, and I discovered that I did not have the exact address of the apartment, though I had all the e-mails from the agency. It turned out that I had not received one e-mail that had the specific info. This wasn't immediately a problem for us, as we figured no hassle, we'll just call the agency.

Here's where a little delay began. We bought unlocked global phones (thank goodness DH took care of this end - this website was terrific for educating us). He did a lot of research and ended up buying 2 global phones for about $200 each with sim cards included usable anywhere in Europe. He bought the phones from Telestial. The attraction was apart from not having to buy sim cards in every country we would be going to, that the rates are really reasonable. He had checked out Verizon, T-mobile, and we had considered buying the sim cards in each city thing.

The problem we encountered in Gatwick is that we were unable to use the phones. DH had done a great job of printing out every country code and all the information we would need. The only problem was when we tired to make a call, we would get a message "Call barred".

When DH set the phones up in the US, we weren't able to actually make a call because as he was told by Telestial, the towers are abroad. Maybe he just spoke to someone who didn't know. In any event, he was told that he had gone as far as he could in the US, and would just have to connect when he got to London. DH had gotten the same "Call barred" message when he tried to use them in the US. We almost had apoplexy in Gatwick, getting that same message. (It turns out this is normal - I'll get to this in a moment)

The phone service itself is out of GB. Oh - another reason DH decided to use Telestial is that you only pay for what you use. We had seen other posts where people we stuck with phone service for a month or more, beyond what their actual trip would be. With Telestial, you buy the phones - this is fine for us, since we travel. Also you put a certain amount of money with a credit card on the phone - how much is up to you. Then DH especially liked, that when you have used up all your time, it rebills automatically, on your credit card, for the amount you have pre-selected. This is just what we wanted. Also, now that we have figured out how to use the phones to make calls - (this is a little tricky, and was not adequately explained either in the materials or in the several telephone conversations DH had with Telestial while still in the US, it is great because after each call, you get a text message, telling you the cost of the call (in GB pounds), and how much is left before you are rebilled.

I just want to finish this out about the Telestial phones for anyone who might be interested in using this service. I'll post at a later time, the exact rates - something like .60 or .70 a minute. DH knows this. We have since figured out how to use the phones. You hold down "0" until you get a "+" sign, and then dial the country code and phone number. A message comes up "Call barred", just ignore it, and in a few seconds, the phone rings, and you get a message "Answer"?. You select "Answer", and the a voice says, "Hold while I connect your call". The next thing you know your call has gone through. What we didn't know, and had not been told is that the message, "Call barred" is perfectly normal and part of the process. (Also although Telestial has a help number, their service is located in California, and with the time difference, they were closed when we had arrived in Gatwick - 8AM Eastern time, but 5 AM Pacific time). We didn't know this = and this is one down side to not having a 24/7 serice - we didn't think about this beforehand. However, I do want to add, that I had called Telestial's help number and had left several frantic messages, and did receive several messages back (after we had figured things out) from Sean who left a message walking us through the process. He also left a message following up to make sure things were OK. I thought this was terrific, though in the interim, we had received someone live (aparently when Telestial had opened) who had explained the process. One last thing about this phone service, - while it seems a little complicated, it is really quite easy to use now that we know how to do it, and it takes just a few seconds to be put through, rather than the normal phone service we are used to when you just dial, it rings, and someone answers.

Anyway, at the time in Gatwick airport, we didn't know exactly how to make calls, and this made getting directions to our apartment more difficult. But pulled out that trusty credit card, and called the agency, which was very helpful, as we got specific directions to Kensington. We ended up taking the express train to Victoria Station, and then taking a taxi to our apartment which was on Allen Street, just off of Kensington High Street (we loved this area!!).

One thing about train tickets - different places take payment different ways - at Gatwick I had to pay in cash, while if we had gone by train from Brugge to Paris (where we are now), I could have used a credit card.

Fortunately, I had changed money (roughly $350 dollars) which at approximately 2:1 got me some 170 GB pounds. So we paid cash for our train tickets to Victoria Station (acutally quite a lot for 5 people) and then easily got a taxi to the Allen House Apartments where we had rented a two bedroom apartment. Loved Allen House! It has a very small lift (elevator), and we were on the fourth floor. Julie, who works in the reception office is lovely. It is so well located, steps from the corner of Kensington High Street, (right across from a Starbucks) and a few blocks from the tube.

