KREUZBERG

We live in Kreuzberg – the East Village of Berlin.  I never lived in the East Village in NYC, never really wanted to, but I’m enjoying the goth/alt/graffiti/smokey vibe here for a few weeks.  All I knew previously dates back to the late 70s, when David Bowie smuggled Iggy Pop out of a NYC mental institution, and they left the country to live in Kreuzburg.  That escapade brought us Heroes, Logger, and Scary Monsters.  The ur-albums of 80’s techno-pop.

But I have not seen Bowie or Iggy, since I arrived.  They left a long time ago.  And the Wall came down.  So now it’s trendy graffiti grunge instead of industrial squatter chic.  Connan said, “if it wears black, doesn’t bathe, and smokes a pack a day, then it’s in Kreuzberg.”  It’s as if the entire student bodies of Wesleyan and Hampshire hopped a chartered jet and plopped down with their trust funds to slum it here for a few years before getting their corporate jobs.  But the food is cheap and the beer is excellent – so who’s complaining.

I’ve begun rehearsing SUMMER AND SMOKE, and the cast is on target.  Connan is doing the good work of home schooling, sightseeing, and helping the family adjust to its ever-changing cirumstances.

Tonight, after dinner and a visit to the indoor swimming pool across the street, we put Cal to bed and enlisted Declan to work as a babysitter for the first time.  Cal was asleep.  We went to the café across the street (visible from the apartment window) to have some adult time.  And Declan stayed in the apartment with one of our phones.  He texted us five times in one hour, and he did great!  This bodes well for the future.

- Blake

Moments from the past few days

 On one of our last days in Paris Declan did something very brave.  He went to the corner bakery and bought 2 baguettes and 2 pain au choc's all by himself. Very little French needed, just a pointy finger, a strong smile and a friendly baker.

 

 

Cal trying to lance the silver rings on the carousel at the Jardin du Luxenbourg.  He got three!!!

The line at the worst bathroom in Paris.  It took us 30 minutes even though there were only 7 people in front of us.  The bathroom cleans itself after every patron with disinfectant spray.  And it closes the door and you better not be in there when it does!

Berlin

So so angry

We’ve unpacked.  We’ve fired up the eco wood pellet oven in our rented digs.  We’ve politely moved aside our landlady’s dresser drawers full of wristwatches and silk swatches from Korea and piled in our socks and underwear.  We’ve explored the neighborhood and located the closest grocery stores and laundromat with named washers and dryers (names as in Fritz the washer and Hanna the dryer).   We’ve found the best falafel shop in the neighborhood.  We’ve sampled the ANGRY CHICKEN. (so so angry) . We’ve located someone’s unlocked internet connection.  We’re good. It’s a bit of a shock after 47 Park in London ( complete luxury) and Paris but we’re adjusting.

Furious Chicken!

We’re in the Kreuzberg section of Berlin.  It’s kind of like the east village in NYC.  With a lot more graffiti.  And t-shirt shops.   It’s funky.  And relatively cheap.  We had a full meal for the 4 of us that was 12.50 Euros. 

Yesterday we took a long walk around the neighborhood with our friend Veronika.  She’s the one responsible for Blake’s directing gig at The English Theatre of Berlin.  She’s got quite a life story.  Actress, director, film instructor, she escaped East Berlin in the trunk of a car.  And that was after she had been caught once before and was imprisoned.  Not something she shares off the bat but it shows the scope of her life.  She led us across a canal and showed us the East Side Gallery.  This is a long stretch of the wall that has been left standing w/ the ubiquitous graffiti and murals on one side.  It was a great afternoon.

Veronika

Dec in front of the wall

Today we had a bit of school and then we took a subway ride to the Potsdamer Platz and the Brandenburg Gate.  On the way we followed the footprint of the wall and encountered the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.  A controversial project, this is an entire city block filled with grey concrete slabs that are various heights and placed at different angles.  The path though them is uneven as well, and we found it quite moving.  Cal and Dec could experience it from a purely emotional level as a monument and a testament to the past. I’m sure we will encounter more as we move through the city.

