Cavorting with Will and Kate

The last stop in our royal voyeurism was Kensington Palace (current home of Will and Kate, past home of Princess Di). We'd done Windsor Castle and Hampton Court Palace, and both Kew Palace and the Banqueting House were closed (thank goodness - we were running out of time in London). Since Kensington is right near where I was working at Imperial, I went to work in the morning and met up with Jay, my mom, and the kids in the afternoon for our palatial tour.

While I worked, the rest of the family had a great morning and picnic lunch at the Princess Diana memorial playground, which is in Kensington gardens right next to Kensington Palace. It is an amazing space, complete with a pirate ship for climbing! 

And some tunnels to crawl through!

I met everyone in front of the palace, which was all decorated for Christmas.

We then toured the four major exhibits in the palace. First was the Queens State Apartments, which were the home of Queen Mary II and King William III.

We then saw the Kings State Apartments, a grand set of rooms with some impressive tapestries. 

As we walked between the exhibits we came across a bench which had pillows depicting the line of monarchs. It was so impressive that Sammy decided to use the bench for a little nap.

Next we moved on to an exhibit on Queen Victoria, who was the longest reigning monarch (before the current Queen Elizabeth). She made many shrines around London to her late husband Albert and always wore black after he died. Their marriage was depicted as a true love match. The kids had an amazing time in this exhibit because there were toys! That they could touch and play with! Here they are crawling all over the floor playing with said toys, in front of a fancy dollhouse.

They also had a very cool diagram of Victoria and Albert's immediate family tree, with pictures of the monarchs and their 9 (!) children.

Lastly, we saw the fashion exhibit which included incredible dresses from the current queen in her younger days, Princess Margaret (who was a real trendsetter), and of course Princess Di.

After all that royalty, we went for an early dinner at a pub we had visited before - the Leinster Arms. It was pretty packed with Christmas revelers around the bar, but we were one of only a few who were having dinner that early. We highly recommend this place for great food!

Oxford. The only one.

While Grandma was visiting, we planned an extended weekend to go north to Sulgrave to see the Cotswolds, Stratford-upon-Avon, and then drive back over to Church Brampton where Alisa and her mom's cousins lived.

On the way lies Oxford.  We couldn't turn down a chance to see this famous university nearly 1,000 years old comprised of 38 distinct colleges with a list of distinguished alumni longer than a pretty long thing.

Having become accustomed to the drive out of London, I only missed a few key turns (but stayed on the correct side of the road) and overall had a smooth drive until we neared the University.  Then things slowed down like molasses on a cold day until we navigated ourselves to some parking.

Here's a map of Oxford.

With the parking issue settled, finding a place on Holywell Street across the street from Harris Manchester College, we disgorged from the Peugeot and got our bearings.

Cambridge and Oxford both have their version of the Bridge of Sighs, so we were hoping to find it during the trip.  Imagine our happy surprise as we just about walked under the bridge when we took the first left turn!

Sammy was already pretty relaxed but not as relaxed as Lanna who was passed out.

Walking further down this street we stumbled upon a plaque on a home there.

Sir Edmund Halley had been quietly making his presence known to us as we saw tributes to him at Westminster and the Royal Observatory before seeing a home he lived in over 300 years ago!

We continued down this street and it became more narrow.  We were slowed down as a full size cement mixer was backing down the street.  

I commented to Alisa that I wasn't sure which was more impressive - Oxford or watching the driver deftly navigate an enormous truck around twists and turns of a tiny side street built long before trucks.  It was amazing as we slowly followed him until he masterfully turned into the construction area.

Moving onward brought us down to the eastern end of High Street and the botanical gardens.

Recently the themes had been Edmund Halley and botanical gardens, so we wished to continue this and visited Oxford's botanical gardens, considered the oldest in England.

Since it was a threatening gray day with sporadic blustery wind, the gardens were very quiet.

We walked through the greenhouses which had a cinnamon tree with a small jar at its base with the familiar curled bark. I can't recall ever seeing a cinnamon tree. It smelled amazing.  

Coffee plants were there with the sugar cane nearby.  Nutmeg and cloves also added their distinct scents to the greenhouse.  It was hard to leave as I was thinking about spiced lattes.

We found a pond with lilies and tiny fish.  You can see Joey being taught something by Grandma.

There was a carnivorous plant room as well and Joey and Sammy seemed pretty blasé about pitcher plants, sundews, and venus fly traps having seen so many recently.

