Sightseeing, Sun, Sand, Surf and Summer 2013

Our Travel Wall

Summer 2013.  Sigh.  All too soon it came and went.  Six weeks of travelling and soaking up what the world has to offer.  Six weeks of witnessing the places we had always talked about and dreamed about.  Six weeks away from muted tones, dry and suffocating heat, and from enclosing white walls.

At the airport

Our great journey began, as always in the early hours of one morning at Abu Dhabi Airport.  It is always a difficult position to be in...the person who has put this whole itinerary together...so it is a huge sense of relief when you get on the right plane, at the right time, with the right documentation. That feeling would come back every time we left a place and headed for the next.  This summer holiday was to feature 9 airplanes, 11 accommodations, 1 ferry, 3 major trains and countless bookings for world-renowned landmarks.  That's not to mention the seemingly hundreds of local tube and metro train rides that took us on our sightseeing extravaganza.

Let's start with the Motherland.

London, England.

How typical that we should head to London during its only 'heatwave' in living memory (slight exaggeration, but the locals could be forgiven for thinking such a thing).  We hadn't seen 'proper'
rain in nearly two years and were hoping for some real English summer weather (aka rain).  Instead we got 2 weeks of the most gorgeous summer weather. Riding the tube and overground trains was hilarious, with the intercom recommending that passengers be prepared for the heatwave by carrying water and stopping at the nearest stop if they felt ill.  The same intercom person then stated the temperature...a gorgeous 32 degrees!  That wouldn't be so funny if
we hadn't just escaped the 50 degree heat of the desert.  We found the temperature balmy, and even had to don our winter jackets a few mornings before the heat of the day hit.  To our delight we saw brave English bodies (mostly pale with a tinge of blue) braving the waters of the English Channel...while we were rugged up in our warm jackets.

London Eye

The summer in England could not have been better.  We got to see all the touristy things we came for.  Big Ben, Buckingham Palace and the changing of the guard, Trafalgar Square, Hyde Park, London Bridge, Tower of London, Tower Bridge, Globe Theatre, Millenium Bridge, Westminster Abbey, London Eye, St Paul's Cathedral, Hampston Court Palace, Churchill War Rooms...the list seemed endless.  And in 5 days we had seen more than we'd ever hoped for.  For those who know England well, we can attest to the fact that East Croydon was an absolute find - we LOVED staying there...so close to the station, a nice apartment, a terrific local pub, a fantastic information centre, and an easy train ride to every place we wanted to visit.  We still have no idea why we get a cynical reaction from those who know this place!

One chilly morning

Further South for a week and a half we managed to soak up the gorgeous English countryside.  Oh how wonderful to see hills, and grass and trees again.  Stonehenge was a highlight for Jason and Lily.  Lily loved meeting her druid friend and listening to the commentary while walking around the stones.  Both Ben and Lily had an amazing time at Diggerland...Ben loving everything that moved, and Lily operating everything that moved with an adept ability far beyond her five years.  Dover, Ramsgate, Walton-on-Thames, Salisbury, Deal and the delays on the M25 contain fond memories for us too.

Ramsgate 

Beside the sightseeing, we were able to visit Ramsgate, the childhood home of Jason's parents. It was awesome to stand on the wharf and take the exact same photos that Jason's dad now has tucked away in a box in a cupboard back in New Zealand.  It was both moving and exciting to see the house where Nanny Pam had been raised, and to show our children where Pops had been bought up.  It was great to connect with Ali, Jimmy and Arthur in Walton-on-Thames who also captured our children's attention.  Lily would have stayed with Arthur forever if she'd had the choice.

Hever Castle

One of the absolute highlights for the whole family was Hever Castle.  If you every head to London you must take a trip out there.  Just the drive out there is enough to capture you.  It is a beautiful drive through tree lined roads.  Hever Castle is where Anne and Mary Boleyn grew up.  Lily in particular became fascinated by the connection between Hever Castle and Hampton Court Palace.  When she had connected the dots between these two women and 'that man who executed Anne Boleyn' Lily resoundingly exclaimed that had she'd known about what he did she "...would never have had a photo taken with him at Hampton Court Palace", adding that she would have had a word or two with him about it.  When she was faced with Anne Boleyn at Hever Castle she mused a little and then quietly asked "Didn't you have your head cut off?  How come you're still alive?"

The hills of Dover

As the night closed on our last night in England we asked the kids what were their favourite things about England.

Ben told us how he loved the knights on the horses, and especially the swords and weapons.  He liked watching the horses at Buckingham Palace and the diggers at Diggerland.

With 'that man' Henry V111

Lily got brave.  She told us that her favourite thing was the London Bridge Experience.  Now this experience is not for the faint-hearted.  We were told though, that the experience we opted for was fine for kids.  Wrong. When we took the kids through this, they both clung to us, cried and asked to leave.  Afterwards though, they decided that in fact it was one of their highlights.  Lily was particularly captivated by Jack the Ripper.  She asked non-stop questions all the way to Crete (5 weeks later) about who he was, what he had done and why didn't anyone know who he was.  After fielding some of the questions and deflecting most of them, she announced that she would have to 'google' him when she got home.

Thank goodness the flight from Turkey to Dubai helped her to forget...