London (Again) and Edinburgh!

After not traveling outside of Paris for about five weeks, we welcomed the opportunity to pack our bags and hit the road - or the train tracks and the friendly skies.

On January 26, Aunt Judy returned for the much anticipated trip to EuroDisney.  Will helped her fight the jet lag her first afternoon here, by taking her on the Metro to a few of his favorite places.

Will's ideal adventure is riding the Metro...

...and getting a treat...

...while seeing something historical - the Bastile!

Riding the driverless line 1.

Marking off the stations visited.

The next morning, they all woke up early and took the train to EuroDisney.   I was not invited, which was a good thing for the three kids to do on their own.  They had a wonderful time, despite the rain.  This was also their first Disney experience.  (Yes, we are those parents that have denied them trips to Disney in the past.) Fortunately, they had nothing to compare it to, so they were quite happy.

They arrived!

The Star Wars Experience!

Three of my favorite kids!

Proof they rode Hyperspace Mountain.

Lunch with Captain Jack Sparrow. 

The Pirates of the Caribbean ride.

Finally, It's a Small World!

Will tested his strength before he left! 

Thanks Aunt Judy!  

The next morning, Aunt Judy, the kids, and I then took an early Eurostar train to London.  (Jeff stayed back to work, before heading off to Sicily for a few days.)  The hope had been for Aunt Judy to take the kids to Harry Potter World but it was closed.  So instead, we had another two days exploring London.  The first day there we went to the British Museum.  I remember fondly going there with Aunt Judy 26 years ago.  They also saw the Rosetta Stone, mummies, pieces taken from the Athens' Parthenon, and an amazing exhibit called Cradle to Grave by Pharmacopoeia, showing the amount of drugs an average man and woman take in their lifetime.  I've included a link under the photo of it if you want to learn more about it.

Arriving at St. Pancreas train station in London.
I love the sign in pink, welcoming us  - "I want my time with you."

Lunch first!

A good beer!

Will agrees that this place had the best fish and chips!

The escalators up from the Underground are so long!

Dessert!

Finally, the British Museum!

The best tour guide around - Aunt Judy!

The Rosetta Stone

Fist bump anyone?

I remember seeing this amazingly preserved body 26 years ago.

Pieces from the Parthenon in Athens.
A great question to debate - should they be returned to Greece?

For Jeff - A Moai head from Easter Island.

 Cradle to Grave Installation

Thanks Aunt Judy! 

One more photo of the British Museum.

From there we went back to our favorite bookstore to pick out a few books, before heading to the best Indian restaurant, Masla Zone.  Aunt Judy took the liberty of ordering for us so that we could try a variety of foods.  What an experience!  The night was followed by my new favorite musical - The Lion King.  WOW!

Riding a red double decker bus to Waterstones bookstore.

Just a few of the books we bought at Waterstones.

Edy's favorite place to eat - we didn't eat here.

Will's favorite place to shop - we didn't shop here.

Masla Zone for Indian food

Cheers to a wonderful first day in London!

Edy, Aunt Judy, and Will!

The next morning my mom arrived and was able to join us for breakfast, before resting for a bit, while Aunt Judy, Edy, Will, and I went to Greenwich.  We took a high speed ferry along the Thames to get there.  Once there, we first toured the Cutty Stark, which was for its time, a high speed ship that brought tea to London from China.  While there, we interacted with a few school groups that were on a field trip there.  While I miss teaching, I have to admit, I don't miss monitoring rambunctious kids  on a field trip!

Heading out with our favorite tour guide - Aunt Judy!

But first a stop at Paddington Station.  We did not see any bears.

Waiting for our ferry along the Thames.

Our high speed ferry...

...with very comfortable seating!

Heading under the Tower of London Bridge.

Cutty Stark

 

A few heads, that over the years, have adorned the fronts of ships.  

This museum had the best place to eat lunch.

Do you recognize Will?

When Aunt Judy suggested we visit Greenwich, England, I must admit that I had to do some research  to understand what was so important about Greenwich.  Boy, did I learn a lot!  I will try my best to explain below.

