Last week the kids and I had a short work week and in turn a five-day weekend. We took the opportunity to hop on the train and spend some time in London. We had not been to London since October, and were excited about seeing some of the places we had missed. After some logistical problems (our train was delayed an hour and parking was an issue) we loaded up our backpacks with books and snacks for the five-hour journey down to Kings Cross station.
Entrance to Hampton Court
Our first big visit of the trip was Hampton Court. A favorite spot of Henry VIII (and a few of his wives), its one of only two remaining palaces that Henry used. Situated right on the Thames, the architecture and gardens are quite stunning, although we found the insides to be a bit sparse. Nonetheless we enjoyed strolling through the gardens, the Royal Kitchen, maze, and Royal Apartments. Note to self: After you charge the camera battery, put the battery back in the camera. That way your camera works when you need it. Ughhhhh. Disclaimer: All Hampton Court Pictures were stolen from the internet, but honest- we were there.
Christa and I loved the chimneys.
The Royal Gardens (I made sure to steal a season-appropriate photo)
The Anne Boleyn gate and astrological clock.
The Hampton Court Maze. Its one-third of an acre in size and it took us about a half-hour to find the center.
Being a history nerd, I have always been intrigued by visiting Greenwich. Located just outside of London, Greenwich is the home of the famous observatory and the world’s Prime Meridian. Located at 0 degrees longitude, Greenwich marks the division between the Western and Eastern hemispheres, as well as being the starting point for international time zones. The observatory of Royal Astronomer John Flamsteed was designed in 1675, and served as the focal point for navigational research in England.
Ainsley outside the National Maritime Museum
The Royal Observatory (view from Maritime Museum)
Entrance to the observatory. The clock is the 24-hour Shepherd Gate Clock. Installed in 1852, this clock was the first one to show Greenwich time to the public and still works fine.
John Flamsteed's house and the original observatory. The red ball is the Time Ball, which drops at 1 p.m. It was used by sailors in the Thames to set their chronometers (clocks used to determine longitude at sea)
The Peter Harison Planetarium.
Straddling the Prime Meridian with a foot in each hemisphere.
Always on the lookout for a food market, we found a fantastic little one in Greenwich. A very tasty lunch of spicy Thai beef, vegetable curry with rice, and the best Chinese food since San Francisco. We were all sad to leave.
Speaking of food markets, we made a stop by our old favorite. The kids were disappointed not to find the "Brownie Man" again, but we still had a great dinner.
Our friends the Smiths’ back home first mentioned Horrible Histories to us before we left. Horrible Histories was originally a series of books “with the nasty bits left in” about different historical periods. There are books such as Measly Middle Ages, Terrible Tudors, Vile Victorians, and Slimy Stewarts which cover all kinds of gross and bloody stories that kids love. Recently there has been an award-winning (the first children’s show to win a British comedy award) television program based on the same series of books. Horrible Histories is extremely popular with my students at St. Columba’s as well. As it turns out they have created a Horrible Histories musical- a one-hour program called Barmy Britain. Will and Ainsley (and me of course) were pretty excited about catching the show and now know how to to remember what happened to each of Henry VIII’s wives (“divorced, beheaded, died…..divorced, beheaded, survived!”)
To give you an idea of what Horrible Histories is all about, and to help you out with your British monarchs, here is a video of the Kings and Queens song from Horrible Histories:
Christa took some time to visit the National Gallery, so Ainsley and Will played on the giant lions at Trafalgar Square.
St. Paul's Cathedral
One of the iconic images of London is St. Paul's Cathedral. Pictures are not allowed inside, but needless to say its a breathtaking church to view. The crypt at St. Paul's is home to a number of notable Brits, including The Duke of Wellington, T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia), Lord Nelson, Florence Nightengale, and Winston Churchill.
Looking towards the High Alter (internet image)
Will with his new Lego friend.
Our last evening we decided to swing by Harrods and let the kids do a bit of window shopping. Ainsley found a nice sweater for herself, but the $2,100 price tag was a bit much. As fun as it was to wander through countless rooms of toys, clothes, and gourmet food, we left empty-handed in the end. They had an awesome Lego section (of course) and Will was duly impressed with the Harrods doorman.
The hotel by Kings Cross station. Not our hotel unfortunately, but it sure is impressive huh?
Our very last stop was The British Library. Nothing quite gets the kids excited like 800-year old original copies of the Magna Carta huh?! We did sell them on the fact that they would be able to see the original manuscript for Alice in Wonderland and some cool original hand-written lyrics from The Beatles. Needless to say, 20 minutes was enough for the Will and Ainsley, especially since the Alice in Wonderland book was temporarily removed from the case. Sorry guys. They were also a bit bummed that there wasn't a kids section at the library so they could feed their Tintin obsession. Still, its the Magna Carta!
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