We found a beautifully decorated greenhouse filled with citrus plants and a Christmas tree.  There were benches, so we decided to have lunch there.  

Lunch in this greenhouse created another precious memory. The air smelled of oranges making me nostalgic for my childhood days visiting my grandparents in Santa Barbara, thinking of the mornings where I would go out, smell the oranges as they swayed in the small orchard, and then pick them for our morning juice.

These memories washed over me and I loved watching my kids enjoy their lunch and then start running around the Christmas tree as the wind rattled the glass above us.

As all precious moments do, this one ended as well.  We made our way out and headed back down High Street towards more of the colleges.

We enjoyed the campus feel and walking past so many famous old colleges.  We also stumbled across the Stanford House at Oxford which was a pleasant find!

Along the way we stumbled across Radcliffe Camera, an impressive library.

Like our time in Cambridge, most colleges were closed to the public so we didn't get to experience some of the fabled inner quads, but that was fine.  Without going into the colleges, we felt the Oxford aura everywhere in the grandeur of its architecture and the weight of its history. 

Also like Cambridge, there were some pedestrian areas that were dedicated to shopping, but commercialism felt much more muted here.

We made our way to the Sheldonian Theater and Bodleian Library, both noted structures near Oxford's center dating back 400 years.  And yes, Christopher Wren was involved in their inception.

It was a pleasure to enjoy this campus so beautiful and rich with history.  

It became less enjoyable as fat raindrops started pelting us, so we increased our pace and returned to the car.  We felt we had experienced Oxford and, given the chance, I would love to go again.

Did you know that peacocks like to eat peanuts?

We had driven past Kew gardens previously on our way to Hampton Court Palace, but not yet been in. So we decided to visit during the time that my mom was in London, since she loves Gardens! We had an amazingly easy time getting there on a Saturday morning AND finding free parking right outside the gate. Unfortunately this was not close enough for Sammy, who was already tired of walking by the time we got out of the car. Nevertheless, we made it into the garden, past the wedding which was about to start in one of the houses, and on to the play area!

We first enjoyed the outdoor play structures and managed to convince the kids that the Christmas carnival (with the big slide on the outside of the brown tower in the building) was not quite open yet.

Then, since it was not the warmest of days, we explored the indoor play area. This was an awesome exploration zone with areas appropriate for all the kids. They each found their own way to enjoy the space.

No, I am not sleeping in this picture.

We then walked over to the water lily house, which was warm and lovely. It was nice to see water lilies in the winter!



And then we walked to the nearby greenhouse, which was full of all sorts of tropical plants.





The two coolest parts of this greenhouse were the aquariums on the bottom floor (everyone loves the fish!) and being able to climb up these crazy windy steps to the upper level and look down on the plants from above. 

At this point, we were near the cafe and it was lunchtime - great planning! We ate our lunch in the cafeteria and then signed up for the Santa ride, which was in place instead of the usual garden train ride. We enjoyed hearing about the 500 different kinds of holly in Kew Gardens, as well as many other plant-based facts that I cannot remember. However, the most memorable part of the trip around the garden was seeing Santa feed the peacocks peanuts. Did you know that peacocks like peanuts? Seems too strange to be true, but I swear that we saw it firsthand!





Our final stop for the day was the Princess of Wales Conservatory, named after Princess Augusta but opened by Princess Diana in 1987. 

We enjoyed the arid zones (and managed to keep Lanna from toddling into a prickly cactus), admired the fish in the ponds, and especially loved the orchids.

Lastly, Jay enjoyed this woodworking piece. A storm had knocked over many trees in the gardens, and a creative woodworker made this piece of art from the different downed trees. Jay has vowed to somehow replicate this technique, at some point in his life.

And that was our day at Kew Gardens!

Story time at the National Gallery

Of the several things we were waiting to do with Grandma was to visit the National Gallery.

Sundays the National Gallery hosts a story time for kids! 

http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/whats-on/magic-carpet-sundays/

So we bundled up Sunday morning and recreated Grandma's first day by walking down to Trafalgar Square.  The usually bustling London streets were more quiet as we made our way there.

The Floating Yoda's seen before on prior trips were just setting up (and we saw the apparatus of their "floating" stands disassembled in front of us, which was like looking behind The Great Oz's curtain).