In the early days of ocean travel, sailors needed ways to navigate direction.  While they already had an understanding latitude (North/South DIRECTION using the East/West LINES called latitude) they did not have any way to determine East/West DIRECTION.  It was in Greenwich, at the Royal Naval Observatory, that they came up with longitude.  The spherical shape of Earth was divided into 24 North/South lines called longitude, each 15 degrees apart, adding up to a total of 360 degrees.  The starting point, or 0 degree mark, for these lines was set in Greenwich, England.  They named this 0 degree line the Prime Meridian.  (For latitude, this 0 degree line is known as the Equator.)  At Greenwich, a standard time was set and referred to as Greenwich Mean Time.  Then for every 15 degrees East or West of Greenwich, time was also set.  For example, Paris is one hour ahead of Greenwich.  The time in Paris is GMT + 1:00.  Minnesota is six hours behind Greenwich.  The time in Minnesota is GMT - 6:00.

When early sailors would set off, they would take two clocks with them.  One was set to GMT.  They would set the second clock, each day, when the sun would hit noon.  They would then compare the two times and see what the difference was between Greenwich and where they were.  For each hour difference, they would add 15 degrees.  So if the clock in Greenwich said 2:00 and the second clock said 12:00, they knew that they had traveled 30 degrees West.  This allowed them to not only know where they were currently, but also helped them to create charts and maps for future navigation.  Whew!

Walking through the Old Royal Naval College and up a steep hill to get to the Royal Naval Observatory.

The Royal Naval Observatory

The Shepard 24 Hour Gate Clock was one of the first
electronically driven public clocks installed in 1852.
Note the public standards of length below the close face.

Aunt Judy and Edy finding 0 degrees!

Taking a brief rest on the Prime Meridian.

An explanation as to why our phones don't show the Prime Meridian
 in the same exact place as the line on the pavement.

I couldn't leave out my GVP colleagues!

Do you remember when we used to pick up the phone to find out the exact time?

After a quick stop by the Naval Museum, we headed back to London on the ferry.  We said good-bye to Aunt Judy, who was off on her own adventure in Senegal.

The kids and I walked across one of the my favorite bridges, the Golden Jubilee Bridge.  I love this bridge because it reminds we of one of my favorite movies, Bridget Jones' Diary.  We then met my mom for the evening prayer service at Westminster Abbey.  We ended the evening at a traditional British Pub for dinner.

Look at me!

These two1

Doing a bit of reading in Westminster, while waiting for our seats for the evening prayer service.  

It's good to be together!

The next morning Mom, Edy, Will, and I got up early to catch a train from Kings Cross Station to Scotland.  We decided to stop at Platform 9 3/4 first.

We then boarded our train to Edinburgh, Scotland.  My mom had suggested we do this a few months back, since it is one of her favorite places AND since Trish and I had studied in Scotland in college.  Riding the train through England and Scotland brought back so many memories - the sheep grazing, the stone walls, the ocean in the distance.  We arrived around 1:00.  Getting to our hotel was quite the adventure, because we took a wrong turn, and ended up climbing up 104 marble steps!  My mom was a trooper with her luggage.

Watching the time boards for when our train was ready for boarding.  

Edy, wearing Will's coat, doing schoolwork on the train.

Will's turn!

Great job, Mom, on the Scotsman Steps!

After checking in at the hotel and dropping off our luggage, we set off for the Royal Mile.  We visited a few shops, to adorn the kids with new hats, before we walked up to the Edinburgh Castle.  The wind up at the castle was the strongest I have ever experienced.  Add to that the pelting rain and it was a very quick tour.  We did get to see the Scottish Crown Jewels, as well as St. Margaret's Chapel.  We were so wet and cold after our visit that we went back to warm up before our Darkside Walking Tour.

The Royal Mile

A bagpiper 

Edy, Mom, and Will

All four of us!

Will's new hat!

This is the last place the guillotine stood in Edinburgh.  

Edinburgh Castle

Looking out from the castle walls into Edinburgh.

All bundled up!

I have a picture from this exact same spot of myself, my sister, my mom,
and my dad when we were here as a family in 2000. 

The dog cemetery of the castle.

St. Margaret's Chapel

The walking tour was a two-hour tour that took us to off-the-beaten-path to hear stories of about Edinburgh's past.  Edy and Will loved visiting the two cemeteries and hearing famous legends and unsolved mysteries.  It is always funny for me to see what they enjoy most about the cities we visit.  This was their favorite thing we did in Edinburgh.

And so our tour began with Edgar.

Visiting the three "failures" of Edinburgh on Calton Hill.

