Bath (December 5, 2009)

The base was offering a day trip to the Christmas Markets in Bath, so we decided to go.  We went more for Bath than for the markets, and that turned out well since most people were there for the markets.  The actual Roman baths were not crowded at all.

We paused outside the entrance to the Baths to get a picture of the beautiful Bath Abbey outside. 

We got inside and the tour wand came with the admission price, so despite our Tower of London experience we tried again.  It turned out you could listen to a variety of recordings and you could pick which to listen to as you went along.  It was a better system by far for a family trying to stay on the same page. :)  They even had a special group of recordings for kids, which weren't as graphic and were more silly sometimes.

The main bath, seen from above.  There would have been a ceiling back when the Romans used it. Much of what you see today is recreated, at least on the top part.  It was rediscovered and excavated in the 18th century. There are many baths in the complex, there were some that were hotter, some that were colder, some that were really cold.  There were even locker rooms (so to speak) where they used the steam to heat the room from below the floor.  Very cool.

While we were up on the walkway above the baths, we could look over the wall and see the shops set up for the Christmas Market.  Neat, but crowded!

Looking out a window at where the hot water comes in.  This is as close as we got to the hot water coming in, and it was bubbling, but they said it was natural gasses, not boiling bubbles.  :)

All of us by the main bath, downstairs.  What's crazy is that you could totally jump in if you wanted to.  There's nothing stopping you, not even any guards around.  Of course, the pool is lead lined, so that can't be good for you... but still.  I do wonder how many people "acidentally" fall in every year.

We just stepped right over where the water came into the main bath.

This was inside, and it's just a drainage canal, but the Romans knew how to make everything aesthetically pleasing.  It seemed to be a waterfall, not run off. 

In the Pump Room, you can taste the water from the spring.  It wasn't as bad as we had heard, it was minerally, but fine.  One sip was enough, though back in the day it was recommended that a person drink liters and liters of it to get healthy!

Scott and the girls at the counter for the mineral water.

We left the baths and went out into the Christmas Market, and the first thing we saw was a carousel.  So the girls rode it.  :)  The markets were like Disneyland on New Year's Eve - WAY too crowded.  So we shopped a tiny bit and headed out of the crowds and over to the river to get some fresh air.

This is the Avon river, the bridge is the Pulteney Bridge - it looks just like a regular street when you're on it, with shops and everything.  Very cool. The weir sure was pretty.

Don't ask me why they have stairs in the middle of the river, they just do.  LOL

Cambria took a picture of me from on top of Scott's shoulders!  Nice rain hair, huh?

One of the main streets with market stalls.

On our way back to our shuttle bus, we thought we'd stop for something warm to drink.  Check out the name of this coffee shop - what a crack up!  LOL

All in all, a good day in Bath, though there is so much more to see.  We'll head back in the spring or summer when we can really enjoy the beauty of the town and its gardens.

London - Thanksgiving 2009 (last day)

Our last day in London, we wanted... well ok, *I* wanted to go see Kensington Palace and Gardens.  So we took the tube over.  

 

 

When we arrived, they said we should allow 2-3 hours to tour the palace, and we only had about an hour before we had to head back to get our luggage and head over to the train station. So we ended up just walking around the gardens a bit.  

In front of the palace, there's this cool statue of Queen Victoria - she was born there.

It was a rainy day, and though we wandered a bit looking for the Peter Pan statue and I wanted to see the Princess Diana memorial fountain, the kids were complaining pretty early on, so we headed back.  Another time.  

We got some lunch in the Marylebone train station - pasties, yum! 

Apparently a chain... good nonetheless.  :)

The station is a little marketplace... I thought the flower vendor was cool. 

And that's it for London for now.  We missed so many things, but we had a great time seeing what we did.  We learned not to expect to get so much stuff into one day with the kids.  Scott and I can knock out a city full of tourist attractions (like Boston or New Orleans) in a couple days, but the kids just can't move that fast.  And if you try to make them, woe is you.  I'm glad we're so close that it will be easy to go back, even just for a day at a time.  Everyone we talked to here was surprised that we were staying over since it's only an hour away, but we're glad we did. 

London - Thanksgiving 2009 (day 3)

On our last full day in London, we headed over first thing to Kings Cross Station, of Harry Potter fame. This is the station where Harry boards the train to Hogwarts every year. The outside scenes were filmed at a different station, this is what it actually looks like outside. :)

Inside, it does have the high glass ceilings shown in the movies. Cool. And because apparently many HP fans come to visit, they have set up a little photo op for platform 9 3/4. While we were there, we saw 5 other groups of people taking pictures at the op.

