We used the Underground to get around London a lot on our most recent trip. I find it unnerving. The New York City subway and the Paris Metro don’t faze me in the least, but there’s something about the deep descents and the constant crush of commuters pressing always to the left instead of the right  that make me uneasy in the Tube. There are so many stops and so many ways to get lost. And Teddy seemed so small and precious as I clutched his hands while we dashed through tunnels teeming with people and rode down dizzying escalators.

I’d rather ride the bus when it comes right down to it, even if it means sorting out which roads are closed for construction as so many of them are while London gets ready for the 20212 Olympics.

Come to think of it, I most preferred riding a bicycle. Maybe that’s how I’ll get around the next time I’m in London.

But even if riding the Underground isn’t my favorite activity, like everyone else, I find the iconography irresistible, from the tiled walls to that bold red circles to the charming and sometimes mystifying stop names (Tooting Bec anyone?). This photo was snapped at our “home” Tube stop, which was right up the street from the apartment we rented.

For Photo Friday at Delicious Baby. Please stop by and check out the other wonderful travel photos.

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]]> http://www.motherofalltrips.com/2010/09/taking-kids-on-the-tube.html/feed 11 http://www.motherofalltrips.com/2010/08/teatime-with-kids-at-fortnum-mason.html http://www.motherofalltrips.com/2010/08/teatime-with-kids-at-fortnum-mason.html#comments Tue, 31 Aug 2010 18:51:51 +0000 Mara http://www.motherofalltrips.com/?p=5133

There are two food-related items that are important to me when I’m traveling with my children. One is that they always have some exposure to local traditions and food. The other is that they get some experience eating at restaurants that do not have a children’s menu and where they cannot color on the tablecloth. That is to say, I like us to have at least one reasonably fancy meal out. We accomplished this with Tommy in Paris at Le Train Bleu. In London I decided that our best bet for an authentic and upscale dining experience was afternoon tea. And although I scouted some different locations where we could do so, in my mind I never strayed too far from Fortnum & Mason, arguably the most traditional place in London to have this most British of meals.

Fortnum & Mason is an elegant and old-fashioned department store near Piccadilly Circus that is justifiably famous for its food halls where you can purchase everything from live crabs to candy potted shrimp. The store actually houses five different restaurants. You can have tea at any of them, but the truly formal tea is served at St. James’s on the fourth floor. The atmosphere starts as you ride the small, creaky, paneled and mirrored elevator, which opens right into the dining room. They’ve redecorated since the last time I was there in 2003. It’s still in shades of peach and gold, but one relaxing change is the introduction of sofas to sit on as you dine – a very nice addition if you’ve spent the entire day on your feet as we had at the Tower of London and then Saint Paul’s Cathedral.

Travel-with-kids tip: Although the dining room is lovely and the food is fancy, the atmosphere at the St. James’s is decidedly relaxed. Everyone who worked there was friendly and clearly used to children. And don’t worry too much about dressing up (unless, of course, you want to!). Do avoid shorts and t-shirts; boys should wear closed-toed shoes. My boys wore polo shirts and chinos and were appropriately clad.

There are actually three different menus for tea. Under the friendly and expert guidance of the staff, we chose to order three Fortnum’s High Teas along with a jug of fresh lemonade for the boys. This was more than enough food for two adults and two children, even relatively big eaters like us. In fact, we were asked for and were given seconds on scones and I think our pastries may have also been replenished without our asking.

We started with Welsh rarebit, Eggs Benedict (not called that in England, but that’s what it is), and a warm crab and saffron tart (no photos of this part of the meal – I apparently was too busy eating). Teddy decided at this point that he wanted to try some tea, so we let him have a sip from the lovely robin’s-egg-blue china.

His verdict? “Um, kinda good…and kinda not.” I don’t think we won a convert, but this was soon forgotten since our first course was followed by scones with jam and clotted cream as well as a large selection of cakes and cookies, all served in lovely tiers.

There were berries and cheesecake and chocolate and lemon drizzle cake and Madeleines. My particular favorite was the lemon meringue tart. Teddy liked it too.

Travel-with-kids tip: Tea is an afternoon meal, but the hours are really flexible, making it ideal for children. At the St. James you can have high tea at any point from noon until 6:30, Monday to Saturday, Sunday from noon to 4:30. We chose to have tea instead of dinner, but you could easily have it instead of lunch. It’s a good idea to make a reservation – you can do so online.

