Riding the London Eye yesterday was amazing. I love aerial views anyway, and it was great to be in the air for half an hour with a perfect view of the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben.
After that, we took the boat ride (boring for the girls!) to the Tower. We tried to listen as a Beefeater gave a talk and tour, but there were so many people with the same idea that we couldn't get close enough to hear. So we rented headphones and independent audio machines, and we were off to wander on our own.
I had asked the girls to write a report about the history of the tower, and they were eager to see where the boy princes had been held. It helped them to have more interest in the places we saw when they'd read about them before the trip. I was glad that whenever the audio tour said, "If you want to hear more about this, press #33," they wanted to hear more. We all learned a lot.
I liked the movie, Lady Jane, and it was interesting to see her name scratched in the walls of the tower, along with lots of other fascinating graffiti from long ago.
When we were about to leave, we happened upon a skit done by people dressed in period clothes. It was a woman whose husband had been locked in the tower, and she was trying with her maids to devise a way to get him out. The scheme eventually involved two pies for the guard, a maid changing clothes with the husband inside the tower, and the husband and wife running away. The girls loved it.
David had told us about fun areas to walk around near the Tower Bridge (what most Americans think of as the London Bridge). But after walking around touring for three hours, we were too tired to walk anymore. We found the nearest tube station and headed for Gloucester Street and our hotel.
Part of what's been a great experience for the girls has been learning how to get around in a foreign city. When we get to a tube station, I have them take turns looking at a tube map to figure out which underground line we need to take (District, Circle, Picadilly, etc.) to get to our next destination, which platform to go to, and when the correct train is arriving. I love that they will no doubt feel perfectly comfortable finding their way around when they come back some day.
One thing that would have been very helpful would have been bringing a compass. With my poor sense of direction, I can climb up the stairs out of a tube station and have NO idea which way to turn to head for the thing we're looking for. I'll look at my map, look for street signs (which are few and far between!) and look at the sun...and still I have no idea which way to go. Next time we'll know!
For instance, last night we wanted to go to Trafalgar Square and then to Leicester Square. Trafalgar was easy to find with its lions and other statues. But then finding Leicester Square was hard. We ended up in Picadilly Circus, but had a great time there. We found a souvenir shop and bought everything we'd been looking for. Then we sat and watched a street performer for a long time. He was very funny, and Claire, who had woken up at four a.m. that day, didn't want to leave.
We all slept well in a very nice hotel, the Millennium Baileys, until the maid tapped at the door at 8:30 trying to get us to open it so she could clean! Bizarre.
We had a ridiculously expensive but good breakfast, and then found a post office, where we shipped the souvenirs home. No room for them in our carry-ons!
Then we went to the Natural History Museum. The girls couldn't get the Science Museum out of their heads, so we didn't last long there, and had to go back to the Science Museum. Claire's favorite part about the NH Museum was studying the fuzzy caterpiller we found on the sidewalk in front of it. She loves the way their sticky little feet feel in her hand. We had only an hour or so at the Science Museum before it was time to catch a tube to Victoria State so we could grab lunch and get on train for the twenty-minute ride back to Anerley. David met us at the station so we'd have time to pack and leave by 2:30.
It was a two-hour drive here. We're staying at the Grosvenor Hotel: http://www.bwgh.co.uk/, which is very nice.
After checking in, we walked all over town, and had a delicous dinner at the Garrick Inn. It was established in the 1500s and is one of the oldest pubs in Stratford. I took David's advice and ordered the Beef and Ale Pie, which was amazing. Here's something like it: http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/beefandalepie_81022.shtml
We took the girls back to the room so they could relax and watch their video Ipods for a bit while we walked around town more, finding the Courtyard Theater where we'll see The Taming of the Shrew tomorrow. There's an interesting system of canals here that were used before the rail system was built. They even have locks that can take the long canal boats uphill. David explained to the girls how the locks work.
Mom and Dad, I'm working on convincing the Hynes to come and see us in the next year or two, and if they're that far north, they really need to see Montana, too. :-)
Tomorrow we'll explore more around Stratford before our play at 7:15.
Kathy