Kevin here. Believe it or not, this is day 45 of our trip. Forty. Five. Let that sink in. We've been trying to do the same.
And we're about to head into our final chapter of this great adventure: France. First we head to Normandy for a few days. And then to Paris for the month of May.
Sorry. I've got to say that again just so I can convince myself: we'll be in Paris for the month of May.
Outrageous!
Ahem. So... since we're ending one chapter of our trip I think it's worth looking back at some of the things we've done so far as well as mention a few favorites, some things we've missed, even a few disappointments. Here goes...
A few of the things we've done over the past 45 days in the UK:
- Visited Edinburgh, including the great Edinburgh Castle, St. Giles Cathedral, and the Palace of Holyroodhouse
- Explored Stirling Castle, the Falkirk Wheel, and the William Wallace Memorial
- Visited Kelly's ancestral homeland in Oban, Scotland including Dunollie Castle of Clan MacDougal
- Took a car ferry to the Ilse of Mull; then visited Iona
- Drove up to the Highlands to see Loch Ness and Inverness; ate haggis
- Took a train through the British countryside from Scotland to London
- Attended worship at All Soul's Langham Place on Easter Sunday
- Rode on a double-decker bus through London
- Saw the changing of the guard at Horse Guard's Parade; and tried to at Buckingham Palace as well
- Ate ice cream in St. James Park
- Visited the London Aquarium
- Went on a Harry Potter-themed walk through London and saw platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross.
- Shopping on Oxford street, at Harrod's, Liberty, Boden, and at Hamley's Toy Store
- Had Afternoon Tea at Kensington Palace
- Shopped the Portobello market in Notting Hill
- Visited the London Science Museum
- Saw an English Premier League soccer game at Craven Cottage in Fulham
- Visited Parliament, Big Ben, and Westminster Abbey
- Ate LOTS of fish and chips; drank LOTS of tea
- Saw the crown jewels at the Tower of London
- Two visits to the British Museum
- A day trip by boat on the Thames to Greenwich to see the National Maritime Museum
- Spent time in Covent Garden watching buskers, searching for huge easter eggs, and visiting the London Transport Museum
- Rode the tube. A lot. Taught the kids how to use Oyster cards.
- Took a day trip to Canterbury to see the Cathedral, Canterbury Tales, and play in the park
- Went to Hyde Park to walk around, paddle a boat on the Serpentine
- Saw a musical (Wicked!) in the West End
- Let the kids buy way too many M&Ms at M&M World in Leicester Square
- Visited the London Zoo
- Saw the Churchill Museum and the Cabinet War Rooms
- Saw the annual Oxford-Cambridge rowing race on the Thames
- Visited London's Olympic Park
- Took a night walk with the kids by the Thames
- Took a train and a bus from London to Chipping Campden in the Cotswolds
- Visited the great city of Oxford to see Christ Church College, the Natural History Museum, Blackwell's bookstore, and the Eagle & Child Pub
- Got a haircut in Chipping Campden (me and the boys)
- Took a day trip to Bath to see the Roman Baths
- Took a day trip to Stratford-Upon-Avon to see Shakespeare's birthplace, take a cruise on the Avon river, and see The Tempest at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre
Wow.
It's good to write it all down. You forget so quickly. We're only about half way done, too.
OK.... so which have been the most memorable for us? Tough, tough call. But let's see...
Kevin's Top 5 UK experiences (in no particular order):
- The British Museum in London
- Cruising the Thames to Greenwich and seeing The National Maritime Museum
- Morning walks in London and Chipping Campden
- The Fulham game in Craven Cottage.
- Canterbury. The city was cool but the best part was how much the kids enjoyed this day, particularly in the park. The weather was good and they had such fun. Their joy made for one of the most memorable days.
Kevin's Honorable Mentions: Edinburgh (the whole town is just cool), boating in Hyde Park, seeing Wicked on the West End which the kids enjoyed so much, visiting the MacDougal castle Dunollie in Oban, Iona, Afternoon Tea at Kensington Palace, cruise on the Avon in Stratford-Upon-Avon.
I could add others. Like Tea. We've really gotten into drinking tea. The kids love it. Oh... and the train ride from Edinburgh to London. I loved that too. See... this is difficult.
Kevin's Disappointments:
- Pubs. I've been disappointed in how few let in families with kids. I expected to hoist a few more pints than I actually did. We normally had the kids with us when out and about in the UK and it was pretty tough to find a pub that would service us all.
- Pubs. I was warned about this and it was true: the quality of beer available in UK pubs is pretty low. Now, I'm a bit of a up-and-coming beer snob, it's true. So keep that in mind. But what a friend of mine said a few months ago has turned out to be true: nothing beats the American Craft Beer scene for quality beer. Sigh. So, towards the end I often went for a reliable -- if unimaginative -- fallback that was always available: Guinness.
- I wanted more time in the following museums (in order): The British Museum, the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, and the Science Museum (especially to view their collection of old instruments). It was frustrating leaving without seeing everything I wanted to. No matter. Next time, next time.
- Weather. It has not surprised us that it would be cold and rainy in the UK in March and April. Nevertheless, we're tired of being cold and wet and always having on our coats. I could probably live in the UK someday if it weren't for the weather.
- Overplanning. I have a habit of overplanning. My ambition far outstrips both my capacity and my talent. So I over-planned our time in London. We were just too busy and tried to do too many things. It was all still fun. But we hope to not repeat that mistake in Paris.
Kelly's Top 5 UK experiences (in no particular order):
- Canterbury - ditto what Kevin said.
- Oban - I loved experiencing MacDougal history!
- Afternoon Tea at Kensington Palace (The Orangery)
- Hanging on the rare sunny days at Hyde Park or St James park, and watching the kids run around and laughing as Anna tries to alternately make friends with the pigeons and chase them.
- Seeing REAL castles (that includes Edinburgh, Holyrood, Stirling, Tower of London, etc.)
Kelly's Disappointments:
- Definitely the weather, like Kevin said
- That we had to keep homeschooling. I wish we could have just done the history and not had to worry about math, grammar, journaling. But I just couldn't, in good conscience, neglect those basics. And I really wanted the kids to journal so that they could look back on it and remember our trip! Also, homeschooling is what helped make this trip possible! (yes, I'm convincing myself).
So, there you go. A few thoughts as we wrap up the first half of our family adventure of 2012.
A très bientôt!
0 comments:
Post a Comment