Tea at St. James’s restaurant is not cheap – we spent about 110 pounds or 170 dollars for the four of us. But I felt it was worth budgeting for this kind of extravagance, since it was our only expensive meal of the entire trip. And we weren’t paying just for the food, really, but for the entire experience of relaxing in that lovely room, putting on our nicest manners, and of course, eating dessert for dinner. Which, as far as Tommy and Teddy were concerned, was just brilliant.

I share this as part of Wanderfood Wednesday at Wanderlust and Lipstick. Stop over there to see what else is cooking.

I don’t usually share posts that are primarily photos (since I don’t really consider myself a photographer) but sometimes the perfect words elude me, especially when it comes to a place as gorgeous and magical as Oxford. Looking at these pictures, it amazes me I don’t still have a crick in my neck, I spent so much time looking skyward.

I’ve got lots of posts about our trip to England still to come and also tips for traveling with kids using only carry-on bags, some exciting upcoming travel to share, and the return of MidAtlantic Wednesdays. But for now I think I’ll tarry among these dreamy images for a while. What about you? Anything good to share? If so, please list your link below. And if you could be so kind, please link back to this post. Happy Monday!

When the boys said they wanted to go up in the London Eye I was dubious. Expensive, crowded, tourist trap…these were the words that came to my mind. And yet as we approached it on the afternoon of our ride I realized that like the Eiffel Tower it has a beauty all its own that comes partly from the sheer grandeur of size, partly from the human folly that led to its creation, and partly from the tremendous feat of engineering that keeps it rotating in a circle that is somehow both efficient and lazy.

Travel-with-kids tip: If you will be visiting the London Eye at the height of tourist season as we did, it’s worth it to spring for the Fast Track tickets. Yes, they are almost twice as expensive. But we saved ourselves nearly two hours on line and the boys loved the little knapsacks they got each of which contained a pair of binoculars, a pencil, and a small pad of paper.

I actually found the ride to be worth the money, largely because it offered such a new vantage point for viewing the city. And each of us saw something a little different. I gave Tommy my point-and-shoot camera and he spent the entire ride like this:

I now have photos of any number of buildings in London, most of which I don’t recognize, especially since he spent more time taking pictures of the Southwark side of the Thames, not noted for its architectural distinction. He did snap this beauty though, which I love:

Teddy realized his dream in the London Eye of seeing a pod of dolphins in the Thames (that’s his story, and he’s sticking to it, thank you very much – if you or I didn’t see them, that’s our problem). He spent the first part of the ride searching for them diligently in the water using his binoculars. When he “found” them swimming alongside one of the tourist boats that move up and down the river he gestured excitedly and told everyone in our car that he had seen a pod of common dolphins and one bottlenose. Then he decided that like any good scientist he had to sit down and sketch his observations.

And me? I simply enjoyed getting such a different view of a familiar cityscape. The spans on the Jubilee Bridge looked like violin strings or spiderwebs, so fine and white were they against the gray water.

I’d never seen the front of Buckingham Palace so clearly, nestled almost cozily into the surrounding trees.

And I loved the rain-dappled Houses of Parliament.

But my absolute favorite had to be seeing Nelson’s Column, normally so high above it all in Trafalgar Square, looking small (yet still self-important and imperious) tucked in amongst the buildings and cranes of an oblivious city.

Riding on the London Eye was one of the dreamiest parts of our trip and I’m so glad now that the children persuaded us to take a spin. Have you any Monday dreams? Please feel free to share them below. Questions? See About Monday Dreaming.

Tommy has been taking piano lessons for two years and whenever he sees a piano, he wants to play it:

Of course, he doesn’t usually have this kind of backdrop:

Yes, that’s Christopher Wren’s famous dome of Saint Paul’s Cathedral. Tommy’s best recital sonata echoed across the hot still expanse of Paternoster Square, much to Teddy’s delight. The piano is part of the “Play Me I’m Yours” installation sponsored by the City of London Festival. Thirty street pianos were set up in various locations around the city for three weeks for the public to enjoy.

For Photo Friday at Delicious Baby. Please stop by and check out the other wonderful travel photos.

