Time for the Prime Meridian

With Grandma fully acclimated to Greenwich Mean Time, she wanted to join us in seeing Greenwich Mean Time.

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.

HMS Belfast and a long walk

We had a great system.  The 188 had become my favorite bus (while the 390 remained Joey's favorite due his ability to say 390 in a spot-on British accent).

Before Alisa's Mom arrived, I wanted to take the kids to the HMS Belfast.  Several times before we had spied it from the Tower Bridge, resting majestically across from the Tower of London.

So we loaded up on our 188, again it was just us and the driver.  We followed the familiar path down to Aldwych, across the Waterloo Bridge and winded our way over to the Tower Bridge.

Rather than crossing Tower Bridge this time, we walked towards their "Armadillo" which is their nickname for city hall.

We waved to our old friends across the way, The Tower of London and Tower Bridge.  They grandly stayed silent in the weak December sun.

Then we looked upon the HMS Belfast, a ship involved in World War II and reported, by some (not all), as firing the first shell in support of the D-Day invasion. It is also one of the three warships from D-Day that still exist (the other two are American vessels).

They've done a spectacular job maintaining this old ship.  It's now part of the Imperial War Museums and they had all sorts of great history and displays throughout the 9 levels of this impressive warship.

I got an audio guide which Lanna quickly appropriated while hanging in the bjorn.  It's compromises like these you need to make whenever you take a toddler to a museum or historical site.

Joey was particularly fired up to be on board.

The boys dashed around the main deck, stopping to admire the plethora of guns.  

Yes, the use of plethora was intentional as I was nostalgic for El Guapo and Three Amigos for no good reason.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mTUmczVdik
Here is El Guapo discussing a plethora.  Probably only need to go to the 1:20 mark.

Back to the HMS Belfast.

We went around the main deck and saw the impressive gun batteries and went inside briefly.

"It smells stinky in there!" Sammy exclaimed and could not be coaxed into another battery.

We took a break to go to the bow for some fresh air and rest on the enormous anchors.

From there we went up to see some other side guns and then into the Admiral's deck and personal cabin!

Joey and Sammy immediately began a one act play of "Admiral Sammy" and "Navigator Jo-jo" with Sammy sitting in the seat barking commands to Joey who would then relay them on the phone.

Lanna and I stood back and enjoyed the show for a good 10 minutes.

Eventually the War was won and Admiral Sammy retired with honor.  We then proceeded downwards to the navigator's deck.

So this is where things got a little challenging.  Taking three kids on a warship with one a fall hazard even in the best of circumstance (Sammy) and one strapped to my chest, climbing down through each deck was an exciting prospect each time.  And we went down several levels.

Fortunately Sammy did not tumble down the steep and narrow steps and Lanna's adorable face was not scraped as she and I squeezed through.

Our goal was to get to the shell room, the centralized location for all the shells fired from the ship.

After descending below the water level, we reached it.

Sammy and Joey didn't know what to do with themselves seeing all these giant bombs everywhere.

After a few more lingering touches of these shells, Sammy and Joey slowly made their way up to the main deck.

We explored a bit more but had seen the key parts of the ship we wanted to see.

My goal was to walk along the Thames and cross over the Millennium Bridge to St. Paul's Cathedral.  

This was asking a lot of Sammy since the route would be nearly a mile and a half after already walking to and all around the HMS Belfast.

Sammy did phenomenally well!  We made games during the walk and enjoyed the spectacular sites along the Thames.

And, of course, we stopped for snacks pretty frequently.

One location has got to be one of my favorite places in London.  A little gazebo jutted out from the walkway giving a gorgeous view of the HMS Belfast, Tower of London, and Tower Bridge behind it.

We enjoyed some fruit and potato chips while gazing on this scene.

Then being my father's son, I took several pictures.

A very nice woman then offered to take a group picture, so we accepted her kind offer.

Refreshed and invigorated with apples, crisps, and the beautiful view, we continued the walk.  

We passed London Bridge!

I know, it's pretty anticlimactic when you get accustomed to Tower Bridge.

We also walked past the replica of Sir Francis Drake's Golden Hind.

We saw many old buildings and beautiful churches as we continued along our way.  Sammy kept right up with us!

Finally we made it to Millennium Bridge and enjoyed walking over the Thames as the sun began to set.

Here we are looking back toward the HMS Belfast, London Bridge, The Tower of London, Tower Bridge with the Shard soaring up.

The boys stopped to pose with St. Paul's dominating the background.

By the time we alighted on the other side and were standing in the shadow of St. Paul's, we all felt we deserved a treat.

Lanna, the boys, and I took a British taxi back to the apartment!

They loved every minute in the taxi, luxuriating in the pho-leather seats, craning their necks looking out the windows at all the crazy ground floor views.

After getting home, we got a quick picture before the taxi zoomed off in the night.

We trudged back to the apartment and joyfully collapsed in the living room.

After that big adventure we all needed a good night's sleep before Grandma's arrival the next day!

RAF

Joey and Sammy love airplanes.  

On the trip to Cambridge we thought about stopping at the RAF Museum on the way but decided against it since there wasn't enough time.

So, on a laid back Saturday, we decided to go!  Getting there would be possible on the Tube and we thought the boys would like that as well.  (We only took the kids on a bus since I was terrified I would lose one or more of them traveling in the crowded Tube on a weekday).

