There were a few places outside of London that we had hoped to see during our time here. Stonehenge was top of the list and Bath was another.
After Christmas we made our way to this ancient city to see the fabled baths for ourselves.
In terms of history, this place in southwest England has quietly had bubbling warm hot springs flowing for as long as anyone can remember.
These springs were discovered and became the focal point of settlers, progressively building larger and more impressive structures to take advantage of this natural phenomenon.
The Romans, with their strong interest in bathing for cleanliness and health, were thrilled to encounter this place nearly directly west of their stronghold in Londinium.
The Romans called this place Aquae Sulis and built beautiful buildings there, likely starting around 2000 years ago.
The official site for the Roman Baths can be found here and gives some nice details about it:
http://www.romanbaths.co.uk/walkthrough
We found a nice place to stay in Wick, about 30 minutes from Bath and made the sunny drive into town.
Our main goal was to see the Roman Baths but would be happy to see the famous Royal Crescent.
When we hit the intense traffic which brought Bath to a standstill, we were just happy to finally find parking.
Our parking spot was fortuitous in the fact it was right near a gigantic playground! We spent some time there where the boys found new and exciting things to do.
A crazy teeter totter that would move up and down and use the momentum of one person to speed the rotation of the other, here you can see Sammy the recipient of his older brother's momentum:
Please note the giant blue angled rock wall in the background, Sammy had an insatiable desire to climb that which resulted in some challenges for me and for him but we both survived.
Here was the longest slide we'd seen to date:
There also was another giant zip line that Joey and Sammy raced down.
After that excellent playground break we made the walk to the Roman Baths.
They were pretty popular as a destination and it took a bit to make it through the line. Once we did, we walked out to the main terrace which has a beautiful view of Bath Abbey behind it and the great pool lazily waving below it.
The Abbey itself has an interesting history and is reputed to be the site for the coronation of the first English king, King Edgar, in 973 AD.
The Abbey's history page has good information here:
http://www.bathabbey.org/history
Here's a better close up of the Abbey itself:
Those jade green waters were pretty mesmerizing and we moved through the upper level to get closer to them. Before we did, we saw a different green: Seahawks green (and blue)! There were two folks there wearing Seahawks hats. I had to talk with them and they were very uninterested in anything we had to say. On that sad note, we moved forward through the Baths to see pieces of the ancient stones that decorated this popular temple.
Lanna and I took a selfie before leaving the platform. She is clutching the audio guide with great enthusiasm, nearly strangling me.
There were a lot of great models and history which was challenging to enjoy with the kids (which is par for the course).
We perused these things and progressed lower into the Baths, seeing the ancient temple stones and where some of the water comes in.
At the lower level we were able to touch the water (strictly illegal but done by at least 80% of the people there) and found it to be pleasantly warm.
We also had a chance to meet people in period dress and acting in character. They attempted to befriend Joey but he was dubious about this whole thing.
From there we went back inside to see the ancient stonework where the original temple to Minerva existed and the flagstones that ancient Romans walked.
Night fell while we explored the inside. The baths had a distinctive look in the night.
We also saw the Sacred Spring from where nearly all the waters spring.
After the Sacred Spring we saw a few more ancient areas before the end of the walkthrough.
Before leaving, they offered a chance to taste the spa mineral water, boasting 43 minerals. All of us but Sammy did not finish it given the metallic mineral seasoning. Sammy had seconds.
The walk back to the car went quickly in the chilly dusk. We drove out in a traffic free night and apparently just missed the Royal Crescent by about a block.
The day after Christmas we found out Charles Spencer, the earl of Althorp, hosts an annual hunt for the people of Church Brampton.
This was exciting news as Alisa and I (let alone the kids) have never seen anything like a British Hunt. Sure, we've seen representations on Downton Abbey but that's the closest we've ever been.
So we got on our trusty Wellies, some warm clothes, and drove over to the fields where The Hunt was to be.
We knew we were getting closer when the usually empty and verdant English fields were dotted with horseback riders in the distinctive tan pants, blazers, and conical black hat. Parking was a challenge as both cars and horses were becoming thick near the field entrance.
Walking down the muddy dirt road, we often had to stand aside for the riders happily trotting past us. Joey and Sammy eagerly looked around for more horses. Lanna, who is becoming quite a talker, made happy exclamations whenever she saw a horse.
The fields opened up before us, filled with happy people milling about peppered with riders of all ages.
Seeing so many horses made Sammy very happy.
Alisa's cousins were filling us in about The Hunt and told us the people in the blue blazers were the main riding body (the field) and those in the red blazers were the hunt masters.
We were awaiting the hunt masters. They were also in charge of the hounds. Our hosts told us when we saw the pack of hounds, then we knew the hunt would start soon.
And then we saw them!
The hounds seemed to be everywhere, coming by us, sniffing, and allowing us to scratch their ears. They were very eager and frenetic.
The boys enjoyed the chance to meet the hounds.
It was very pleasant as the hounds darted past us and mingled with the crowd.
Soon the hunt master arrived and they lifted the brass bugle to their lips, summoning the hounds.
From there, they gave some pretty little speeches while people circulated around with glasses of port and mince pies.