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]]> http://www.motherofalltrips.com/2010/08/just-another-kid-playing-piano.html/feed 6 http://www.motherofalltrips.com/2010/08/seeing-london-in-a-new-way-with-fat-tire-bike-tours.html http://www.motherofalltrips.com/2010/08/seeing-london-in-a-new-way-with-fat-tire-bike-tours.html#comments Thu, 05 Aug 2010 05:00:18 +0000 admin http://www.motherofalltrips.com/?p=4976

Our recent trip to London was my third and since on one of those trips we lived there for a month, I have definitely had ample opportunities to explore much of the central part of the city, visiting some well-loved monuments like Westminster Abbey and Kensington Palace more than once. Until this trip my favorite means of getting around has always been my two feet and a battery of double-decker buses, but on the recommendation of Lisa Begren of The World is Calling, I decided that on this trips we’d add some bikes into the mix courtesy of Fat Tire Bike Tours.

We started the day, the second full one of our trip, outside the Queensway Tube stop just north of Hyde Park. We were met by a very friendly young man who led us up the street and suited us up with helmets and bikes. I made reservations online and paid in advance for a bike that fit Tommy and tandem bike for Teddy. Everyone’s bike had a name and a squeaky toy instead of a bell.

Travel-with-kids tip: Fat Tire offers baby seats, tandems, and kid-sized bikes. You don’t have to make a reservation in advance, although they recommend that you do so if you’re bringing kids so that they can be sure they have what you need waiting for you on the day of your tour.

Our guide’s name was Dillon, an Irish actor fresh off the boards with lots of amusing stories to share. Looking at him I’m sure you won’t be surprised to hear that he recently played one of the Lost Boys in Peter Pan. Here he is in front of Buckingham Palace telling us about Michael Fagan who on that very day in 1982 broke into the palace and ended up sitting on the Queen’s bed while she slept.

Everyone else was interested except Teddy, who decided it was his job to make sure that everyone’s squeaky toy worked.

A little bit further on the guards stopped me and Teddy at the driveway to Clarence House, home of the Prince of Wales (we were behind because an Italian family had to admire Teddy and take a picture of him on his tandem). The rest of the group waited for us on the other side, which meant we were all only feet away when HRH Prince Charles himself pulled in riding in the back of this car:

(I know. I didn’t get a very good picture. But you really could see him, I promise.)

Then it was onto the Horse Guards Parade, which Dillon informed us is the future home of beach volleyball during the 2012 Olympics but which Teddy saw as just one big sandbox.

I didn’t get a picture of one of my favorite moments on the tour, which was riding through Admiralty Arch into Trafalgar Square. This has to be one of my top places to visit in London; I love the lions, the fountain, Saint Martin’s, and the statue of Nelson presiding over all. To arrive on a bike through that arch in the middle of traffic gave me a thrill (it was also a little scary to do with Teddy on the back of the bike, which is why there are no photos). No less because we got a good view of the “nose” that sticks out of one of the walls right at the perfect height for a man on a horse to touch. It is reputed to represent the Duke of Wellington’s nose (which was sizeable) and for years royal soldiers have touched it for good luck as they ride through.

After a nice long break for lunch we biked around Westminster, stopping for a graphic description of Guy Fawkes’ public execution outside the Houses of Parliament that actually made my stomach turn a little bit, making it just about perfect for an 8-year-old boy. We stopped to snap a few pictures in Saint James’ Park:

and then headed back to Hyde Park to ride along The Serpentine, full of paddleboats.

The last stop on our tour was the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain, which I had never before visited. It was a warm and sunny day (hot by London terms) and the circular cascade of water was full of children.

The rest of our group waited patiently as the both boy made a cooling circuit. “You think this is hot!” Teddy babbled to anyone he encountered as he traipsed through the water, which flows in way that is meant to represent Diana’s life, now turbulent, now smooth. “In Delaware you could fry and egg on the sidewalk! It was 102 degrees the day we left. ” Reactions varied from blank incomprehension to amusement.

We were on Royal London Tour, which I’d recommend for anyone who’d like to see the main monuments in Central London from the outside and also get a good idea of the lay of the land. It would be perfect for a first-time visitor offering both a historic and geographic overview, although I certainly enjoyed it as well since it offered me a completely different view of a familiar area. I never before realized quite how much of the city is dedicated parkland.

It’s also a great tour to do with kids. The stories about each monument are fun (and short!) rather than pedantic and most of the time the ride is in the parks, away from traffic. It’s only eight miles start to finish and is basically flat. The pace of the tour is quite genteel with numerous stops including a generous lunch break. I also consider the tour a bargain – four hours of exercise and entertainment for about $115 (this amount includes the really cool t-shirt we bought for Tommy, but not our pub lunch. If you wanted, you could pack a picnic to save money).