Our first day in London, when we arrived, we all crashed. After getting into the apartment around 4:40PM, we just fell asleep. It was quite a sight see 5 people just sprawled out face down on any available horizontal surface. Our 7 year old son had not slept a wink on the flight from Atlanta, and now couldn't keep his head up. And his 15 year old brother, I think just needs to sleep anywhere, anytime, when he isn't moving, listening to his ipod, and IMing his friends. Our 11 year old daughter is so go with the flow.

We ended up going to a terrific little Italian place for dinner, a few steps down Kensington High street, and then collapsing for the night.

More about the London later - Tuesday, June 6 - Tower of London, fish and chips and the London Eye. A great day. I'll post a little later. We are in Paris now, and just going to bring back those wonderful croissant and cheese for the kids for breakfast. (I asked each of my kids what they have liked so far, and high on my daughter's list is the croissant - we have had them everywhere, and when they are good, the chocolate croissant is to die for.)

Enjoyed reading.
i am interested in our report as we live for London in August
melissa

I am so enjoying your report, as we are about to take off for 11 weeks with our kids. I will be following your adventures. London is our first stop too. Where else are you going?

After 5 days in London, we spent 4 nights in Amsterdam which we loved, 2 nights in Brugge (it was OK, beautiful little city, but hardly compares to Amsterdam or Venice). We are in Paris until Sunday night, then 19 days in Italy, and 5 days in Scotland. I'll post more of our trip report later.

Such a good idea to start the trip report while you are away - but we will have to wait for installments! Very enjoyable so far. Our family loved London - I wish we could have traveled for 5 weeks.

Do you mind if I ask about the phones?

Telestial offers a phone for $99. I am wondering why you bought the $200 phones? Was there anything "bad" about the $99 phones?

Also, they have 2 types of roaming SIM cards: Passport and Explorer. Are you using a roaming SIM card? Do you know what the difference is between Passport and Explorer?

I may order a phone from Telestial, to be delivered tomorrow morning. These are very detailed questions, so please don't worry if you can't answer them. I am waiting for Telestial's customer service number to open this morning, so I will be able to ask them these questions. I just thought you might have some advice.

By the way, when we were in Paris last month (just me and DH), I thought that if I brought the kids with us, I would love to take them to climb the Arc d'Triomphe at night. With the lights of the city and the Eiffel Tower, it was magical. I hope you have a great time.

Upon further review, I am guessing that you may have purchased the Explore Your World special promotion for $199, which includes a $179 phone, $49 Explorer roaming SIM card, $50 airtime voucher and global plug adapter...

Hello 3mkids -

I love reading reports about people who travel with their children. Good for you! My kids are grown, but just reading this brings back so many memories.

The longest Europe trip we took with ours was for 6 weeks. People thought we were crazy, especially my own mother! But kids are such troopers, they're up to the task, and even now, some 15 years later, they still talk about this long trip.

I look forward to your next installment. How fun to write your thoughts as you go along.

What were your kids' favorite parts about London? We had an involuntary "bonus" 16 hours in London due to a missed flight connection at the end of our trip to Italy. We zipped into town and saw Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, Parlament, Buckham Palace, etc. from the outside (since it was early evening). It worries me a bit, because the kids were pretty underwhelmed.

travelgirl2, I will ask DH the specifics and try to post early tomorrow. It is 3:30AM here, and we are bushed. We were on the highest level of the Eiffel Tower at 12:20AM this morning -- and then had a devil of a time getting a taxi back to our apartment. We ate - glad we did some shopping this morning, and just I and my 15 year old are still up.

By the way travelgirl2, how old are your kids, and how did you manage an 11 week trip? It sounds wonderful!

Anyway to continue with our adventure - Day 2 in London - Our fifteen year old son woke up at 5 AM and was giddy with excitement - especially going out on the iron fire escape outside the huge master bathroom. One thing - our kids are not early risers, though when we have had to be up and out early we have done that. Although DH and I get up real early, it is a chore to get the kids up and basically we have just decided to go with the flow of our family. And -- to our delight (because we were concerned about long lines and everything people have written about getting to places very early) it has absolutely, without fail, every time, been to our advantage to go to the major tourist sites later in the day. So, on day 2 in London, DH and I went shopping early while the kids slept -- I felt totally secure as the 15 and 11 year olds are very responsible, and we left them with a phone if they needed to reach us - we were not gone long, and were able to get staples that I know our kids will eat. Much better than dragging them to a cafe to pick at something they don't really want and end up hungry a half hour later.

