London

We left for London on Friday afternoon.  The kids and I were flying on miles and the best city for us to fly out of was London, so we decided to make a weekend out of it.  We decided to ride the train instead of fly to avoid some of the hassles of the airport, but leaving the train station was very similar to an airport.  You still had to fill out a customs form, show your passports and go through security and x-ray.

The ride was fun and relaxing and the girls enjoyed getting to sit across from one another with a table in between.  You barely even notice the short period of time that you are actually under water because you are in a tunnel.  Unfortunately for Amanda there were no windows in the tunnel and you could not see the fish as you were whizzing by on the train.

When we arrived in London we couldn't find a cab right away so we decided to try the underground.  Bad idea, at least with kids and luggage in tow.  There were people everywhere walking so fast who had no patience or tolerance for us getting our bearings.  So, back to find the taxi line and we finally were on our way to the hotel.  Charlie found a very cute bed and breakfast for us close to a university. Our room was pretty basic, four small beds jammed into a big room, but it did the trick and we were only staying two nights.  After we dropped off our bags we walked to a local pub for dinner.  We got a few funny looks from the patrons and the kids thought it was a bit interesting, but we were mostly just happy that we could order and communicate with the bartender in our native tongue.

The next morning we got up ready to see London.  We had one day and wanted to show the kids as much as possible.  First we went to the half priced ticket booth and got tickets for that evening for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  Then we jumped on one of those big hop-on-hop-off buses that takes you all over the city.  Kind of cheesy, but we got to sit and listen about the history of London and we saw the entire city.  We got off at the Tower of London to see the crown jewels.  Andy enjoyed listening to the humor of the Beefeaters giving the tours, but we couldn't keep up because there were at least 50 people trying to listen and the girls were bored and staying in the back where you couldn't hear.

By the end of the day we were bused out and had a quick dinner of cake and ice cream before we headed to the theater.  When we got our tickets our choices were way back in the balcony or for a little more the very front row, so the kids got to sit front and center.  We were so close we could see the little microphones on the actors.  The kids loved the play, especially Sarah who had read the book in second grade so was very familiar with the story.  Our long day in London was an amazing end to a very long trip.

The next day we flew home.  We didn't get home until after 7p on Sunday night and the kids had school on Monday.  It took us several days to get back on schedule, and for me to get caught up on all the laundry, but it was worth it.  The kids have some wonderful memories of the trip and occasionally with throw out something about Paris or Venice or London and it makes me smile.  I love that we have instilled the love of travel in them.