Cambria pushes her luggage trolley through the wall!

Meridian gives it a try

Scott's turn!

Cambria outside Kings Cross Station

And Meridian...

On the tube, the girls were giggling and playing and being super cute.

We found our way over to the Tower of London (not at all clear from the tube exit we took), entered and got audio guides for us all. This proved to be a pain since we had to all stop them and start them at the same time. It'd be nice if they made a family one with one player and multiple wireless headphone receivers...

They had ice skating outside of the Tower, I wish I'd taken a picture, but I forgot. :)

The whole Tower complex (it's a bunch of towers together, surrounded by walls and a moat) was right along the Thames river, before they filled the area in between in with land - they used to drive right up to the Traitor's Gate below in their boats, and bring the prisoners in. Actually, many people arrived at the gate, whether accused or not.

Wakefield Tower

Me, pretending to shoot at the enemies on the river!

The Jewel House, where the Crown Jewels are on display. This includes the crowns of a bunch of monarchs, the ball they hold only on coronation day (Sovereign's Orb), some sceptres, swords and a lot of fancy plates and what not. It was neat, but no pictures are allowed inside.

Meridian explains, below

Below is the guard outside, on watch. Inside, you know you're entering the room with the good stuff when you see the two foot thick vault doors you're entering. :)

The Tower Bridge, from atop the riverfront wall in the Tower of London.

The White Tower, built by William the Conqueror (guess what he conquered! England!!)! He was the last to successfully take over England, partly because he fortified it so well so no one could take it away from him. It was the first tower in the Tower of London complex. Meridian said it was creepy, especially the stairs. When we went it had this fabulous display of Henry VIII's armor from throughout his life - "Dressed to Kill". He was an athletic king in his younger years, and they have the broken jousting lances on display to prove it!

The kids with a Yeoman Warder. Cool.

Outside the Tower, there was a bagpipe player with his hat out. Meridian wanted to pay every street performer we came across, and we let her pay a few.

Also on the street was a guy making candied peanuts - yum! They were warm and delicious.

Caught the bus for a quick ride over closer to Trafalgar Square.

Trafalgar Square was something to see... it's one of those places you've seen in movies so many times. The Lions are a lot bigger in person. It's the fourth most popular tourist attraction on Earth. Crazy!

The girls were determined to climb up on the lion.

With some help from Dad, they did.  :)

Then, more climbing, of course, at the bottom of Nelson's Column.

Charles I statue, with Nelson behind

I thought this arch was cool, it's "Admiralty Arch" and you can actually drive through it... if you have any desire to drive in London, that is.  

We walked through it, and down the mall to Buckingham Palace.

Across the street from Buckingham Palace

 

Look!  It's the Queen! 

OK, well maybe we didn't actually see Her Majesty, but the flag is up, so she's home.

So I was trying to get a picture of me in my Charlie Brown Christmas t-shirt that my BFF sent me from home, and Cambria was determined to be in the picture with me.  But, she had a little trouble holding her smile while Scott got the lighting adjustment right.  This picture CRACKS me up!!  

 

After a miserably cold open top bus trip over to the West side of town, we arrived at the famous Harrod's.  It is 7 stories of shopping, and the size of a full city block.  We got lost a couple of times.  It was a bit dense of us to go during the Christmas season, and we were disappointed that there was a continuous hour wait for a seat in the Chocolate Bar.  We'll have to go back and check that out.  It's lit up green because they were going with a Wizard of Oz holiday decorating theme.

Cambria likes that the chocolate shavings were made into an H just like the H for Harrod's (same font).  Note the £5.50 shake price - that's a $9.35 shake, thankyouverymuch.  Harrod's is not inexpensive.  We did get some lovely cheeses for a snack later in their cheese shop. 

So Harrod's is owned by the Fayed family, as in Dodi Fayed... this was weird to come across at the bottom of an escalator...

Exhausted, we returned to our hotel to eat some cheese and chocolates and drink some more wine before hitting the sack.  I realize I'm not mentioning many meals, that's mostly because we didn't eat anywhere very notable.  The kids would start acting onery and we'd find somewhere close to eat.  Not very exciting. There are dozens of places I wanted to go eat, but no luck.  :)