I highly recommend a Fat Tire Bike Tour in London and would definitely check them out on visits to Barcelona, Berlin, and Paris. Not only was Dillon charming, friendly, and well-informed, he was very solicitous of everyone’s comfort, offering repeatedly to take over for me on the ride back (I didn’t take him up on his offer; I may have just turned 40 but I’ve got legs thank you very much!). Although in fact, we were all pretty tired at the end of the day, especially Teddy:

I think that’s a sign of a successful outing, don’t you?

It used to be much more of a challenge to find healthy, delicious, affordable food in London but I’ve been really pleased the past few times I’ve been there to see some of the great new chains and the gastropubs that offer family-friendly meals at reasonable prices. One favorite of mine is the Asian noodle chain Wagamama which offers a wide range of noodle and rice dishes all cooked to order. The boys and I lunched there on the day that we visited the British Museum (it’s right around the corner at 4 Streatham Street). A sleek aesthetic, relatively low prices, communal tables, and super-fast service make this a great place for both kids and grownups.

Travel-with-kids tip: Wagamama prides itself on quick service, but it can get busy and you might have to wait in line for table. But I’ve found that in Europe most people tend to lunch on the later side, so if you show up right at noon when the restaurant opens, you shouldn’t have any trouble. We did this and were initially the only people in the place other than the staff.

After fighting the crowds in the Egyptian exhibit all morning, the boys were ravenous so we ordered some ebi gyoza (shrimp and veggie dumplings) to “share.” I think I got exactly one.

Tommy had salmon ramen, which were noodles in a miso soup topped with grilled salmon and veggies. My choice was the itame, a spicy coconut curry noodle dish redolent of lemongrass and full of tofu and vegetables. Both our meals tasted fresh and delicious.

Teddy ordered off of the children’s menu and was thrilled with his Grilled Chicken Noodle. He’s a slightly pickier eater than his brother but not once he saw his charming plate with its piles of shredded carrot, cucumber, corn, chicken, and noodles all with a slightly sweet citrus sauce for dipping.

There wasn’t anything left on his plate at the end of the meal.

Another plus is that Wagamama has a number of restaurants near tourist attractions in London and its environs including one in Convent Garden, one near the Tower of London, and another across the street from Windsor Castle. You’ll also find them in other British cities like Bristol and Oxford. They are open for lunch and dinner and also offer take-out meals. (And if you want to try Wagamama in the United States, check them out the next time you’re in Boston.)

I share this as part of Wanderfood Wednesday at Wanderlust and Lipstick. Stop over there to see what else is cooking.

Tommy, Teddy, and I spent our first full day in London at the British Museum, home to the Rosetta Stone, the marble statues that once decorated the Parthenon, and about 2 million other objects from every part of the Earth. It is truly one of the great museums of the world and is, like many British museums, completely free.

Now I’d say in general that the British are wonderful about making museums that aren’t automatically kid-friendly more so by offering a wide variety of different activities from worksheets to interactive videos to age-appropriate audio guides. The British Museum is no exception, offering all of these things as well as themed activity backpacks for children aged 5 to 11.

But the boy’s morning had started, I don’t know, six hours before the museum actually opened? And then I got a little turned around getting off the Tube at Tottenham Court Road (every other time I’ve been the museum I’ve arrived from the opposite direction). When we finally walked into the museum I was a little horrified to realize that not only was it chock full of tourists (which I expected) but every school group in London seemed to have descended at the same moment we did. I later learned that the term was nearly done and the schools were fitting in their end-of-year field trips to study the Egyptian antiquities, now part of the national curriculum in Britain.

So instead of fighting my way to the library to pick up any materials for the boys, I made the clutch decision to simply rely on the informative, accurate, and somewhat cheeky tour to the Egyptian and Greek antiquities in Rick Steves’ London, which was happily sitting right in my purse. This turned out to be perfect; we got an overview of what was significant in each room as well as a number of fun stories. Most importantly, the boys didn’t have to work too hard. I led them around and read to them and none of us felt like we had to try and see everything in each room (which would have been very difficult to do).

We started the day in ancient Egypt, elbowing our way to front of the crowd that surrounded the Rosetta Stone and looking at the other sculptures for the many different animals from cats to hippos to be found. I actually took no pictures at all of the fabulous collection of mummies because it was so impossibly crowded in the rooms that housed them.

