Lamppostings

London – Day 6 – July 15, 2019

We took the Thames River Clipper from North Greenwich to Embankment. It was a great way to see the city, and it’s way cheaper than the tour boats. It felt like we kept circling around Canary Wharf, but we were just following the dip in the Thames. It was our first really cool day and it was quite refreshing. Jackets all around, and a cup of tea for the journey.

We wandered down Embankment and recreated our Cleopatra’s Needle/Sphinx photo from when we were going out. G&B are so patient with our shenanigans.

We went back along the river and made our way through some of the amazing parks and gardens that are on the other side of the road. There are statues and art everywhere. We found one of William Tyndale which was cool. We walked past the Ministry of Defense building and New Scotland Yard.

We made it to Big Ben which was sadly swathed in scaffolding which we knew about, but it was a bit disappointing not to see and hear it. Glad it is getting some TLC though. Wandered through the park filled with statues of famous people near the Houses of Parliament.

We carried on and walked past Horse Guards and Number 10 Downing Street and on to Trafalgar Square. Had a look is St Martin’s in the Field Crypt which was one of my favourite places to go when I was out and about in the city for a quiet cup of tea. It’s been upgraded and expanded and it’s lovely, but the tea is much more expensive now!

Had a sandwich lunch (Tesco Express and Sainsbury’s Local have great lunch meal deals that we availed ourselves of, several times throughout the trip. I also love the sandwich varieties that the UK has) on the steps of St Martin’s. Then we went in for a free lunch time concert and enjoyed hearing the Southend Girl’s Choir perform.

Then it was on to one of my most cherished places in London, the National Gallery. We had such a great time. The boys continued their education – lots of nudity and violence. You don’t think about it until you go with kids! There was lots of laughter and fun as well as being in awe at the amazing works of art.

I got a bit emotional (shocking, I know) as I sat in front of The Execution of Lady Jane. I just felt overwhelmed with the beauty and emotion of the painting and with the fact that I was there with my family and friends, and a little bit sad thinking about not having a life in London. We talked about the art we saw. Graeme told me what he loves about his favourite painting. We discovered some pieces that we hadn’t noticed before. Van Gogh, Monet, Klimt, Turner. Colin discovered his favourite painting. I am so thankful that these world class galleries are free, there’s no barrier for anyone to experience the art and be moved by it. There are hundreds of free galleries and museums in London.

After that, we went to St Bartholomew the Great Church, it was very cool outside, but we didn’t go in. William Wallace was put to death near the church and later his funeral was held here.

Then we went to Postman’s Park, another Pinterest find and it was incredibly beautiful as a park and moving as a memorial to people who had given their lives to save the lives of others. There are plaques along a wall telling the stories of people who died saving others.

After this we took a couple of buses through the city to Limehouse to a fish/burger/kebab/chicken shop and got kebabs and chips and ate them at Limehouse Basin. The chip shop was across the street from our old YWAM base.

Back to Stratford, the boys played on the playground for a while. My DSLR camera was in my backpack and got dropped on the concrete. I thought for sure it was a goner, it was absolutely fine and I am very thankful.

Becky and I had a bit of shopping time in the Mall. Sadly, throughout our time together, there just wasn’t enough time for much shopping or charity shops.

25,134 steps

10.4 miles

London – Day 3 – July 12, 2019

Waking up was a bit rough after my lack of sleep, but I was excited for this day! We were heading to Oxford which was a bit of a pilgrimage for me. Visiting CS Lewis’ home was something of a dream. CS Lewis has played a big part in how I view the world. The Chronicles of Narnia have particularly shaped my view of God and faith and some of my greatest heroes happen to be a Talking Mouse and a Marshwiggle because of his stories. I also love the Cosmic Trilogy and many of the books he wrote about faith as well as his poetry and letters that he exchanged with various people. Jude’s middle name is Lewis for a reason and I have two Narnia-themed tattoos. It’s kind of a big deal to me.

