Wrapping-up London...

After Harry Potter Studio —

Wrapping-up includes Westminster Abbey —

We headed to the center of London again to complete any last ventures there. A quick stop at the British Museum was first up. Of course we could spend a year there, and Clark enjoyed seeing some fascinating old coins and clocks—one nearly 500 years old and still working!—but then we scurried on to Westminster Abbey. Figured we better not miss one of the most prominent churches in the world! 

It’s glorious in many ways, yet strange or odd, too, as Clark remarked...so many tombs/graves that make-up its make-up literally. Eli spied Isaac Newton’s stone, and about the time he did, we met one of the priests. He pointed out where they memorialized Stephen Hawking’s ashes just nearby Newton last year, then quizzed the kids on who will inherit the throne after Elizabeth and directed us to where we’d see the Coronation chair at the other end of the church. He answered some questions I had—did you know the oldest part of it is 730 years, give or take?!  And we chatted about the stone that commemorates Nelson Mandela. It says “Forgiveness Reconciliation” and, yes, made me cry nearly! So glad we went.

We made our way about a little to end our city time and then headed back to our “home base” in Esher for our last night. It’s been a joy and real blessing to get to stay with my childhood friend, Deb, and her family during our London days. She and I have been friends since 3rd grade and were roommates our 2nd year at W&M. So, it really was great to stay with them!! The family Meacham—Deb, Paul, Molly, Ellie, and Katy (plus dog, Annie)—were incredibly thoughtful, generous, fun!, and kind hosts. We can’t thank them enough! 

Our next stop ~ Scotland! Should be a ball!

Here are some things we have learned in the U.K. so far:

Garbage can = bin

Truck = lorry

Bathroom = loo

Yard = paved lot

Lawn = garden

Convenience store/gas station = garage

Line = queue

Trash = litter

‘Til later, Cheerio! 

Magical Monday

Hi, it’s India and I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.

I’m back for another go to write about our trip. I told mom that I wanted to do it because I love Harry Potter, and it was just so magical (pun intended). We went in the morning to the Warner Brothers studio where all the Harry Potter movies were made and with all the things that made HP what it is! It was fascinating—it had everything. It had the props, costumes, wigs, rooms, effects, magic, and so much more. It is one of the most interesting and exciting places I have ever and will ever be. They had so many props that you can’t even imagine how much work tons of people had to do, and that’s just for the props. It’s the same thing for the costumes, visual effects, masks, and all the other behind the scene things. It’s truly amazing how many people worked to get these movies done. One of my favorite things was the costumes because of how many different outfits they had to make. It was so cool because it had each different place with all the props and then it had mannequins of people with the clothes that they wore in that particular scene. They also had Hogwarts, Diagon Alley, and Gringotts Bank with blueprints and paper models of each one. I even got to ride a broom! I definitely recommend this, and if you have been, you know how wonderful it is. For pictures see mom or dad’s FB.

Mischief Managed.

Sunday’s Repast...

We returned to Esher, outside London, and our friend’s place there, from the coast Sunday morning. And the plans were for a little party with their friends, BBQ, watching the World Cup final (go USA!), and relaxing in general. But we did throw in a history stop, too, as Henry VIII’s Hampton Court Palace is just up the road, on the Thames, a mile or so from their house. And it’s something!! Gorgeous gardens, stately and massive in scale, certainly. One room holds the armor and weapons: 2,871 of them—swords, guns, etc! And the kitchens are enormous. Really neat displays/exhibits of how things worked in Henry’s day.

(Below) Eli and Clark in the oven area — so huge! 

After that, back for the party. And it was lovely. The Meacham’s have really nice friends, and we enjoyed hanging out and seeing the US women win the match fiercely! So great!! In case you’re wondering, English BBQ means cooking on the grill, and Paul—Deb’s husband—made fantastic chicken, burgers, venison burgers (I didn’t taste those), and sausage homemade from his uncle that includes pheasant meat and was quite tasty! Baked beans were served, too, because beans are served with everything here...including breakfast! One of the families that came—their 13 year old son made a classic Victoria sponge cake dessert with strawberries that was delicious. So, Sunday was all-around a great day!

Goodbye friends and Castle Number One

Hi, it’s India on day four of our trip—so- Saturday. Mom said that each of us will write something at least one day we’re here; so here I am. In the morning our friends came to pick us up and take us to the Arundel castle. It was outstanding and far above what I expected. It is very interesting because it was built in 1066- the rest of the late 1000’s. Lots of the things there are from different places. It had so much stuff to look at on the inside not to mention the architecture. It had long narrow staircases, decorated ceilings, and very old stone walls. It was just magnificent. There was also an amazing garden with the most beautiful plants. After the wonderful castle our friends came to pick us up and take us back to their house. We had some tea (or other drinks if you didn’t want tea) and we thanked them for such a nice time. Then it was time to say our goodbyes. For pictures, see Mom or Dad’s FB posts!

Old Friends and the English Channel...