We got to the Tower of London around 3:00, having purchased a multi-day family tube ticket and tickets to the Tower of London at the Kensington High Street tube station. We ended up taking the last Beefeater tour at the Tower of London. I really like this tour, as DH and I had done it ourselves a few years ago. The kids enjoyed it a lot and got different things out of it. Our 15 year old is a history buff, and just devoured the history. Our 7 year old still talks about the Crown jewels. Our 11 year old daughter and 15 year old son really got into the talk the Beefeaters give you in the little church (I forget the name) - and all the kids' interest was perked by the Bloody Tower.

One really neat experience happened for my daughter and 7 year old son when we left the Tower when it was closing, out of the exit onto the Thames. Our kids are fairly fluent in Hebrew and noticed a group of French speaking students who appeared to be together from a Jewish school in France. My husband got into a brief conversation with one young man in French just outside the Tower and then the French student switched to Hebrew, which although DH and I read, we don't speak. But my 11 year old daughter does, and she started conversing with this young man in Hebrew, only to be corrected in Hebrew about something she had said, by her younger brother - our 7 year old son. My DH didn't understand a word of what was said in Hebrew, but then our youngest son and daughter filled him in. They thought it was a real high to speak in a foreign language to a foreigner in yet a different foreign country. We loved the fact that they were beginning to understand that people around the world may be connected in many different ways. It is hard to communicate this concept to young kids without them experiencing it themselves in their own way.

We stopped for ice cream and little souveniers and then crossed Tower Bridge - but not before we saw it lift to let by a sailing ship. We would be treated to this sight which I understand is quite unusual, at least one more time before we left London. We ate fish and chips at some little pub and then proceeded to take the tube to the London Eye. We got there around 8PM and NO line - walked right up to the ticket booth, purchased out tickets, and decided to hang out until the last London Eye flight so that we could do it during sunset. The last flight was at 9PM so we got to the que around 8:50, and the guard was so nice, stamped or whatever they do with the tickets, and let us wait until as close to 9 as we could get. The London Eye was a lot of fun, and we really loved seeing Big Ben and the Parliament building. DH and the kids took a zillion pictures as sunset was descending. When we got off the London Eye it was quite dark, and DH, who is a photography buff, set up his mini-tripod and got some great time released shots of Big Ben. We also got some great family pics. Took the tube home and collapsed.

Day 3 - 2d full day in London. We got a late start (shouldn't be any surprise) and we went to the British Museum. It is free so we didn't feel so bad about just having about an hour and half there. This was quite enough for the kids. We saw the Rosetta Stone, and the younger kids were really intrigued by the statues in the gallery near where the Rosetta Stone is displayed. My 11 year daughter showed me an entry she wrote in a journal she is keeping, in which she remarked about the writing on the Rosetta Stone being in 4 languages. We then headed for the Egypt rooms - I believe galleries 62 and 63, and saw the mummies. Our youngest was getting museumed out at this point, and was nagging us to leave - but not before he took in the mummified cat.

Outside the Britsh Musuem as we were leaving, we got great family pics, and then all laughed as our 7 year old really got into chasing the pigeons. He's going to have a blast at St. Marks next week. As many restaurants around the British museum are pubs, and not suitable for kids, we walked for about a block past the museum (first street heading away from the museum) turned right, and stumbled upon a terrific Greek restaurant dead on at the end of the street. We sat outside at the back of the restaurant - they have a little garden set up, and after the kids' initial disappointment at no gyros - had a terrific meal. We were saved by the saganaki and tzatsiki for our 2 youngest, and were delighted that our normally picky teenage son, was becoming adventurous with his eating. I have to say that I now think we may be beyond his picky stage, as he has continually surprised us with his willingness to experiment with many different types of food, including Indonesian food when we were in Amsterdam.

