Summer - London
Our last adventure of the summer was a six day layover in London. There were two real goals behind this stop. One was to see London, neither Char or I had ever been there and as we were passing through it seemed like a good idea to extend the lay-over. The second reason was we figured a few days of touristing would help all of us overcome jet lag a little better than just trying to muscle through it here in Riyadh. As things worked out we split the cost of a flat with friends of ours here at school; Paul, Taralyn, Eirk (6) and Matthias (4) Lefebvre. Almost every day we would take in a sight in the morning, ride the tube back to the flat mid afternoon (at which time the kids would nap) and then relax and have dinner in the flat. It worked really well for fighting the jet lag as well as getting to see some really interesting things in the city. The only real downer was the cost! Food is crazy-expensive and while some sights were free or cheap others were outrageously expensive.
We had a great time, and were even able to catch up with another school family, Jaison, Crystal and Aiden (4) for dinner the first night. And I know this is contrary to popular wisdom, but all the meals we had were really tasty. Anyway, among our stops were the Tower of London where the kids got to draw images and have them uploaded to a web site of kids art work. The link to that site is here and then navigate to the photos from 5-8-09. Later that day we saw the bridge raised for a large sailboat to pass through, very interesting! Alex also really liked looking at the restored original engines that were used to raise the bridge.
Another highlight was a ride on the London Eye. This large ferris wheel gives you amazing views of the city and we were fortunate enough to have weather that allowed us to see what seemed like the entire city. After the “flight” as they call it, we took a long walk around the area and found the only cheap lunch of our trip in a local community center.
For Alex the only other must-see was Churchill’s war time bunkers. There is a really nice tour that goes through the complex where they have restored many rooms and even added in mannequins to give it a more realistic feel. It was really interesting and Alex was not disappointed.
Our last major stop with the Lefebvres was the Tower of London. What a great place! So much of it is wonderfully restored and the exhibits inside and out were very informative and interactive. The kids got to practice sword play and try on mid evil helmets and chain mail. We all had a lot of fun, and other than the crown jewel display (long lines to see old video of coronations before being whisked past the jewels on a conveyor belt) we had a great time.They had a really nice display of armor, including a lot from Henry VIII…you know, the king with six wives and and a poor self image - or so the very large cod piece in his armor would indicate.
As we stayed a day longer than the Lefebvres we spent our last day at the London Zoo. There were a lot of nice areas, especially the primate and aquarium. Isabel enjoyed the lion, though he was sleeping and Dante was a big fan of the Galapagos turtle. From there we made our way through Hyde Park and back to the flat for a late night flight to Riyadh.
We had a really nice trip, and the Lefebvres were great travel companions. The second goal of overcoming jet lag was also achieved and we will be doing the same thing, who knows where, next summer on our way back to Riyadh.
To see more photos of our trip in London click here.
Click on the photos below to make then bigger-
- Tower Engine
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- The Old and the New
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- A refreshing treat
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- The Raising of the Bridge
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- From the Eye
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- A dream come true!
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- Bunker Entrance
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- Part of the Tower of London
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- Can you "compensating"?
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- BIG turtle