We headed off to Paddington Station. As we were getting closer, it looked like time was running out to catch our train. At one station, the doors were closing on the carriage and I physically held the doors open while the boys got on. A definite no-no, but I was impressed with my strength! I have Ally at BodyRock to thank for that!

We made it to Paddington with a couple of minutes to spare so decided to get some breakfast at McDonalds, waiting for the hashbrowns to cook almost made us miss the train! Should have gotten up earlier and eaten at Gregg’s!

We had a lovely train ride to Oxford. I love trains. You have freedom to move around and do stuff and I don’t get sick!

When we got to Oxford, we walked into the city center. We went through the covered market, past the Bodleian, and under the Bridge of Sighs. I kept expecting Inspectors Morse or Lewis to appear, though that would mean that someone had been murdered! It was quite crowded, but Oxford is beautiful.

We walked past several of the colleges and found Magdalen College where CS Lewis taught.

We grabbed some sandwiches and jumped on the bus to CS Lewis’ house. We got off in a very suburban area with detached and semi-detached houses from the 70s and 80s. Not at all what we were expecting and we were getting a bit worried. I love all the different lampposts in London and Oxford, but we found the least Narnian lamppost of all time on CS Lewis’ street. We came to the Kilns and need not have worried at all. It is a lovely old cottage with an amazing garden and attached nature preserve.

We had a great tour guide. It was wonderful to hear the history of the house and learn more about Jack, his brother, his wife and the other members of the household. It seems he was a jovial and lovely man with foibles and quirks and they had a very interesting domestic life. He was also incredibly frugal which impressed Colin! I really liked that they didn’t deify CS Lewis or sugar coat his humanity. We saw a photo and learned about The Kilns gardener, Fred Paxford, who Lewis said was the inspiration for Puddleglum and my heart nearly burst! I thought I knew a lot about CS Lewis, but there is still so much to learn. So thankful to share the experience with Colin, the boys and G&B.

After the tour, we wandered through the Nature Reserve. It’s a beautiful wooded area that was very important to the the Lewis brothers.

Then we walked to the church Jack attended – Holy Trinity. We visited his and Warnie’s graves in the churchyard. I got to sit where he sat every week. There’s a beautiful, etched glass window about Narnia there. For some reason as we wandered through the graveyard, this inspired the boys to design their own graves and grave stones. There will be lights, electricity, moving parts.

We caught a bus back to Oxford (we are not as tough as CS Lewis who walked the 3 miles from The Kilns to Magdalen College and back home everyday!). We went to the Eagle and Child and had a drink. This is the most famous pub where CS Lewis, Warnie, Tolkien, Charles Williams and many other members of The Inklings, met to discuss their writings. I ordered Colin the drink that he used to get when the rest of us had beers and ciders – half orange juice, half diet coke. It’s not bad tasting, but it sure is ugly! We raised a glass to CS Lewis.

We went in search of dinner and found a Wetherspoon pub called The Four Candles. Had a lovely dinner. Everyone was feeling a bit tired and cranky, but food helped to revive us.

There were several things in Oxford that we would have liked to do, but simply ran out of time.

Back on the train to London. Wonderful conversations with G&B about a wide-range of topics. I love these friends so much and am so thankful for what quality people they are.

At Paddington Station, we found Paddington Bear and also saw a brass band playing in the station. Then we began the journey back to Stratford. Everything takes longer than you think it will and it was nearly 10 pm when we got back to the hotel.

20,657 steps

8.61 miles

I love planning, preparing and packing for a trip. This was no exception. I had lists and lists of lists. We left on a Monday, so had the weekend to prepare the house and pack. We decided it would be nice to come home to a clean and tidy house and the backyard looking good.

This trip was so fun to plan for. From the time we confirmed with Graeme and Becky that we could all be in London at the same time, then setting dates and buying tickets. Colin’s brother and his family planned a European trip and put some time in London on their itinerary so that we could have some time together.