Last days in Paris

Bonjour tristesse.  We leave Paris on Saturday. Off to Berlin!  It will be nice to sit down for 6 weeks and really get to know a city but I am already missing the monument to individualism that is Paris.  I adore walking around and looking inside all the shops and admiring what each shopkeeper chooses to put center stage in their window.  No matter what it is - a chair, a wedding dress, a chocolate, a shoe - it is unique and perfectly crafted.  It seems that all here appreciate the unique, the unusual, the slightly different.  Maybe that's why they become so frustrated with us Americans who are always trying to find the common thread.

We spent today fighting the crowds at Versailles. A monument to vanity and excess.  Marie Antointte's house was charming however and we took a lovely rowboat ride on the grand canals.  But for the most part the boys were NOT interested.  They have no context for it and it is a bit much to make lunch, get them out there, provide a detailed history lesson that is age appropriate, eat lunch, stroll around the gardens, get the exercise, keep them away from the tourist junk and then get them home in one piece.  It was a warm day and it was great to be outside and the rowboat helped.  They powered through though.  Tom'w = no art museums, no fancy houses, no churches.  Boys get to choose.

Nutella crepes by Jardin du Luxenbourg. Yummy!

Next to the Seine.  Like cats sitting in the sun.

The 21 Euro chocolate fish!  Yummy!

Visiting the Lizard King in Pere Lachaise!

Paris or bust

So yesterday was a bust.  Hilarious.  After a lovely morning of shopping and going to Poilane Bakery where I with my fractured french actually was a translator for several Americans, now THAT's funny, we set out for the Picasso Museum.  One of the only museums open in Paris on Monday.

There is no rhyme or reason to when shops are open here and it's the most anti-American thing in the universe.  When we were in Bayeux we tried to go out to dinner on a Wed night and could not find a decent place open. I mean, its Wed night?!  Don't you want to feed people and make money?  The restaurants, when they are open, are only accepting customers from 7 to 9 anyways.  And they turn over the tables only once per night.  How do they make any money? 

So in the AM, we cram some education into Declan's unwilling brain and then we all head out for some shopping before we got to the Picasso Musee.  Cal gets some Adias shoes, very cute, tres cher.  Declan decides to spend some of his spending money on some artisanal chocolate fish that he saw in a window.  21 euros makes for one fabulous chocolate fish.  This shop is one of 21 artisanal chocolate shops in the area near our apartment.  Their display windows are amazing.  ( More pictures anon - we don't have any wifi currently and it's hard to upload pics).  We come back and consume 1/2 the fish.

We head out to see some Picasso.  We take the Metro. We get off and walk for a while.  Blake is the leader.  He did live here for a year. We stop.  The boys run around us as we look at the map.  I yell.  They sulk.  We walk some more.  Then we stop to look at the map again.  The pattern repeats. 30 minutes later.  One tired slap happy 5 year old later.  We find the museum. Its's closed.  Not just closed for the day. ( I thank my stars that I read the guide book correctly)  Its closed until 2012!!!  That's a long wait.  Meantime, about 8 - 10 other Americans gather around the closed sign and pout along with us.  The boys razz us.  We laugh and adjust our plans.  I think they were mainly glad that they didn't have to look at any art.  And now we have something to talk about.

Paris

Paris wins.   Sorry London.  You are fabulous and I can understand you better, but Paris wins.  I mean, it's Paris.  Paris! We are staying in St. Germain des Pres and this morning there was a organic street market right outside our door.  I bought the most expensive melon in the world but it was fabulous and worth every euro. We had a perfect Parisian Sunday today. Run in Luxenbourg Gardens.  Buy 2 baguettes s.v.p. Lunch with an old friend of Blake's from his AFS days.  Lovely Noelle and her mother Edith.  Had the perfect melon. Noelle said, "Are melons in season?" "Non!"  I cried!  "But look at the color!"  They ate.  They appreciated.  Fantastic.  Then to the Luxenbourg again for the park.  They boys climbed around.  Cal rode the carousel and got 3 rings off the side, lancing them using a stick.  He was so pleased with himself it was if you had given him a $100.  Then fresh crepes filled to the brim with Nutella.  Then a short metro ride to the Eiffel Tower.  Then a long wait in line for the ONLY bathroom within walking distance of the tower.  With 9 million visitors a year you'd think they'd put in more. Up to the second floor.  Nice view with the sun setting behind us.  Then home with a very opinionated Algerian taxi driver.  He no likey our current policy in Libya.