Friday: If you saw Clark’s FB pic, we were wheeling our bags this morning to the Esher train station in order to head South to Brighton Beach, England style! Our dear family friends, Paul and Lynda West, were collecting us (as they say here) at the train station to enjoy a couple days with them around the coast. Train was hot and crowded; guess lots of people want to beach for the weekend. But we made it readily enough and found Paul and Lynda, who we haven’t seen in 10 years. The kids were tiny back then compared to now.
We explored Brighton first with Lynda, enjoying the pier, that’s 120 years old!, having lunch there by the water, seeing the massive Royal Pavilion that is a palace that was built for King George IV, in the style of Russian and Indian architecture interestingly enough, and its lovely gardens. Then, Paul collected us and gave the running commentary on the towns we drove through as we headed to their town, Seaford. We stopped at their home for tea and biscuits and to enjoy their gorgeous gardens!
After our afternoon break, Paul served as tour guide to Seven Sisters Country Park to see the Seven Sisters (white chalk cliffs), Seaford Head, Beechy Head, and the Channel at Birling Gap where we could walk down to the water and get the perspective of how big those cliffs truly are! Our walks to the vistas included tromping through a sheep field that is privately owned, but that the owner happily allows folks to walk through for the views. It was perfect and all that comes to mind when I think of England! We even touched the water at the Gap and found it not too cold really. I did find approaching the cliffs’ edge quite unnerving and even blood-pressure-raising. But they are gorgeous and beautifully wild, defying the sea to cut more and more into the earth it would seem, as it breaks against the shore in its relentless and habitual way.
Our day’s journey ended in Eastbourne where we are staying at the Cavendish Hotel directly across from the Sea. How marvelous! It was all fabulous, and we look forward to seeing our friends again tomorrow.
P.S.—not sure why, but unable to add pics here...I’ll post a few on FB

“To the Keep” and “What Time Is It?...Showtime!!”

“To the Keep” — Wednesday morning, and we hit the ground running!
We met my childhood friend, Deb, without a hitch pretty much in Heathrow airport. She graciously took our luggage and sent us off to the big city. We headed there via train, got the Original Tour Hop on/Hop Off bus to see some sights and get our bearings ‘round the city (kind of), and stopped at the Tower. As in The Tower of London. Made our way to see the fortress it is, the “keep” that is the White Tower, and the crown jewel of all—the Crown Jewels. Those are some gems! It was a gorgeous day, enjoyed lunch there, too, then traveled more on the tour bus. But by afternoon, jet lag was catching us, and we headed out SE of city to Esher, where we’d be staying with our friends.
What a lovely little town, and our hosts have a lovely, really beautiful, home! With a whole third floor for our use. Kids were asleep before 8 p.m.! And we weren’t far behind. Early London impressions: Clark—a lot of young(ish) people in city and the men dress well (for work, we think). Eli—it’s peaceful (we all kind of agreed, less loud, busy, and hectic than NYC, for example). All of us—everyone is super nice/helpful.

Thursday morning we awoke well-rested and ready for new day - first up, British Museum. WOW! It’s impressive! Art, fine art, history, science, natural history, politics, all in one really!! The Rosetta Stone, two-headed serpent, Easter Island statue, cuneiform fragment from Ur, Parthenon and Halicarnassus pieces....splendid artifacts. And the building/setting itself! We were bowled over. Loved it!! Then, we took a cab to the Westend for what we knew would be a highlight of this adventure for us. Our taxi driver, John, was super—fun, informative, sharing info about sights on the way—really cool. And got us to....
“What Time Is It?...Showtime!” —Indeed!! “Hamilton” at Victoria Palace Theater. It was sensational!! Best musical I’ve ever seen. Truly! And King George—the guy who played him—seeing him/his interpretation of the role was worth the ticket price. It was such a treat for us as a family! And on July 4th. Pretty ironic. Too wonderful really!!
Then, huge bonus: we were outside, figuring out what was next, and ended up in a line of people without knowing/realizing we were in such a line. It was where the cast came out to greet audience members, shake hands, take pics, sign programs!! OMDL! So, Clark got photo of kids with “Hamilton” himself 😀!! Wild and fun.

As if all that wasn’t enough, then we went to the Thames, and we enjoyed an early evening river cruise. Lovely way to see city, especially bridges, particularly Tower Bridge. And finished with dinner at an English Pub—Hung Drawn and Quartered. Great name and traditional pub atmosphere. With good ale and pretty decent food!

That’s some way to do Day 2, if you ask us!! Headed South to Brighton (the Coast) tomorrow for a couple days. ~

Planes, Trains, Automobiles...

Day 1: Travel Tuesday! And in our case, planes, trains, automobiles, and buses! Eli said only thing missing was a boat!! After full day driving, being driven, shuttling, and waiting, we were in-flight for 6+ hours that went quite smoothly. In the midst, we caught the USA va  England in women’s World Cup—yay! U.S.A. won! —and the kids were troopers!
Eli took cool plane photos:

 Coming into Heathrow

 Sunrise in the sky

Wednesday morning our London adventures begin!!
~ Donna