Once again, the 188 bus played a pivotal role in our trip. Turns out, this bus that leaves from outside our flat travels a great distance across London, past the Tower Bridge, and down through to Greenwich and ends at the O2 stadium some 8 miles away.
And so Alisa, her mom Sue (henceforth known as Grandma in these posts), the kids and I made the very familiar walk to Russell Square and got on the 188.
Since we had the stroller, I hung out down below with Lanna while everyone else took the front seat on the top floor.
Here's the view at the top.
This was a long haul to get to the Greenwich stop but Sammy and Joey did great pointing out things to Grandma and Mommy on the way and Lanna and I managed to have fun without much screaming on either of our parts.
We passed by the Cutty Sark and said a quick hello before moving past to the Observatory.
After getting off the bus with the stroller, we walked along a beautiful manicured lawn and found ourselves near the National Maritime Museum and the Royal Naval College designed by Christopher Wren (it seems that guy designed everything in the mid-1600's in London).
From the Maritime Museum, we looked up the relatively imposing hill and saw the observatory perched atop it.
The walk up there by itself was rather picturesque. Pushing the stroller up with one kid in there was all right but when Sammy was tired of walking, both Alisa and I felt the burn working our way to the top.
But we made it without any hamstring injury!
Outside the observatory they had the clock by which all clocks are judged.
Joey is also standing next to the items of measurement that are considered the gold standards as well.
From there we went to the Planetarium and Astronomy Center, a beautiful old building filled with modern day teaching tools.
We were one of the few groups at the Planetarium. There were plenty of displays for kids, although most of the information was challenging for Joey. On the plus side, there were plenty of buttons and levers, so Sammy and Lanna found it fascinating.
A very friendly staff member was able to spend a fair amount of time with us explaining the displays and the science. Joey politely listened as long as he could before putting dice onto a screen that simulated movement and gravity.
After a nice lunch in the cafe, we went into the Observatory proper.
The history is interesting and can be found here:
http://www.rmg.co.uk/royal-observatory/history
We enjoyed the courtyard which gave a nice view of the observatory.
As an interesting side note, the red ball noted at the top of the smaller tower is lowered at 1pm each day. This has been going on for centuries as this helped the ship captains below on the Thames to see this and set their watches.
Inside the observatory there were some great displays showing the imperative need to have a timepiece to help the sailors know their longitude. It was really interesting.
A carpenter named John Harrison dedicated his life to solving this puzzle (and earning a very lucrative reward). His story is told here and is a really interesting read:
http://www.rmg.co.uk/discover/explore/longitude-found-john-harrison
We left the exhibits as Lanna, Sammy, and Joey needed some more space to run around, so we returned to the courtyard.
It did provide an excellent vantage point.
Joey, Sammy, and Lanna did not realize that as they enjoyed the outside courtyard, they were running across the Prime Meridian!
Finally they calmed down and stopped for a few pictures.
And I got a shot of me straddling the meridian too.
Given our ambitious desires for the day, we made our way down the hill (holding the stroller tightly), and waited for our friend the 188.
That's right, it was time to return to the Tower of London!
Alisa had not yet visited this trip and Grandma was game for a power tour of London's attractions, so off we went!
It was a pretty focused tour so Alisa could finally see the amazing jewels, including the Koh-i-Noor diamond (over 3000 Carats).
http://www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/visit-us/top-things-to-see-and-do/the-crown-jewels/diamonds-and-crowns/famous-diamonds/
While they all saw the diamonds, I had a chance to see a few parts that I didn't take the kids, like the Bloody Tower and its nefarious history of torture. Given the PG presentation of easily R rated material, I realized my misgivings of taking the kids here were unfounded, although it would have lead to a lot of uncomfortable questions from Joey.
We then reconvened and went through the White Tower, marveling at the arms and armor and the Line of Kings, on the first floor and the state gifts on the second floor.
The third floor housed a diverse set of exhibits, but the one the boys liked best was the dragon.
Since the boys had done so well at the Tower on prior visits, I promised them rewards. Joey proclaimed he would like a Royal Guard outfit and Sammy wished for a Beefeater outfit.
We hustled through the rest of the White Tower but still did not make it in time to the White Tower gift shop since the entire complex was closing (we had gotten there around 3pm and it closed at 4:30pm).
The boys dealt with this setback well, reassured that there were at least one more gift shop outside.
Success!
As the darkness settled throughout London, it offered a different perspective than we had seen in our prior visits.
The Tower looked a little more majestic lit up in the night.
Tower Bridge was lit up and brilliant!
The Shard looked like a gigantic torch.
We caught our faithful (although late and crowded now) 188 and made it back to the apartment.
The boys wasted no time putting on their new outfits.
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