This is after a Bateaux Mouches ride along the Seine last night with a funny tour guide.  Paris wins.

BUT... we did have a wonderful time in Chartres.  We had a wonderful fully French meal in a small restaurant called La Tripot.  The food was unbelievable.  I had dorade, fish w/ clam sauce.  Declan had monkfish in a lobster sauce, Blake had steak, Cal tried beef cheeks.  It was so good and there was so much food but the best thing about it was that it was so French.  Small place, huge menu, loooooong meal. So typical.  I don't know how he fed us so much food on what we paid but it was fantastic.  Oh the Cathedral was nice too.

- Connan

Its been 26 years since I lived here as an AFS student, and I've returned from time to time - but never in as comfortable a dwelling. We're in a lovely apartment in the 6th arrondissment that we rented form Donna Evers, a  real estate friend in Bethesda.  After several nights of, shall we say, family sleeping in Bayeux and Chartres, it's nice to have a full apartment where everyone can spread out.  We had lunch in a cafe, did some basic grocery shopping, and then we took Declan and Callum for a ride down the Seine on the famous Bateaux Mouches.  They were thrilled to see the Eiffel Tower all lit up.  Now, we sit and drink Bordeaux and plan the rest of the week.  Other than the normal kid-friendly monuments, our agenda includes the Catacombs, Versailles, Oysters and Sancerre at a cafe, Les Puces (flea markets), the new Pina Bausch movie by Wim Wenders, Lee Bruer's controversial STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE at the Comedie Francaise, and plenty of gourmet chocolate ( Declan in particular, plans to use his 40 euros of spending money to buy a big chocolate fish that we saw in a high end boutique off of Rue de Rennes).

-Blake

D Day or Declan Day!

Nous sommes arrives en France.  Took the Eurostar – fast and easy from St Pancras to Paris, rented a car and headed North to Bayeux.  Couldn’t have been easier. We have settled into a lovely hotel, full of Americans and Brits on their way to explore Normandy.  It has the best Wifi so far, fast and free!!  That’s the way we like it.  This AM after being fortified with chocolat chaud and croissants we headed for Omaha beach.  It was foggy and cool all day, good exploring weather.  Declan has been pumped to go here for months.

Being out on that beach is awesome in the true sense of the word.  You know the stories, you’ve seen the movies but walking on that beach today, as foggy and windy as it was, it gave one a palpible sense of what it must have been like as a 18 year old, after months of training, heading towards that beach and praying that the Germans wouldn’t pick you off, or you wouldn’t drown or you’d make it through the next 24 hours.  That water looked cold and those hills were high.

We drove to the American cemetery where over 9000 are buried. Fantastic visitors center with an honor roll call, specific stories about a few of the guys who are buried there, and an interactive site where you can find a specific grave.   There were 3 Robisons and 1 Morrissey buried there.

The a lunch of omlettes and fresh mussels et frites for lunch and then back to the coast where we saw Pointe du Hoc where 200 Army Rangers climbed up a 200 ft cliff, took out a German gun fortification and hung on for two days while they waited for reinforcements.  There are tons of craters and bunkers and stuff to climb over and metal rebar sticking out of the ground to snag your ankle on. Tetanus city! It was fantastic.

Then off to see some more fortifications.  Then home for dinner and WiFi.  Cal had a good afternoon chasing Declan and insisting that he see, climb, and do everything exactly the same way.  Same D-Day experience, same pizza for dinner, same crepe for dessert.  But he slept in the car for a while and missed this HUGE gun fortification near Juno Beach...