When the speeches were over, the riders all assembled behind the hounds and they trotted a few laps around the field and through the woods.
Once they had gone and silence replaced the baying of the hounds and the thunder of hooves, we enjoyed a nice walk in the English countryside.
It was a shame when we returned to the farmhouse that Carson and Mrs. Hughes was not there to greet us or provide any refreshments from Mrs. Padmore.
My cousin Mike Borkan and his wife Cathinka, along with their son Jon, had been wonderful hosts to us several times since our arrival in London. Months before we even left the states, they offered to host us for a Danish Christmas at their home in Northampton (Cathinka is of Danish heritage). We joyfully accepted! After packing up ALL of our belongings from our London apartment (which actually took less time than expected), we drove out to Northampton on December 24th. Traffic was light, and although we had left a little late on a drizzly morning, we arrived in plenty of time to go to church. The service was held in the small church associated with Holdenby house, which is called All Saints Church.
We enjoyed a relatively short service, including candles which the kids found fascinating. And the church was not as cold as I thought it would be (we had been warned by the cousins). After the service, we went into Holdenby House for a short reception complete with orange juice and mince pies. Holdenby House was originally built by Sir Christopher Hatton as the largest home in Elizabethan England. It was enormous and bankrupted him! In later years, people tore down most of the house. Apparently, the mansion that remains was the original kitchens.
http://www.holdenby.com/house-history.php
(the blue blur is Joey running around after church)
After church, we returned to the Borkan's house where the kids had an early meal and then went to bed before the official Christmas dinner. That dinner included the two Clyne adults, the Borkan adults, the Borkan children (Nicki and Jon), as well as Cathinka's parents who had driven down from where they currently live in Scotland. Dinner started with a tasty rice pudding and continued on to a delicious goose and was supposed to finish with a Christmas pudding (which is set on fire) but we were all too full to eat it! We had goose twice in Europe and loved it- it will be on our list of things to cook in 2016.
After dinner, we proceeded into the "bakery" of the house for presents. Cathinka carefully lit real candles on the Christmas tree, and we entered the room full of the tree's magical glow. We all (and especially the Borkan kids) enjoyed opening many presents, and we enjoyed the warmth of the family (and the tree!)
Our kids opened presents from their cousins and us over the next few days, and they got to see the candlelit tree on Christmas day. They thoroughly enjoyed playing with their cousins and even tried a few new foods (Lanna loved the goose, Sammy loved the rice pudding).
We thoroughly enjoyed spending more time with our cousins who live in England, as well as meeting Cathinka's parents. Here are a few photos of the kids with Nicki and Jon, as well as Lanna showing how exhausted the kids were after long days of playing and how comfortable the beds were!
Yup, the travels are over.
We had a largely uneventful return trip to Philadelphia (although the plane appeared to have a disproportionally high number of unpleasant people), and came back home to Indy, our adorable black lab, and our wonderful neighbors and friends.
Joey and Sammy quickly reacquainted themselves with their toys. Lanna, thrilled to see a dog, followed Indy around the house chirping excitedly.
Our blogging goals weren't quite reached given the busy time in Ireland but we will continue to post until we reach January 16!
Thank you all for reading this and experiencing the trip with us.
We hope to visit those near us in the upcoming weeks and those far away are always welcome to come to our house and stay a while. We won't be going anyplace too far for a while.
The blog will continue to be updated to include the phenomenal Welsh castles, a reunion with Aunt Sydney, time with our neighbor Mike, the days in Dublin, walks on the southwest Irish coast, a trip to Blarney castle, and the last two days in England.
We went to Legoland! Legoland is closed as of November 1, and since we arrived in England on November 1, we thought we would never make it. But in fact, Legoland has a Christmas Spectacular (or really, Bricktacular) which is a fraction of the regular Legoland exorbitant pricetag. So we booked the tickets a month in advance and made it to Legoland after dropping Grandma off at the airport.
Legoland is actually in Windsor, and from the waiting area, we had beautiful views of Windsor Castle. The real one, not the Lego one.
The advantage of going to Legoland on December 23rd is that it is not that crowded. I thought Legoland would be more about Lego versions of landmarks, people, etc. But in fact, it is mostly rides with some token Legos thrown in. We were able to ride just about everything in the park (that our kids were tall enough to do) during our day there. We did the carousel, the swings, the train, the Viking boat, the spinning spider, the fast carousel, and the roller coaster. And probably a few more that I am forgetting.
Here I am with Joey on the Viking boat (he loved it) and with Sammy on the roller coaster (he loved the up parts but hated the down parts). Jay also rode many rides with the kids, but my phone died early in the day so I don't have any good pictures.
I also rode one ride that they were too short to get on. In fact, there were a few Legos for building at the base of this ride, and the boys were much more excited about that. Lanna was also charmed by a Lego cat.
The Lego masterpieces!
Lanna and the cat to be added when I get that picture from Jay.
We even had time to stop by an amazing playground. The boys enjoyed climbing and sliding, while Lanna tried to follow them on all the equipment that was completely inappropriate for a toddler.