Even more moving and fascinating than the mummies were the paintings from the tomb of Nebamun which have been gorgeously restored and which show an idealized version of daily life in Egypt circa 1400 B.C. We admired the painting of a wealthy Egyptian doing the thing he most loved – fishing with his wife and daughter – so that they can keep him company for eternity. Other paintings show him hunting, looking at his cattle and geese, and feasting with his friends. We had fun playing I Spy and the boys seemed to really appreciate why someone would want their eternal resting place decorated so splendidly.

After we had returned to the main gallery and looked at the Sphinx’s beard

And various other statues

Then we headed for lunch and a good long run around at the nearby playground Coram’s Fields. Once they had some food them, the boys proved to be surprisingly energetic and our break stretched out over three hours while they “got their wiggles out” and enjoyed some ice cream at the little café (I think I’ve mentioned before how civilized I find the British habit of making sure there’s always a place to have a sweet and a hot cup of tea when one is out playing with one’s children).

Travel-with-kids tip: When you’re visiting a large museum with kids, choose what areas you want to see and make a plan for how you will approach your day. Scheduling a break at a playground after lunch and then returning is a great way to break things up and keep kids fresh and interested (if you’ve had to purchase a ticket, ask at the front desk if you can be readmitted).

When we returned to the museum it was to find that the Greek antiquities were less crowded and much easier to see and thanks to our guidebook we learned about pediments, metopes, and friezes as we admired the detailed carvings that once decorated the Parthenon and tried to imagine how they would have looked vividly painted instead of ghostly white. With the book’s guidance, we carefully circled the large room holding the images that once decorated the frieze. These show a religious procession of the people of Athens and we noticed small details like the fact that even though the people and horses are headed uphill (toward the Parthenon), all of the heads are level.

My favorite moment of the entire day may have been when our guidebook invited us to step behind the famous sculptures that once decorated the Parthenon’s pediment. The book pointed out that even though these sculptures were very high in the air and had their backs out of view, they are still perfectly carved from behind. No one else seemed to realize they could walk back there and the boys, immediately sensing that they had their hidey-hole in this vast museum, settled down to have a good look:

After that I knew that they were “full” and wouldn’t appreciate any more artifacts. So we made our way back to what was once the Reading Room of the British Library (on our first visit to London while we were in graduate school Matt spent a month doing research there – lucky him) and I snapped a few pictures of this impressive public space.

Could we have seen more in this greatest of great museums? Absolutely. But on that day I’m not sure we could have gotten more out of our visit. And sometimes traveling with children – or even without them – is about getting as much out of a given moment as is possible.

When we were in New York last fall and visited Dylan’s Candy Bar I was amazed by the huge selection of retro candy. Everything from Charleston Chews to Necco Wafers were available in a copious and dazzling display.

Apparently the English have a similar desire to return to the past via, as they would call them, sweets. Both Harrods and Fortnum & Mason have large displays of old-fashioned candy in their food halls. But the  nostalgic candy there  is in my opinion more charming than its counterpart in the United States:

I was particularly enchanted by the names:

My absolute favorite?

Tommy purchased a bag of Rhubarb and Custard – they are not chewy as they looked like they might be and although they are tart, I’m not sure I’m sure I’d say they tasted like rhubarb. But I love the idea of them. As did Teddy.

I share this as part of Wanderfood Wednesday at Wanderlust and Lipstick. Stop over there to see what else is cooking.

Tommy, Teddy and I enjoyed a picnic lunch next to the Thames on the day we visited the Tower of London where we had a lovely view of Tower Bridge. This is one of my favorite landmarks (it’s up there with the Eiffel Tower) so I was very excited to see the drawbridge going up to let a tall ship through because even though I have many photos of this icon, I  don’t have one like this:

I’m sure you can therefore imagine my joy at discovering that I could also snap a picture of the Tower Bridge with it’s drawbridge raised on our visit to Miniland at LEGOLAND Windsor:

In addition to the Tower Bridge, other sights we experienced in both real and LEGO form were the London Eye, Saint Paul’s, the Tower itself, Buckingham Palace, and the Crown Jewels:

I’m looking forward to telling you many many stories about our time in England where we rode bikes, boats, trains, and roller coasters and pretty much never stopped moving. I’ll admit that it’s nice to be home, although it’s not like we’re immobile for long; on Tuesday we leave for our annual 3-week stay in Vermont. There seems to be no shortage of travel around these parts.

For Photo Friday at Delicious Baby. Please stop by and check out the other wonderful travel photos.