At dinner we talked about why WWII still has such a hold over us even now. Blake says that it was the last war of consensus which everyone understood as good vs. evil.  I think that it was because we were willing to sacrifice so much for something bigger than ourselves: freedom and liberty.  They seemed more tangible because they were threatened. Declan thinks it was because of the cost, in life, property and money.  What do you think?

Demain, Mont St. Michel.

Last Weekend in London

Our last weekend in London and it was fierce.  We’ve had great weather so far a bit chilly, but not much rain, yet this AM reminded us what London fog/mist/rain is all about.  Not terrible but a pleasant reminder.   So great to see Hyde Park still full of people walking, running, playing sports, despite the rain.  These people are desperate to get outside!  At home, the rain would have cleared it.

Saturday was an epic day – picnic together in Hyde Park, Science Museum with Cone and the kids, Blake off to see Kneehigh Theatre and the “Umbrellas at Cherbourg,” then a family rendezvous at Trafalgar Square to see a candlelight concert at St. Martin in the Fields.  We were out and about for 11 straight hours.  Not easy to do when you are 5 but Cal caught a catnap on a bus and then was ready to go!

The boys and I had a great time at the Science Museum.  They had these family friendly tours where you could dress up in a cockroach suit and take a tour of the museum as a cockroach! Weird.  A bit gross but cool and totally free.  I want to do that next time.  There was a whole room dedicated to model ships and miniature steam engines.  We took some pictures for Unkey to use as inspiration.

Build this Unkey!!

  There was another whole room filled with kid friendly hands on science, like: building a arch that you could then climb across, connecting circuits to turn on lights and alarms, building bridges with blocks to understand the concept of counterweight, magnets etc…  Terrific.  Why can’t we have that somewhere?  There were tons of kids there so we had to fight some of them off.  We spent hours at the museum and we were still eager for more.  In fact, we had just climbed 4 flights of stairs to get to an exhibit that Dec wanted to see about the future.  We get there, we dive in and then a voice comes over the loudspeaker stating that the museum is closing at 6.  At this point it’s 5:40.  I think, “OK, 20 more minutes.”  No go.  The guards immediately start breathing down our necks,  “This exhibit’s closed. Make your way to the exits.”  And the guards are standing right next to you, moving you along.  No one more minute here.  Museum is closing, you are DONE.  Move out!  Dec was bummed.

I wanna see the future exhibit!!

Blake didn’t like Kneehigh Theatre so much.  Feh.

Then we headed over to see the concert.  It was beautiful in my opinion.  Candlelight.  Bach, Mozart, Vivaldi, what more can you ask for?  The boys? No likey so much.  Feh.  I have to say that there was part of me that wanted them to hear the music, be inspired and then want to take violin lessons.  Not happening.  My dreams of having a Joshua Bell-like offspring have been crushed.  Blake took Cal home early and I forced Dec to stay and hear the second half.  Then we had to make our way home through central London at 9:30 on a Sat night.  Not easy as every 3^rd person has been drinking, every 2^nd person is in massive platform heels and the rest are tourists and don’t know where they are going or are pulling around luggage or massive backpacks.

Sunday was a bit more subdued, swim, laundry and stroll in Regents Park.

Tomorrow is our last day of being surrounded by the English language.  Lord, help us.  Next week – FRANCE!

HMS Belfast

Declan says:

Tim, the saturation point has been lifted, because today we went to the HMS Belfast. It was a WWII light cruiser armed with four 6-inch guns along with 12 anti-aircraft and small guns. It bombarded the Juno and Gold D-Day landing grounds. I am glad I don’t have home school tomorrow.  It might be only 3 hours, but it is like 3 hours of hell. While Cal gets to draw pictures, I have to do 2 pages of math and grammar, an hour of reading, and top that off with no breaks.  It’s a one-way all expense paid trip to hell. Tim, we have got to meet each other in Berlin. At the Belfast, Cal sat in the Captain’s chair. Cal in real life will never be fit for the Navy.  All his orders would just be ordering the navigator to get him ice cream.