At the end of the day, we finally had our appointment with Legoland Santa. Just as we were waiting in line for this amazing experience, Lanna fell asleep in the stroller (aka buggy/pushchair). Since strollers were not allowed in Santa's workshop, I waited outside while Jay took the boys in to meet Santa. So I still have not met Santa. Maybe someday.
Here is the approach to Santa's workshop. You can see that three house roofs are outlined with lights here, because to make the line move faster, there are three Legoland Santas. Hopefully this did not crush any small childrens' beliefs.
The boys were lucky enough to meet Jazz Hands Santa and get their age appropriate Legos, which were a big hit! The parents have enjoyed the awesome Legoland gift bags, which are quite useful for carting bunches of stuff around.
Not to be omitted is that we had to take a short train ride to and from the Legoland waiting area to the actual park. The waiting area had possibly the most annoying Christmas music ever. I have forgotten it, but Jay refuses to tell me what the song is for fear that it will get stuck in his head again.
All in all, a great day at Legoland! We then had to go home and pack everything up for Christmas in Northampton... less fun, but all in a day's work.
We knew Grandma's visit heralded our last days in London, but her 15 day visit really seemed to fly by.
Before we knew it, she was packing up her bag and confirming her return flight to Maryland.
For me, it's easy to get nostalgic about the end of things. I was thinking those glum thoughts of "This is the last time we'll go to Coram's fields," to "I'll never see that nice homeless guy in front of the Tesco Express," to "It'll be hard to call crisps chips and chips fries."
But of course, we did experience all our favorite things one more time. The kids dealt with it better than I.
Fortunately before Grandma went home, I had a free day to run around the city and explore. Admittedly, it was pretty amazing to not have to worry about a diaper bag, snacks, toys, gloves and hats, and strapping Lanna to my chest.
Sue and I left together as she would be exploring the Tate Britain. We took the double decker down past Parliament Square and then parted ways at the museum.
I walked about 13 miles that day, cruising all around taking pictures of any fancy car I found so I could share them with the boys later. There were a few fancy cars out and about in London, including a tiny Hummer! (A tiny Hummer seems very similar to a decaf non-fat latte - why bother?).
I also was looking for blue plaques.
The blue plaques are placed on buildings to commemorate a person or event that occurred there. Mostly for where people lived or work. Naturally, these awesome circular history discs are the work of English Heritage! Check it out here:
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/blue-plaques/
Like a little boy collecting playing cards, I walked around to collect a few plaques. These plaques have actually been around for over a hundred years and one was on our building!
The search for blue plaques took me throughout London. Despite the threat of rain or the few minutes of a tepid storm, it was a glorious day to explore this city. I enjoyed seeing many new parts of the city and walking through other known areas.
I also dropped by the Churchill War Rooms which were a fascinating glimpse into World War II. To think of Churchill striding back and forth in those rooms, twisting the cigar in his mouth and puffing plumes of smoke to wreath his bald head was amazing.
There was also time for a few selfies with Big Ben before I met Grandma that afternoon.
And when Grandma and I returned home, the day got even better!
I took Joey to see The Force Awakens. It was something we both were looking forward to for weeks!
Given I had seen the original Star Wars (in the theater) with my Dad and knowing how much that meant to me, I was hoping to provide Joey the same joyful memory and bonding.
For those who haven't seen it, Joey and I give it two thumbs up.
For those of you who haven't seen it, don't click this link since it has major spoiler potential. For those who have seen it, you'll grudgingly admire the sheer nerve of this guy:
http://theconcourse.deadspin.com/this-star-wars-spoiler-is-so-audacious-you-cant-be-mad-1752242380
These exciting days helped to temper the sadness of leaving.
When we returned to Coram's field for our final visit, we found it just as we did on our first day! The tents which had been there for weeks, the tents we watched the workmen struggle with were now gone, leaving the park feeling so open.
I felt the need to mark our time at Coram's, so I had brought a sharpie with me. There, in the wooden tower that Joey and Sammy loved climbing and going down the big slide, the tower where they would chase each other playing James Bond or gather sticks and build a fire, there I wrote a little memento.
We also enjoyed Regent's Park one last time, or at least the boys did. Lanna was too relaxed to get out of the stroller.
We also had to swing by Waitrose one more time (I already knew how much I would miss their complementary coffee which had sustained me so many times after a rigorous morning at Coram's fields).
Yes, that green coffee cup is indeed my last Waitrose coffee.
And suddenly it was December 23. We took Grandma to the airport and dropped her off.
We did have a special surprise for the kids that day, a surprise Alisa will describe in greater detail.
After our fun day out on the 23rd, the 24th dawned rainy and grim. The small market which teemed with stalls and students every Thursday was now down to 3 forlorn vendors and no customers.
We finished cleaning out 30 Torrington Square, Flat 2, removing all traces of our two months there. All the luggage, toys, artwork, sundry kitchen items, and laundry basket were brought down and packed into the Peugeot.
It was Christmas Eve and we were off to Alisa's cousins.
It was Christmas Eve and we were leaving London.
Parting is such sweet sorrow.
Thank you London for such a wonderful time. We look forward to seeing you again soon.
