Spending one week in the past few locations has definitely cemented how much more can be seen in two weeks compared to one, but we’ve enjoyed our week stays even so. London has been terrific, even though the weather has been very London – chilly and drizzly.
We began our adventures by visiting the London museum. Our timing was impeccable because a downpour came through just after we had made it inside. We explored London from the Neolithic time period through the great fire of 1666. We learned many cool things, including that an ancient community lived where Heathrow airport is now, and that many artifacts were found as they began to build terminal 5. We also learned that in addition to woolly mammoths living in the United Kingdom, woolly rhinoceros did too! There were also fascinating exhibits about London in the Roman Times – called Londonium, the plague and the fire of 1666. The girls decided they weren’t sure if being a princess was worth having to live through the medieval times. After exploring the museum, we went down to tower pier to catch a boat cruise on the River Thames. Luckily the storm had mostly passed so we had good views from the boat while we partook in an English Tea onboard. Audrey’s favorite sandwich was the cucumber, Maurene loved the cheese, and we all loved the scones. But the definite hit of the day was the dessert plate. Both girls had tea, and while they didn’t drink much of it, I was proud of them both for participating so fully in the experience.
Our big event for Tuesday was going on a London Harry Potter tour. This was very different from the Edinburgh tour because this tour focused mainly on filming locations. We had the chance to see where the entrance to Diagon Alley is, see the film inspiration for Diagon and Nocturn alleys, walk across the Millennial bridge that was destroyed in the 6th movie, and of course, visit King’s Cross station. Unfortunately, we did not get to see between platforms 4 and 5 where filming platform 9 3/4 occurred, because to get through the new barriers you must now buy a train ticket. Audrey and Maurene did an amazing job answering all of the questions from the tour guide. Maurene made a friend on the tour and spent the whole time walking with them or telling our tour guide all of the information we learned on the walking tour in Edinburgh – which I thought was fantastic and hysterical. Look out for Maurene’s new book coming soon: the adventures of Harry Potter getting turned into a trash bin.
Wednesday was a full day. We began with a walking tour following the changing of the guard. We saw the new guard assembling at St. James Palace, followed along with the band to Buckingham palace, watched the new group of cavalry ride toward where their guard change takes place, and watched the new guards go into Buckingham Palace to begin changing places with the old guard. Then we went and watched the end of the horse guard changing, and found our way back to St. James palace to watch the old guard march back in. We had the chance to learn many signs showing Queen Elizabeth II was in town: the royal flag flying at Buckingham Palace, the four guards in front of Buckingham Palace rather than the typical two, the two guards in front of St. James Palace, and the white horse leading the cavalry rather than the traditional brown. We also learned that we just so happened to be visiting on Prince Charles’s 70th birthday! We watched a few carriages pull up to Buckingham Palace and imagined he was in one of them. We also listened to the gun salute on our way back toward the underground. After taking a break for lunch, we went to the Tower of London! We entered right at 13:00, giving us the chance to watch the cannon salute for Prince Charles’s birthday. After watching the salute and incredibly efficient clean up, we went in to get our audio guides. If you are visiting the Tower of London with kids, I would highly suggest the family audio guide tour. It is led by some of the ravens that live in the Tower of London and is entertaining, fact filled and had just the right amount of gore to explain the tower while remaining family friendly. Audrey’s favorite part of the visit was seeing the Crown Jewels of England, while Maurene’s favorite part was the Bloody Tower. My favorite part was learning about the ravens and watching them have free reign throughout the tower. We enjoyed our visit so much that we stayed at the Tower of London until they came around and took our audio guides and kicked us out at closing. After getting home and eating some supper, we chose to watch Much Ado About Nothing directed by Kenneth Branagh as preparation for our Thursday adventures.
Our afternoon on Thursday was spent at the Globe Theater. Well, the third version of the Globe Theater. It was a very well-made reconstruction and the girls loved getting to see the kind of theater where Shakespeare’s plays were performed. We had the chance to sit in a few places in the audience, including where Queen Elizabeth II sat when she came to a performance at the Globe, which the girls thought was super cool. Maurene loved the stage openings for heaven and hell, and Audrey loved comparing her theater experience from Bowman School to what it would be like performing in an open-air theater. Audrey and Maurene were fascinated by Shakespeare and requested to read, and perhaps perform, some more of his plays – both in modern and Shakespearean English. Audrey is also hoping to come back and see one of Shakespeare’s plays at the Globe Theater during their play season when the weather is warmer. After spending the afternoon at the Globe Theater, we went home and hurried to get ready to go see Lion King in London’s West End. It was a wonderful show, and we enjoyed all five of us going together: Kris, Josh, the girls and I.