We went to the City of London museum today.  My most favorite yet!!!!  Lots of interactive exhibits, touch screens, costumes to put on, great short films about the plague and the great fire.  They had this fantastic ticker in the lobby with tons of cold hard facts about London = over 63,000,000 tube riders per year.  London airports supply almost 10% of the CO2 emissions for the city.  Over 817,000 patrons saw something at the National Theatre last year. Wow.  So nice to see a museum about how the people lived, made their money and died in this city, rather than more armor and frippery from Kings and Queens.

Hard to drag ourselves away but we had to meet Blake for tea at 4:45. Had a nice high tea at a pastry shop Richoux, right around the corner from the American Embassy.  Just our speed and recommended by the Irish doorman at the hotel who has seen the boys for the last week and a half.  Diving into tea at the Dorchester with a 5 and 10 year old who don’t have much fine dining experience was too tall of an order.  Visions of smeared chocolate and fine crystal flying through the air flooded my taxed brain.  So we settled for pastry at Richoux. Luscious decadent clotted cream. 

Looking at the TV this am and the earthquake in Japan reminds me that the last time we were here was the devastating tsunami in Indonesia.  I’m glad that Jessica and her family don’t live there anymore. However, I’m sure she is concerned about her friends. 

Then Blake went off to see a play called MOGADISHU in Hammersmith.  10 pounds.  Nice price!

Day of Art

Blake's Take -

Today, we went to the Tate Modern.  It’s a visionary museum on the South Bank of the Thames, converted from an old power plant.  Bacon, Picasso, Braque, Miro, Rothko, Pollock, Warhol, Matta, Duchamp, de Chirico, and many others.  Declan liked the Picasso especially (a decent selection of his more surrealist work).  Cal liked the “you draw it” interactive exhibit – thanks Michael Bloomberg for sponsoring it.  They left with their own sketchpads from the gift shop and have been busy at work for the rest of the day.

I love art museums and have enjoyed introducing Declan to modern art a bit at a time.  For all of our DC friends with kids, there’s a great scavenger hunt at The Phillips Collection to introduce young people to art and how to experience it.  Highly recommended.

We’ve hit the museums hard these first couple of weeks.  I know it will be different once we get to Berlin, as I’ll be in rehearsal.  But for now, it’s great family time.  Tomorrow…I think it’s back to WWII (yes, Tim, we’re not done yet)!

Connan's Take -

OK.  Taking your children to a modern art museum full of abstract expressionist paintings and weird sculptures is not the easiest thing to do.  Especially when all they really want to do is drink tea and eat scones, be carried around like papooses which is impossible to do because one if 45 lbs and the other is 85 lbs, and run around like banchees. Soooo… what you do is ask what colors the 5 year old can point out.  And you ask the 10 year old what shapes he can see in an abstract painting by Picasso.  He sees a boob.  You tell him that it is indeed a boob.  He blushes.  Then you move on. Then you shush him as he passes the Pollack when he exclaims loudly that he could do that too. Then you have your tea in the café.  Then the parents decide to divide and conquer.  I watch the boys while Blake takes a solo tour and then we switch.  Then we regroup. 

Then you take a boat ride on the Thames to the Tate Britian.  Which everyone loves because it is calm and no one has to do anything except look out the window.

Then Blake and the boys head back to the hotel and I head off to see the RED SHOES at Battersea Arts Center in Clapham by the Kneehigh Theatre. South of central London.  Getting there is adventure because there is no tube stop nearby.  I spent the entire AM figuring out which buses to take. Fun but when you don’t know where you are going and don’t have a map to tell you spend the entire journey perched ready to get off at a moment’s notice. The show is terrific.  Bohemian, tatty, sexy and dark.  With great theatrical flourishes and fantastic movement.  Jenny Langsam, this company has your name written all over it!  I kept thinking of you the entire night.

