U.K. Invasion, Part Four
Part One is here.
Part Two is here.
Part Three is here.
Day 10, the day after we got back from Liverpool, was to be another London day. We had an appointment to go up in the London Eye, and we had had such a good time at the Eiffel Tower in Paris the summer before that we were all looking forward to a similar experience. The London Eye is horrendously expensive, and Patrick and I hoped it would be worth it.
In our hurry to make our train, we left a) our sandwiches and b) Patrick's fancy camera at the house in Twickenham. This was not good, but we made the best of the situation. The Eye's carriages are huge and move around very slowly, so the kids could go from one window to the next and look around to their heart's content. We took a few photos with the CoolPix and called it good.
If you're going to visit London, take my advice. Unless a rich aunt is subsidizing your journey, don't bother with the London Eye. The views from the top of St. Paul's Cathedral are just as nice and can be had at a fraction of the price and wait time. Let's face it: London is great, but Paris it ain't, not when it comes to an aesthetically pleasing city view from the high up. And unless the weather is spectacular for the half hour you're on the Eye (for which you have very long odds), you will feel that your bang-to-buck ratio is tragically low.
After the Eye, we met up with John, an English friend of mine, who had come all the way down from York to meet us specially. Since the weather wasn't great for a picnic anyway, we took the train back to Twickenham to have our lunch and chat. It was a nice bit of relaxing down time, very pleasant after the vigors of Liverpool. And it was great that Anne got a chance to nap, because we were going to have a very late night back in London. We had tickets to see Oliver! at the Royal Drury Lane Theatre, and our angel friend Carmen would be keeping Anne with her at her flat for the duration.
At about 4pm, we went back to London, parted ways with John, and met Carmen at her flat in the posh neighborhood of Marylebone. Carmen and her pal Kate made us taco salads and entertained us until it was time to go to the theater. When we left, Anne was happily watching a Dora video we had brought. It seemed like things would work out well.
At the theater, we picked up our tickets. P had gotten them through his contact at Cameron Mackintosh's office. Cameron is a major producer of London theater, and P has done a lot of negotiations with Cameron's office on behalf of his clients. So--we paid for our tickets, but they were excellent seats that would not have been available to us otherwise.
BUT. What a surprise we got when we went inside. A man in a red swallow-tailed coat met us at the door. He introduced himself to us as Anthony, and told us that at intermission, he would take us to a private room and give us refreshments. Then he took our soda and ice cream order and escorted us to our fantastic seats. James asked, "Dad, does this kind of thing happen to you all the time?"
Oliver! is such a great show. The kids all LOVED it, and P and I loved seeing it again (we were at the opening of this production in London almost 15 years ago). And at the interval, just as promised, Anthony came and fetched us. We didn't go to just any private room. Oh, no. We were at the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane, and we'd already noticed the Queen's Box, with the royal crest and red draperies. Anthony took us to the Royal Retiring Room behind the Queen's Box, a gorgeous, quiet place with its own bathroom. How great not to have to wait in line for the loo, and we used the Queen's own throne. Our free sodas and ice creams were waiting for us, and we savored them in luxury and peace.
It turns out that Anthony is one of only a few red-coated butlers that take care of special guests, including Her Majesty, at Cameron Mackintosh's theaters. He was lovely and regaled us with stories about the theater. We went back to our seats and enjoyed the rest of the show.
Afterwards, we split up. P took the middle four kids straight to the train; the theater is conveniently close to Waterloo station. Christian and I took a cab back to Carmen's and collected the cheerful and content Anne, thanked Carmen profusely, took another cab to Waterloo, and took the next train home. We got home at about 11:45, just a half hour after P and the other kids. It turned out to be a great day despite a so-so beginning.
Day 11, Thursday the 19th, was a perfect day for Hampton Court Palace, my favorite place in all of England. Henry VIII and several other monarchs lived there. It's gorgeous. The intricate chimney pots are my favorite part.
One of the great things about Hampton Court is that it was a 20-minute bus ride from the Twickenham house. We got there with fresh legs and immediately went to the back formal gardens to eat our sandwiches and feed the swans. The gardens are exquisite.
After much admiring, we went inside. The palace was not crowded; in fact, we had some rooms entirely to ourselves, saving the presence of the wardens. These are more than guards; they all have degrees in history and can give you the minutest particulars on the tapestries, paintings, furniture, and history and uses of each room. They love to tell stories, and we were an eager audience.
After touring several apartments, we went back outside. We had an ice cream break, then went through the famous maze--Tess was the first to find the middle--and spent quite a while in the best rose garden in the world. I came away inspired to do more with my little bit of earth.
Hampton Court has several children's trails. We got two for the royal kitchens (way cool) and two for Henry VIII's apartments. No site we visited had trail prizes as good as Westminster Abbey's, but the kids were happy with the colored pencil sets they earned here.
Patrick loved Hampton Court as much as I knew he would. I had been there 10 years ago on a trip he and I took to London and Wales, but he had had to work that day, and I've wanted to show it to him ever since. We explored every last corridor and got every story we could from the wardens; we closed the place down. When we left, the late afternoon light on the intricate brickwork of the walls was gorgeous. We took the bus home, very happy with our day. It was one of the best of our trip.
Day 12: another London day. We walked the Queen's Walk along the Thames from Waterloo Station and across the river to St. Paul's Cathedral. On the way, the boys were fooling around, and Daniel ended up hitting his elbow on a concrete wall. The thunk it made was sickening, and P and I were both convinced he had broken something. After much comforting of Daniel, we decided to keep going and monitor how he felt.
On the steps of the cathedral, poor Daniel had insulting injury added. A wasp stung him on the neck, poor baby. Christian held him for a while during our wait in line, and he rallied like a champ.
I had forgotten how amazing St. Paul's is inside. What a glory. We walked slowly around, marveling and doing the children's trail (alas, no prize, but it was its own reward). The crypt was terrific: opulent tombs of Admiral Nelson, the Duke of Wellington, and Sir Christopher Wren, among others.
After the main level and the crypt, P took the Big Five to climb the dome, while Anne and I communed with the splendid William Holman Hunt painting "The Light of the World." It hangs in a side chapel. The reproductions do not come close to doing it justice. It is huge and wondrous and very moving. I do love my Pre-Raphaelites.
Everyone else had a great time at the Whispering Gallery and seeing the fantastic views of London from the tiny cupola at the top of the dome. I'll write it again: don't be tempted by the views from the London Eye, people. St. Paul's is way better in all respects.
From the cathedral, we got on the Tube to go to Abbey Road. It's a two-block walk from the St John's Wood station, and it was the final piece of our Beatles pilgrimage. There were a few other die-hards at the famous intersection, and P was able to snap some good shots of the kids on the crosswalk. It's a busy road; if I were a delivery person, I would dread having to travel past that spot and navigate around all the crazy tourists.
And that was it for the day. We had spent a couple of hours at the cathedral, so after Abbey Road, we headed home. The luxury of such a long trip was that we didn't have to pack activities in. We took our time, recognized Anne's limits, and enjoyed the leisurely pace. And Daniel's elbow turned out to be fine. The next day, he had a bit of a rash at the wasp sting site, but after a little Benadryl, he was right as rain.