Thinking about the things that were important to us that we wanted to experience again and that we wanted to share with the boys. Scouring Pinterest for ideas of things that we haven’t done. Planning out the days and thinking about what places and activities are close together has been so fun. Looking at maps and websites, booking advance tickets to things. I made a master calendar and put all the things we wanted to do on it. It was slightly overwhelming to look at, but we were going with a flexible attitude and knew that we might not get to everything. I would say that having that calendar and plan took so much stress out of the trip. We knew each day when we woke up what the plan was and where we were going. Everyone had contributed their thoughts and desires ahead of time and we had come up with a plan.

My Dad took us to the airport – 3 hours early, of course, because it’s an international journey. However, since it was our local airport, we were checked in and ready to go in about 10 minutes. We played some 500 and wandered a bit.

We flew into Portland and had quite a long layover, so we played some more 500 and then the Smiths came and picked us up and we went to dinner together – it was so good to see them and have time together before the rest of our journey. Portland also has great moving sidewalks near the gates which were great for burning off kid-energy.

Then it was the long flight to Iceland. None of us got much sleep, but it was uneventful – watched some movies. It would have been nice to take advantage of being in Iceland, but the layover was short and we didn’t want to take any time out from our London trip.

The bathrooms in Iceland were great – every stall was a little room with a toilet and sink. Fully enclosed – no giant gaps between the doors – what is it with US bathrooms? The sink had what looked like handlebars which I totally grabbed – only to find out they were air jet dryers underneath.

The flight to London was about 3 hours. Jude slept for about half of it and Zane crashed about half an hour before we landed.

We touched down at London Heathrow around 4:30 pm and proceeded to get our bearings. We got our weekly travel cards (Oyster Cards) with the help of a lovely Transport For London employee who was just what we needed as we arrived feeling tired and knowing we still had to get all the way across London at rush hour. He’ll be getting a great review from us. What a difference it makes for people to be kind, share knowledge and have a laugh.

We jumped on the Picadilly Line and got seats, of course, since it begins at Heathrow. When we got on the Tube and the boys sat down, I felt a huge grin spread across my face. It was such an amazing feeling to see my boys on the Underground.

Then the tiredness kicked in. Zane fell asleep, first laying his head on Colin’s shoulder and then switching to the shoulder of the man on the other side of him. Jude fell asleep hard too. We had to switch trains at Green Park and then it got a bit crazy since it was rush hour. The boys and I and two of our bags got on the carriage, but Colin didn’t make it on with the other two of our bags. So the boys and I travelled to Stratford on our own standing for much of the way with our bags – a true Underground experience. Zane was so tired and not feeling great by this time. We got off at Stratford and Colin arrived on the next train.

We headed for our hotel, checked in and then headed down to the mall in search of SIM cards and dinner. The boys got their second wind and we got connected with UK SIMs and found some dinner. By this time it was after 9 pm and time to head to bed, but not before a bit of play time on the playground conveniently located outside the hotel for the boys while I got our room and belongings organized in the hotel.

Off to sleep feeling content and excited about the adventure ahead.

Travel tips:

Travelling with slightly older kids, it was great not to have everyone’s bags filled with toys and things to do. We kept it simple by loading books, Netflix shows, and games on our tablets and phones. Less stuff on the plane is always nice. The in-flight entertainment was also great and we all watched a movie together by syncing when we started the movie on our individual screens. We packed some games for down time at airports, though as the journey gets longer, you tend to want to spend airport time walking around rather than sitting. Water and snacks were our other important take alongs.

While the journey across London was long and tiring, we saved a lot of money by not taking the Heathrow Express into the center of London – money we would rather spend on experiences. And let’s face it, any trip on the Underground qualifies as an experience!

London – Day 1 – July 10, 2019

After some sleepless hours in the night, we were awakened from a deep sleep at 9 am with that “Where am I and what’s going on?” feeling. Took some time getting ready and then headed down to the mall to have savory rolls and pasties from Gregg’s Bakery, a UK bakery chain, kind of like a McDonald’s for baked goods. Zane was very impressed. He called it Greasy Goodness and wants to eat there everyday – he had a cheese and bacon wrap.