We walked to Euston Station, navigated our way down to the platform with the stroller, and made our way onto the Underground!

Being in the Tube was pretty exciting for the boys.  They had plenty of space to stretch out.

The ride was pretty long and did take us aboveground for our final destination.  The walk from the Tube station to the RAF was about 15 minutes.  The day was blustery and raw but fortunately no rain.

The RAF Museum is enormous.  It has over 100 aircraft in multiple gigantic hangars.

Prior to even getting inside, the boys were treated by the site of their first Spitfire.  

Inside they got some activity books and rushed into the first hangar with a fantastic variety of aircraft over the past 100 years.

They also loved the fact there were video displays which allowed them to touch the screen, pick planes, and watch videos of them. 

One highlighted planes was the P-51 Mustang.  "It's like your Mustang but it's silver and a plane!" Sammy exclaimed.

The museum also had one of the amazing new F-35's.

From that hangar we went into an even bigger hangar!  Given the wealth of aircraft, they even divided the area into bombers, like the B-24 and the B-17 Flying Fortress, helicopters, and planes specializing in water travel.

Here's the famous B-17:

A plane that isn't as well known as the B-17 is a British plane used during World War II, the Southampton Supermarine.  It's a seaplane that is beautifully engineered.  The hull is made out of wood, well crafted and the wings attached to the top.  

Here is the hull and close up with the copper nails they used.  

After exploring all these planes, we found the play area.  

After a snack and playing with planes, hang gliders, hot air balloons and learning about pitch and yaw, we made our way to the Battle of Britain hangar.  

Here the Spitfires were highlighted and the displays about the Blitz and the Battle of Britain were excellent.  

Lanna especially enjoyed running up and down the aisles between the Spitfires and Messerschmitts.

By the time we had explored it all, night had fallen (at about 4:30).  The kids were pretty elated about all the planes they had seen.  To top it off, they enjoyed the return Tube trip.

To check out the RAF Museum's impressive collections, you can go to their website here:

http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk

Palace and colleagues: the sequel

I have been working at Imperial College with a friend of mine named Darryl Overby. Darryl actually gave me the lab tour when I started graduate school at MIT. I distinctly remember this because Darryl was studying glaucoma, which involved putting needles into cow eyeballs to modulate the pressure. That is an image that for good or bad does not leave your mind... ever. Anyway, I came to London to start a new collaboration with Darryl focused on diabetic retinopathy. The experience at Imperial college was good (meeting the other folks in Darryl's lab) and not so good (the staff were not so efficient in getting me a desk). I hope that over the next year or so, it will turn into a great research opportunity.

In the meantime, I've really enjoyed getting to know Darryl better. And he kindly invited our family over to his house to meet his family for a Sunday lunch. Since he lives in southwest London, we decided to sneak in a quick visit to Hampton Court Palace prior to lunch.

It was fancy food faire day at Hampton Court, so we had to resist the temptation to eat any of the loads of available sausages as we walked into the impressive structure.

We first saw William III and Mary II's apartments. Sammy was not impressed, perhaps due to a pressing need to use the facilities, so we rushed through and then met Jay and Joey at the end. While we waited, we saw the chocolate kitchens. Sammy could not comprehend that hot chocolate was once a rare and treasured treat. Nor would he necessarily have appreciated drinking such fancy hot chocolate, which certainly would not have included marshmallows. 

However, Sammy was more impressed by Henry VIII's great hall. He specifically loved sitting at the tables which were covered with tablecloths displaying mock place settings and meals. We enjoyed discussing a few delicious foods that they might have eaten!

The ceiling and windows were especially impressive, although this photo does not do them justice.

Although arguments remain (among the Clynes, not among the royalty) about whose apartment this game room was in, there was no argument among the boys about how much they enjoyed playing the games (or really just rearranging the game pieces). 

As in all the British palaces, the decorations were over the top.

We didn't have time to see Henry VIII's kitchens, which apparently were large enough to feed 600 guests, but we did put Sammy and Joey to work outside a smaller set of kitchens.

We finally made it out to the gardens, with just enough time to admire these crazy shaped trees.

And on our way back to the car park, we couldn't resist stepping into the maze. We were severely pressed for time at this point, since we needed to get to Darryl's house for lunch. So while we did see the center of the maze through the bushes, we didn't actually stand in the center of the maze. The boys were okay with moving on, though, so we did!

The drive to Darryl's house was only supposed to be a few minutes, but due to the inevitable London traffic situation, it took 3x as long. When we finally arrived, we were greeted with incredible warmth by Darryl, his wife Christine, and their three children: Patterson, Evie, and Liam. All the kids played well together, and the food and conversation were wonderful. Christine introduced us to some amazing new British foods, including Hula Hoops (potato crisps that slide over kids fingers) and Jammie Dodgers (jelly filled shortbread cookies). We were so grateful for a wonderful afternoon with new friends.

Happy 2016!

Happy New Year everyone!

We hope that 2016 has started off well and that this year brings much joy and happiness for all.

Alisa and I have a New Year's resolution to catch up on the blog so when you're reading the Ireland posts they'll be in real time!

Until then, we'll be furiously posting about the last days in London, Christmas in Church Brampton, and our laid back New Year celebration in Cardiff, Wales.

We plan to watch the Rose Bowl tonight to cheer on Stanford and continue the New Year Bowl watching tradition.

Wishing you all a fantastic 2016,