Day 4 - We packed a picnic lunch and somehow ended up in Hyde Park. It was lovely - warm and sunny (as it was everday we have been away exept for the 2 days we were in Brugge). We had the most relaxing and wonderful time just sitting back, eating and enjoying just hanging out for a while in the park. Also the kids were able to get pretty good burgers (which they all wanted from the little place - DH will have to remind me of the name - as you enter the park). After lunch we decided to take the NO. 15 double decker bus - instead of doing a much more expensive formal bus tour - that hits most of the major sites of London. When you hop on the No. 15 bus at the stop near Hyde Park - I will post tomorrow the exact name of the stop, and then take it until the Tower of London stop it is a great way to get an inexpensive tour of London. We all got seats on the top of the bus, right at the front so the view was great. Also, since we had the public transportation pass, we got on the bus for no extra money. When we got off the bus at the Tower of London, we made a beeline for the pier, and then bought a round trip (with a discount since we had the public transport pass) on the City Cruises (public transportation river boat) that goes along the Thames. We bought our round trip to go between the Tower of London and Westminster where Parliament and Big Ben are. We got off at the Westminster stop thinking we might eat around there, but there really wasn't any place to go, so we hopped back on the boat back to Tower of London, where we got the tube home. (I should add that we walked to Westminster Abbey and saw the outside of that beatiful church, but unfortunately couldn't go in, because as I recall it is not open to the public past 4 or 4:30 PM. Our 15 year old was slightly disappointed since he would have liked to have seen Newston's tomb.) Anyway, we headed back to the High Street Kensington aread, and had a wonderful, late night dinner in an Italian restaurant just a couple of blocks from our apartment. Next, Amsterdam.

Sorry, hit the wrong button. More tomorrow.

3mkids - Please don't bother about the phones. I was able to speak with someone at Telestial and we got it taken care of. (They were a bit hard to get a hold of, but very helpful once reached.)

I got the Stowaway cell phone promo for $199 which includes a Passport SIM card ($69), Siemens a75 phone ($189) and global plug adapter kid ($15).

My boys are 11 and 13. We are all so-o-o excited. We just decided that we really wanted to go all summer and then everything fell into place to make it happen. We feel very fortunate and view this as a trip of a lifetime.

I give you a lot of credit for travelling with 3 kids, of such different ages. It must be hard to keep everyone equally happy. We, too, tend not to be early risers while travelling, so I can relate to that. I also am so happy to see my kids experience and appreciate different foods, cultures, etc. I am very impressed that your 2 younger children were brave enough to speak in their non-native language to strangers!

travelgirl2 - sounds like what we got from Telestial. Very easy to use once you get the hang of it. Just remember to hold down "0" until "+", then country code and number. I wish someone at Telestial had told us this before we left - would have saved some agita.

Trip Report cont'd - We had a 1:15 PM flight on British Airways on June 9 from Gatwick to Schipol. Arranged for a taxi to pick us up at 9:30AM -- figured had plenty of time to get to Gatwick. A lorrie fire on I think A4 caused traffic to stand still, and our adept cabbie figured out we had to turn around, backtrack to London, and then get A3. Ended getting to Gatwick at 11:54 AM. We were very glad that we had left a lot of time - DH gets nervous about making connections.

Arrived Schipol around 3:15 - Amsterdam is 1 hour ahead of London. Everything went smoothly until DH realized that he had left his reading glasses, magnifying glass, and book on Dutch that he had just purchased, on the plane just at the time we were going through customs. The security agent was quite nice though, let me and the kids through, and had another security person go back with DH to the plane. We have never had this happen to us before, and generally are quite careful about taking everything off the plane.

Kids and I proceeded to baggage claim to get our bags, and wait for DH. This time we got all our bags except for our luggage carrier (wheels) - big loss and has made things a bit challenging, but I'll explain later. British airways never retrieved this - and it was impossible to get through to their baggage number which they give you when you file a report, though I tried numerous times in Amsterdam. Also, DH never found his glasses and other items he had left on the plane, but fortunately he found us at the baggage claim, as I was dealing with our lost luggage carrier.

OK - I guess I'll explain now why we had a luggage carrier. We were very concerned about the different airline rules about weight restrictions, carry ons etc. and used 4 mid size rolling duffle bags. We ran out of time to get a fifth rolling duffle, and I just put stuff in a fifth lightweight non-rolling duffle. We also figured on taking one one carry on each - for DH it is his camera bag, for me it is a bag with essential meds, electrical stuff, and handbag, and a couple of extra changes of clothes in case bags get lost. This had turned out to be important for us since our 2 bags were delayed 2 days going from US to London, one containing all of our daughter's clothes. But because I had taken a couple of changes of clothes for her, including some warm stuff, she was OK. I also had packed at DH's request a smaller backpack camera bag, and a couple of extra lightweight duffles which I folded up and put in our bags.