We started on the Proposal Scavenger Hunt. A bit of backstory – Colin proposed to me via a scavenger hunt that he put together using some London landmarks, with the help of friends (Graeme was one of these helpful friends) meeting me at each stop to make sure I stayed on track. Becky was also involved as Colin’s plan was to take me back to my flat where Becky and my flatmates had filled my room with candles and flowers and got us a lovely Chinese takeaway to eat. We wanted the boys to experience the scavenger hunt so I printed off all the clues and we planned to use the morning to complete the hunt. St Paul’s Cathedral was first. It was as beautiful as ever and it was fun to see the boys on the steps and at the doors solving clues.

Then it was on to Bank. It was busy, but the boys solved the clues and we had a phone call from Graeme coordinating their arrival and where we would meet.

We headed to Monument and the boys worked on the clues there. We planned to go up the Monument which wasn’t on the original hunt, but it was a good time to do it. It’s 311 steps to the top! It was warm and challenging, but super cool to do and gave the boys their first view of the river and Tower Bridge.

We knew we wouldn’t have time to finish the hunt before we were due at the theatre so we met up with Graeme and Becky and headed to Leicester Square. Now I always say that we won’t go to McDonalds or Burger King when we are travelling, but I’ve got to say that if you’re looking for a cold drink, some air conditioning and toilets, they’re a bit of a lifesaver. So we had a drink and a catch up with Graeme and Becky (going forward referred to as G&B) in Burger King.

More backstory. Who are Graeme and Becky? I worked with Becky in YWAM (Youth With a Mission) when I lived in London many years ago. We were also flatmates. We taught and helped at a community project that worked with the long-term unemployed, homeless and mentally ill. She is one of my dearest friends and a true English Rose. Graeme was a friend of Colin’s from New Zealand who came over to live while Colin lived in London. Becky and I started a drop-in center for recovering alcoholics, a place where people could go for fun, friendship, food, games and help. It was called the Cavern. We received some wise counsel that we should gather some help as the crowd we were working with could get a bit rough sometimes. We asked Colin and Graeme if they would help us out. They said yes. We’re quite glad they did! G&B are now based in New Zealand, but come to the UK regularly and we’ve been wanting to organise a time when we could all be there together. We’ve visited them in NZ and they’ve visited us in Oregon, but it really was amazing to share time together in London.

After our drink and chat, we headed to the Queen’s Theatre to see Les Miserables. Now there are many amazing musicals and shows happening in London, and we’ve seen quite a few and would love to see more. They’re not super cheap though and we knew we had to pick one. I’ve probably seen Les Mis 10 times. It’s my favourite. It’s full of meaning and amazing music and an incredible set. The plot is all about grace and mercy and is so rich. So that’s why we chose Les Mis – I wanted the boys to experience that. It did not disappoint. It was amazing and I needed many, many tissues. Pro Tip – we watched the musical/movie with the boys before we came so that they would have a good grasp of the plot. Also, see a musical early on in your time here and it will be the soundtrack for the remainder of the trip. We all talked about our sleepless moments at night being filled with Les Mis songs. We also used the tunes of the songs and added many of our own lyrics. We often caught each other singing, humming and whistling the songs.

Afterwards we headed to Chinatown and had an amazing dinner at Mr Wu’s buffet. Yummo!

After dinner, we resumed the Proposal Scavenger Hunt at Monument. Over London Bridge, along the South Bank and past the HMS Belfast solving clues along the way. We popped in to Hay’s Galleria which has a cool Steampunk ship in it and got a photo in red London phone box that didn’t have poop in it – that’s another story.

Tower Bridge was next and we were close to the end which was outside the Tower of London and the spot where Colin proposed. It was fun to stand with the boys in the spot where Colin proposed to me. The family of rats we saw was a nice touch! Ah, London.

Back to the hotel and to bed having done 17,770 steps!