After a full day of theater on Thursday, we chose to begin our day Friday a little later. Even so, we enjoyed seeing a large part of the British Museum during the afternoon. We focused on the Egyptian wing of the museum, because the girls were so excited to see the Rosetta Stone. Upon seeing the Rosetta Stone, they were both a little underwhelmed. Audrey said “wait it’s actually a stone.” I thought this was hysterical, because we had seen a replica in Barcelona. After I asked her, Audrey’s not sure what she expected would be different about the two other than the authenticity. Even though they were underwhelmed, we had a great time discussing the importance of the Rosetta Stone. Maurene wants to find the rest of the Stone, and we all were curious about why part of the Stone was turning a rose color. We hope to do more research on the changing color in the future. The hit of the day were the mummies. My favorite mummy was the naturally mummified body from before Egyptians began artificial mummification. Audrey’s favorites were the bull mummies, and Maurene’s favorites were the cat mummies. We also had the chance to learn some about Ancient Nubia, which was very powerful and even had Pharaohs that ruled over both Nubia and Egypt, but has been neglected in many schools ancient history lessons. I am so glad to have the chance to learn alongside Audrey and Maurene about the parts of the world I never learned about in traditional school. This was a wonderful chance for me to model life long learning for the girls and talk about how much is out in the world for people to learn about even as a grown up.
Last year, one of my coworkers at Cambeiro Elementary went to London over Thanksgiving break. She took a baking class and for the rest of the year made all sorts of wonderful breads for us. When I found out we were coming to London, I knew I wanted to take one of the classes from Bread Ahead. I love sourdough bread, and upon seeing that the introduction to baking sourdough bread class corresponded with when I’d be in London, I signed up immediately – before even leaving the United States. I am so glad I did. I made my own live yeast culture and baked two different live yeast breads – a rye and a sourdough. I enjoyed the class very much and am excited to start baking my own bread after this adventure comes to an end.
Due to a flight change, Sunday was my last day in London. I spent the day visiting Stonehenge and the Roman city of Bath with Anderson Tours. Stonehenge is a few hours from London – but the drive through the countryside is beautiful. The weather was fantastic, it was cold but there was not a cloud in the sky. I loved getting to see the stones and learn more about some of the theories as to why they were built. After exploring and freezing a little bit, we headed on to the city of Bath. The Roman baths in Bath are beautiful. The baths are built on a natural hot spring that still is bubbling up hot water. Based on the color of the water, I hope that the water was different when it was used for bathing 2000 years ago! Seeing Stonehenge was a perfect way to finish the first leg of this trip.
Things I’ve learned in London:
- After two weeks of cars being on the opposite side of the road, you do start to get used to it. (Now to see how long the adjustment back takes…)
- The stereotype of London being drizzly and chilly in the fall is very accurate.
- London bridge was the first bridge built in London. It was originally made of wood.
- Big Ben is actually the bell inside the clock tower, not the tower itself.
- The six ravens (plus a spare!) are considered the most important inhabitants of the Tower of London.
- A polar bear was once a resident of the Tower of London.
- There are not nearly as many pigeons in Trafalgar Square as there used to be.
- The old Scotland Yard building is now home to the London police horses.
- The red phone booths in London are way dirtier than those in Edinburgh.
- The royal guards wear grey coats in the winter.
- The people of London don’t like the millennium bridge. It is also called the wobbly bridge because it had to be shut down and fixed to be less wobbly only a few months after opening.
- The great fire of London started in a bakery.
Audrey’s favorite part of the first leg of our trip was visiting the lava tubes in Iceland. Maurene’s favorite part of the first leg of our trip was Disneyland Paris. My favorite places so far have been Iceland, Lisbon and Edinburgh.
I am looking forward to having a week at home with my family and puppies, and then continuing our journey!
Next stop: Home for Thanksgiving! Then, Kona, Hawaii!
Tales of a Traveling Teacher 