No luggage wheels to be found anywhere in Amsterdam. So we improvised. I pulled out the extra duffles, and started rearranging stuff, and for each rolling bag, was able to attach a smaller, non-rolling duffle to it, so that everything rolled. It was a good solution, but added to the overall number of bags. This presented a challenge when we had to deal with the trains since now we had to deal with getting all these bags on and off the trains. More about this later.

Anyway arrived by taxi to where we were staying in Amsterdam without incident. I had rented a houseboat on the Amstel River, very close to Rembrandt Square. It turned out to be a terrific location. The houseboat was OK - a little rustic, not pristine in terms of everything being in tip top shape, but very clean and adequate. It had a living room, kitchen, small bedroom with two twin beds, and a larger room with a king bed and a quite ample built in couch, that was large enough for our two youngest to sleep in when they wanted to sleep with us. I have to say that I though it was a really terrific unique experience -- the tour boats and private boats would pass us all the time, and we thought here we were right on the water. Also, the younger kids got a kick out of feeding the ducks right from their bedroom window, and from the little terrace outside our bedroom. They even named three of the ducks that seemed to appear like clock work every morning to get fed.

We LOVED Amsterdam. There is a friendliness and openness-- an easiness that made us feel right at home. The first night, we were quite tired, and just decided to eat near the houseboat, and have an early night. After we got back, with the kids watching their respective DVDs(I know my kids, and the DVDs have often been a lifesaver - plus reading, on long trips) DH and I ventured out a few steps from the boat to drink some beer and listen to a group playing some Irish music. We then took a short stroll around Rembrandt square, and some of the surrounding streets. We found a beautiful cinema, where we would take the kids to a movie a few days later. This was a Friday night, and everything is open until 3 AM. Other nights things are open until 1 AM.

We weren't very concerned about security on the houseboat, but made very sure to lock the door securely (and keep it locked) whenever we were inside and obviously when we left. Also, I kept any valuables at the hotel that was associated with the houseboat.

Day 2 in Amsterdam (6th full day of our trip) - we had a terrific Italian lunch - pizza, salad at one of the cafes in Rembrandt Square. My little one was cranky and very hot -- it was very hot, unusually hot for the entire time we were in Amsterdam. After lunch as we were walking along the square, a guy who does fire stunts, and had set up his little act in front of one of the cafes, came up to my youngest kids to get them involved in his act. I was pretty nervous, but my daughter doesn't need an invitation twice to perform, and before I knew it, she was participating in this guy's fire show. I had held back my youngest son, but he wanted to get involved too, and this guy did some tricks (non-fire) with him too. The kids thought this was great fun. We went back to the main street on the Amstel, and bought tickets for a canal cruise, which we decided to do the following day.

We then took the "long march" - too long, since it was so hot, and although things are walking distance, when it is so hot, everybody soon started complaining. We walked from the Rembrandt Square area, passed the Flower Market and Leidseplein towards the Rijksmuseum. We stopped at an ice cream shop near Leidseplein and had some waffles and ice cream, but then had just missed the closing of the Tourist Information. We pressed on and had difficulty finding the Rijksmuseum, so just spent a little time in Vondelpark. With a renewed sense of purpose and determination, we walked badk to Leidseplein, and then up Prinseengracht to the Anne Frank House, which is open late. Everybody thought it was a highlight of our trip to Amsterdam, very, very moving - in fact our oldest son thereafter insisted that we not leave Amsterdam without going to the Amsterdam Historical Museum, which we did (and it actually delayed us) in order for him to see a further exhibition on Anne Frank's original papers, which is closing soon.

We had learned our lesson after the Anne Frank House and decided to take the trams. Althought we paid more money by purchasing the tickets right on the tram than we would have if we had bought the strips in a tobacco or news shop (which we later did) we were delighted not to have to walk back to Rembrandtplein (Rembrandt Square. We ate dinner at an Argentina steak house, and collapsed into bed.

More on Amsterdam later.

Nice report. We're going with our kids in Aug and I'm looking forward to reading the rest.

P67742:

Hmmm....if you have not noticed, this trip report was 2 years ago to the date.