Finally, ending the evening with some photos of bones
that have resurfaced over the years.  

The next morning, we woke up with plans to go to Queen Elizabeth's home in Edinburgh, Holyrood Palace.  But once outside, we say how glorious the weather was, with sunshine and blue skies, that we decided to climb Arthur's Seat instead.  Arthur's Seat is an extinct volcano, that provides impressive views of Edinburgh from the top.  We were lucky in that it was the off season so we didn't have to battle too many people on our 251 meter ascent.

We all enjoyed the summit, and got some impressive pictures to prove it.  It ended up being incredibly windy up at the marker, that we had to really brace ourselves against it.  Then we enjoyed a leisurely descent, where the kids took some time to go off exploring.

Heading out for the day! 

Look - Jeffrey Street!

Let's climb!

On our way up!

At the top!

Now up to the marker - so windy!!  Here is Edy.

Will and Edy

Will

Me and Mom

Will

Mom made some new friends!

The kids decided to go off and explore on their way down.
Here they are sliding down the grassy hill.

Ruins of an old church.

Heading back into Edinburgh.

Once down, we were famished.  We grabbed a quick bite to eat at the cafe in the Holyrood Palace, before actually doing the tour.  What was fun about Holyrood is that it is still a place that the royals visit.  While their personal apartments are on the third floor, we really got a taste for the history the palace holds.

The outside of Holyrood Palace.  On the left, you can see the remains of the old Holyrood Abbey.

Holyrood Abbey

A bit of fun to dress up in period costumes!

With daylight running out, we hit a few more spots, including the magnificent St. Giles Church.  I realized too late that I wasn't allowed to take pictures.  Below is the only one I got, showing the celebration of Chinese New Year within the sanctuary.

St. Giles Church

We then headed to see Greyfriars Bobby, the statue of the Skye Terrier, who faithfully stayed by his master's grave for 14 years, until he died in 1872.  There is a statue that you rub for good luck, as well as his actual grave, with a headstone that says "Let his loyalty & devotion be a lesson to us all."

The Elephant House is known as "the birthplace of Harry Potter"
because J.K. Rowling spent her early days writing here.  

We then walked a bit of Princess Street, in New Town, before arriving at Sir Walter Scott's Monument.  My mom studied in Exeter, England 48 years ago.  While there, she had to pick a famous British author to study and write a 25 page paper on him/her.  She chose Sir Walter Scott and spent time in Edinburgh learning about his life.  How remarkable, that all these years later, she would be back in this same spot with two of her grandchildren!

Will, Mom, and Edy in front of Sir Walter Scott's Monument.

We spent our last night eating at the famous Worlds End Pub.  This has been used in several movies.  At one point, it did mark the end of Old Town Edinburgh and was the last establishment before the city wall.  That night we enjoyed some delicious fish and chips and Scottish pie before heading back to our hotel to crash for the evening.  The next day we slept in before flying back to Paris.

Our first EasyJet experience!

Once back in Paris, we had four days to show Grandmama what daily life was like for us.  (The last time she was here was September.  We were still "playing tourists" at that point.)  We went to church, the library, walked in parks, volunteered by making sandwiches for the homeless, and shopped in our local markets and stores.

Each grandchild has had some special one-on-one time with her as well.  Edy's involved a tour of the perfume museum, Fragonard, lunch, and shopping.   Will took her around on the Metro, taking the most indirect way possible to get to Sacre Coeur.  I think they rode 8 different train lines!  We also got to see our second show in a week, Funny Girl, as well as a movie, Jo-Jo Rabbit.

Off to church!

Lunch at our favorite sushi restaurant - Matsuri.

Parc Vosges

Dinner at Le Relais de l'Entrecote.  They only serve steak and fries.

And incredible desserts!

Funny Girl with Grandmama!

We have been incredibly lucky to have friends and family visit us this year!  We especially loved that this time around, with both Aunt Judy and Mom, we were more comfortable in our environment.  The goodbyes for both didn't seem as hard.  Maybe that is because we are five months away from going home, or maybe it is because we are more settled.  We are also incredibly blessed with the memories we are creating in all of these amazing places with our family and friends.  For us, these are much more valuable than possessions and more stuff.  These memories and experiences will last a lifetime and inspire us all in new ways yet to be imagined!

A bientôt!
Betsy