So show ends.  I get on the bus. The 345 towards Peckham. I have no idea where Peckham is but I go with it. We ride and ride.  I’m a bit nervous but I’m OK.  Then we approach signs that point towards central London.  Civilization! I’m feeling good, proud and a bit smug because I’ve figured it out. Then the bus turns. Hmmm. Maybe we’ll catch up with it somewhere else.  We ride and ride. Pass a police station.  Then all of a sudden we’re in Brixton. I don’t know anything about Brixton but somewhere in the back of my mind I think, “Brixton riots!!  There were riots in Brixton!”

I don’t think I was going in the right direction.

The bus voice tones “ Shakespeare Road” in her nice BBC voice.  I think to myself, “Shakespeare was a nice man. I bet this is a nice road.”  I scramble off the bus and cross the road, wait for the 345 going in the other direction.  It comes in less than 5 minutes. I scramble back on.  Ride for a few minutes. Spy a underground station. Get on.  I’m home in 25 minutes.  No worries.

Day #8

Happy Birthday Dad!!  It was Ace’s birthday yesterday.  It was big one although I won’t reveal the number.  He sounded remarkably chipper for someone who really dislikes his own birthday.  Funny, cause he loves everyone else’s!!

It was a lovely day here in London.  Probably about 45 – 50 degrees.  Sunny.  Not a day for hanging out in a museum. After 7 straight days of education we needed a bit of a break. Cal has been jonesing to go to the Princess Diana Memorial Park in Kensington Park complete with pirate ships, concrete crocodiles and all things JM Barriesque.  With such a great day at hand, it seemed mean to deny him.  Don’t get me wrong, I have no problem being mean when the occasion warrants but not today.

So another AM at school, lunch in the apt and then we hit the road.   On the bus ride we fantasized about getting a flat on Bayswater Road.  The ones that face the park with their own private gardens would be fantastic.  Once Blake produces his Broadway hit, maybe.

The park was great.  Declan was on his best big brother behavior.  Cal lapped it up like a cat.  “Hey Mom, Declan’s being nice to me.”  The most amazing thing we heard today.

City of Brotherly Love

Then I was almost trampled to death on a shop on Oxford St.  There is a shop here called Primark, kind of a mix between Target, HM and Old Navy.  It is mobbed with young things from the continent who FILL their bags with shirts for 6 pounds each and mod sweaters for 12 pounds.  The line to try things on must have been 30 minutes long.  It can’t be THAT good.

Now its Arsenal vs. Barcelona on the telly and the boys on their way to bed.  Tate Modern tomorrow after another morning of cramming some education into the boys.

DAY #7

Monday means that we’re back to home school in the morning.  Declan did the final draft of his essay on Trench Warfare, inspired by the exhibit at the Imperial War Museum.  Cal practiced his letters.  Math worksheets are tough for everyone.  I feel like a losing contestant on that Jeff Foxworthy show “Do you know more than a 5^th grader?”  In the afternoon, we went to the Tower of London (very cool) and the London Dungeon (very scary – Cal did not go).  I watched another Chelsea match at the local pub.  One notable thing to me is the extent to which London reflects the world.  You hear this said about DC quite a bit (i.e. people from all over, embassies, international city, etc) but it doesn’t come close to the sort of internationalism you feel walking around here.  Of particular note, there is a large and established Arab population.  So much so that there are Arabic signs all over the city, several Arab language TV stations, even a prayer channel that seems to show worshippers at the holy city all day long.  Can you imagine such a thing on your Comcast or Fios cable package???  We’ve got a long way to go. – Blake

I agree with Blake about the internationalism of the city.  I am also struck by the tourist monuments and how much they celebrate power.  Westminster is a monument to saying no to the Pope.  The Tower of London is a monument to power of the monarchy and its survival over rebellions and Catholicism.  British Museum puts the spoils of colonialism on display.  Of course no one builds anything to celebrate the losers, but the British seem to have no problem with the world getting up close and personal with its winnings. – Connan 

Day #6

What did we learn today? 