Apparently the Yoda's have been there for several months.  The particular Yoda in this link was still going strong when we were there.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3131086/Yoda-Wars-break-Trafalgar-Square-Romanian-street-performers-dressed-Star-Wars-character-battle-best-spots.html

We made it inside and were on time for the early story time!  The boys ran around a bit before the story started.

It was a great experience.  The woman in charge made all the kids feel comfortable, asking them questions about angels and getting them ready for this adventure.

We all trooped up through the the Gallery until we arrived in front of Pietro Perugino's "The Virgin and Child with an Angel" which is part of a three part panel.

You can see the three panels here:
http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/pietro-perugino-three-panels-from-an-altarpiece-certosa

The kids loved unrolling the carpet.

Then they learned about angels and were taught a song as well.  Sammy and Joey were pretty transfixed since the woman was so engaging.

 Lanna found the stories and singing to be very soothing and was blissfully asleep dreaming of angels of her own.

The story was about a half hour, an ideal amount of time as you could see a wave of fidgeting grow stronger amongst the sitting children.  They helped roll up the carpet as well and then we explored a little of the gallery.

Joey and Sammy were introduced to the impressionists primarily, seeing Monet again and learning a little about Manet, Cezanne, Seurat and Van Gogh.

We got a shot of Joey with the Sunflowers since he liked them so much.

Before we had a Louvre repeat, we left the National Gallery for home.

The afternoon was laid back.  The kids played with their costumes, often bending genres like ninja-Beefeater (not pictured), pirate-soldier (not pictured), and legionnaire-Spiderman (pictured).

We planned to experience the Sunday Roast and left the apartment for dinner.

Let this be a lesson to you:  book Sunday Roast in advance.

The following 90 minutes were pretty unenjoyable walking a few miles in northwest London searching for a place, any place, that would take us.

We ended up at a chain of children's restaurants that do not serve Sunday Roast but have a fantastic collection of crayons and hamburgers for tired, hungry children.

After dinner we made the slow amble back to the apartment and the children slept angelically.

Grandma: Epic Day 1

The key for the first day of anyone's visit to Europe is to STAY AWAKE. You must make it through as much of the first day as possible, without sleeping, in order to speed up the acclamation to the time change. My mom arrived early in the morning on December 8th. I took the tube to Heathrow to meet her. Her flight was due to arrive early, so as a dutiful daughter, I also arrived early. Unbeknownst to me, her plane then sat waiting for a gate for 30 minutes and then there was a huge line at passport control. Luckily my mom appeared just as I was beginning to panic that something terrible had happened. We had an uneventful tube ride back and then she arrived at our apartment. The boys put her to work right away.

After a delicious breakfast, we walked her down through London to Westminster Abbey. We had saved a few key sites for her visit, and this was top of the list! We stopped in Trafalgar square to admire the menorah (it was hanukkah), the freaky people pretending to be statues, and the lions supposed created from Napoleon's canons. Unfortunately, this girl would not leave the lions alone and decided to climb up to be with one of them. She failed to climb up, but she succeeded in photobombing our picture since I was too impatient to wait for her to succeed/fail in her climb.

We made it down to Westminster, which is right near Big Ben.

There is also a park there with notable people in world history. We ate lunch with Gandhi.

And we admired the juxtaposition of Big Ben and the Shard in the beautiful clear sunny London sky! The boys love spotting the London Eye as well (not pictured here).

We then made our way into Westminster Abbey, which is imposing from the front.

You can't take pictures inside, so we don't have images of what we saw. But we all got audio guides and enjoyed seeing the beautiful building as well as the graves/memorial plaques for all the people buried there, including: many kings and queens and their relatives; Charles Darwin, Isaac Newton; Geoffrey Chaucer, Charles Dickens, Rudyard Kipling, Laurence Olivier, George Frederick Handel, and so many more. In the courtyard just outside the abbey (where it was easier to sneak a picture), we saw a few especially cool memorials:

Edmund Halley

Captain James Cook

It was quite a magnificent tour, and the kids did pretty well (Lanna slept through about half, which was helpful). 

We then walked over to see the changing of the horse guards (who were shockingly large).

And finished off the day with a home cooked meal and some chocolate pudding. Joey's goal was to see how big of a pudding bite he could fit in his mouth. This endeavour created some entertaining facial features.

The day was a rousing success! Mom was awake until at least 8 PM and managed to sleep through most of the night.