1. The early cherry blossoms are in bloom in St James Park.

2. You are not allowed to feed the pelicans in St. James.  (Lest I think that Declan is not listening to the various tours…yesterday at Westminster we found out that one of the many symbols for Jesus is the pelican.  It is included in the stained glass windows there.  Something about the pelican pricking itself to feed its young = stigmata = Jesus. So today when we saw the pelicans in the park he called them the Jesus birds.)

3. Being a Royal Guard in front of Buckingham palace would not be my number one choice for a career. Heavy bear hats and not much to do but pace.

4. The Churchill War rooms are terrific.  They even had a recording for 10 and unders that was perfect for Cal.  Great feeling of what it must have been like to be down there during the bombings.  Dec was thrilled.  Blake and I are rapidly approaching the WW2 saturation point.

5. Laundry is expensive in London – 3 loads x 3.50 pounds per load ( at an exchange rate of 1 pound = $1.63) + drying = $20.02 YIKES! Sure beats the hotel doing it for you though. 1 shirt laundered for the low low price of 3 pounds. Each.

6. Practically everything in London is behind scaffolding.  Prep for wedding?  Prep for Olympics??  

7. Cal and Declan have become addicted to tea. With lots of milk and sugar.

Bieber Fever!!

Day #5

We’ve decided to subtitle this blog “Discovering the public lavatories of Europe.”  Because the last thing you need on the top level of the double decker bus is to hear “Dad, I’ve got to go NOW!”  Scoping out the bathrooms is the first thing on my mind now, when entering a public space.  Like a mafia don watching the door of the restaurant, I scan the room to find the “toilette” sign and make sure the boys have done their business before leaving.

Today, we slept late and made our way to the British Museum by lunchtime.  Picnic out front, then we went inside to see the Rosetta Stone, the Parthenon Marbles, and other antiquities.  Connan and Cal peeled off to go to the Foundry Museum (more age appropriate for Cal), while Dec and I continued on to see a giant Easter Island head, a great exhibit of modern African art, and various mummified Egyptians.

Tea.  Bus home.  Cooked in the apartment.  Electronics and then bed.

Connan and I are plotting our theatrical pursuits for the next 9 days.  She’s going to see Danny Boyle’s new adaptation of FRANKENSTEIN featuring Benedict Cumberbatch (of recent PBS Sherlock fame) and I’m scoping out some new plays that have yet to make it to the States.  Beyond that, we’re looking forward to more sightseeing with the kids – and more homecooking to save some $$$ for later in the trip!

Blake

Day #4

Uncle Gordon took us on a personal tour of Westminster Abbey and the Westminster School – where he was a student many moons ago (in his class: the opera singer Ian Bostrich and the actress Helena Bonham Carter).  The Abbey is crammed full of burial sites and monuments to English monarchs and literary figures.  They even let a few actors in (go figure): Larry Olivier, Edmund Kean, and Henry Irving.  The kids did the Abbey’s scavenger hunt and earned giant gold coin chocolates for their perseverance.  After the tour, Gordon showed us the school’s courtyard, and we wondered if Dec or Cal might follow some years from now.  Here’s a picture of Cal pondering his options:

We returned to Mayfair to do our grocery shopping.  The boys decided to use their money to buy some souvenirs – a Big Ben keychain and pocketwatch (Declan) and an I-Heart-Justin Beeber sweatshirt (Callum).  Dinner.  Hotel Pool.  Bedtime for boys.  Now I’m off for a pint with my bro. - Blake

Day #3

Happy meter - subterranean in the AM, sky-high PM

Declan said, “I haven’t touched the door once since I’ve been here.” for we have a doorman at 47 Park. As he opened the door for me when I left for a run he said, “A bit chilly this morning mum”.  Lovely.  I ran in Hyde Park where I was paced the entire way by a group of 12 young men on horses from the mounted regiment that is based at the edge of the park.  I was happy to have surged ahead of them a couple of times on my little stubby legs.  They eventually beat me though. I bet you could have beaten them Bec! A bit later I saw a group of them in full regalia practicing their parade formation moves.  I can only imagine that they are getting ready for the wedding!

School started for Declan and Cal this AM.  After some painful math sheets, reading and an essay outline for Dec and some letter formation for Cal, we all felt proud of ourselves that we have started.  Went to Covent Garden after lunch and ran through the Transport Museum.  What a terrific place.  Did you know that there were 4.2 million people living in London in 1900?  That’s a lot of people.  How they made the underground work from steam trains to electricity to using the tube as shelters during the blitz is fascinating. Love that place.

After dinner we went to WAR HORSE.  We got terrific last minute seats on the website and we were in the 5^th row (Thanks Ace!).  What an unbelievably good show.  Huge cast, incredible artistry with the horse puppets and the simplicity of the set.  All of us were in awe.   It was a 3-hour show and Cal lasted through all of it.  He’s a tough little bugger.  I admit the 2^nd half of the show was a bit rough and loud for him.  I was questioning my parental judgment and feeling the scorn of the older former nannies in the audience.  But as we rode home in a taxi (so much fun) Cal said it didn’t scare him because he knew it wasn’t real.  Cal loved when the actors rode the horses.  Dec loved the tank and the horse puppets.  Blake loved the staging.  In the grand tradition of the theatre, he plans on stealing a few bits for his shows next  season.  I’m not telling which ones.

Day #2

Day #2 in London

Happy meter down to 9.5

Lesson learned today = plan one’s bus route before leaving the hotel.  And be flexible.  And bring snacks.  We walked for blocks trying to find the correct bus stop.  We decided to go to the Imperial War Museum after being unable to find bus #23 that was going to take us to the Tower.  No worries but good thing it was warmish and sun shiny.

The Imperial War Museum is terrific.  I think Cal took a picture of every single exhibit.  (Thanks Harriet!)  They had a whole section that described WWII from a child’s perspective.  They had posters and personal items and they even had an older gentleman docent who was an actual evacuee from London.  He described the atmosphere in air raid shelters during the bomb raids, riding his bike as a delivery boy for a green grocer and a special Xmas that he had in Oxford during the war with his family.  It was fantastic. Rationing meant 2 oz of sugar per week for each person. 

Still lots of French around.  They must be on holiday. It’s like those Frenchies have a different word for everything!

We walked from the museum to the London Eye (big tourist attraction).  It’s essentially a giant Ferris wheel, but you can see the entire city from up there!  Bus back to the hotel, then dinner with Uncle Gordon.

For the remainder of the week, we’ve all written ideas and preferences on tiny sheets of paper and placed them in a bowl.  Each day, we’ll draw from the bowl and do that activity.  Did this for a stay-cation in DC a few summers ago.  Much fun and anticipation.

Day #1

Day #1 in London

Happy meter 10 (That’s for you Tim)

Landed no problem.  A few bumps in the air but I was the only one who seemed to notice.  Nice empty flight and we got to stretch out a bit!! The late flight rocks!  You get in at a reasonable time and if you are staying at a hotel, no need to wait for your rooms to be ready.  By the time you arrive at the hotel – 12:30 or so the rooms are close to being done, no need to tarry in some tea shop somewhere. 47 Park is fantastic.  Thanks Olin!

Its now 8 o clock London time and the boys are still messing around after a full day and a museum to boot. Wha? Blake is watching a LIVE Man U vs. Chelsea game.  He is thrilled.

We bought Oyster cards and rode the bus to the Natural History museum.  (Great tip Mark!) Bought food at the food hall at Selfridges.  No food court here.  A food HALL!  Great cheese.  Morbier and Comte.  So tasty.  Now time to make up a bit of jet lag at the hotel.

Noticed already :

- I’ve heard more French spoken on the street today than English.  Spoken by hordes of adolescents who are ALL wearing scarves that are a bit too big.  They look like tribesmen with the woolen neck rings.

-The food is infinitely better now than when I was a college student.  It turned me into a vegetarian at the time. Very tasty now.

-We saw someone we know on the street.  No kidding. Daniel Stewart who played Leontes when we did WINTERS TALE at the Folger was walking down the street as our taxi was driving us in this AM.  Really.