Cheerio England - The Sarcastic Version

Yes, the family is sad to leave London. There are so many great things to see, do, and eat in this city. As with good there is also bad, and there are a few things that we will not shed one tear for when we arrive back in America.  

Cheerio faucets that have one hot tap and one cold tap yet no way to make warm water. Do people really like to plug the sink in a public place to fill with hot and cold water to wash hands? I sure don't like it. Splashing the two extreme temperatures together cannot possibly be proper hygiene. I know taps that make warm water exist because I have several of them in my house! It irks me to no end when designers install this type of water delivery option in a new build. I'm all for retro decorating, but let's be sensible.

Cheerio bus that never comes - While we base our mornings on timings from the bus app, there are some mornings where it just doesn't show up for 20+ minutes. The delay could be for any number of things: traffic, lack of drivers, broken down bus, or even just a driver that drives really slow. A bus that doesn't arrive does not make for a happy start to the day. 

 

Cheerio fake nice nice talk - In Britain, chances are if someone says they'd like to go for coffee or have you over don't hold your breath.  It's all a piece of the social dance, and unless they are actually your friend, they don't really want to go with you. Full Stop.

Cheerio tiny fridge, oven, and cooktop - For real, the appliances in our house are so tiny.  Maybe it's because I brought my big American pots & pans, but it perplexes me how any large family functions with the minuscule appliances. 

Cheerio kids on scooters - It's a right of passage in the UK for little Alfie & Charlotte to get a scooter on their third birthdays. A lot of times the scooter is a help for mummy & daddy so they can pull their little darling down the high street instead of being held up by short legs. Once the cherubs develop the proper coordination, they are scooting off! Off through busy sidewalk traffic. Off into the street at a corner.  Off into the back of my legs.  Broad generalization here, but the kids are not taught proper scooting rules of the road.

In all truthfulness, these sometimes maddening situations made living in a different country worth it.  If everything was like America, there'd be no reason to leave.  So maybe a small tear will pool in the corner of our eyes.    

Paris Times Deux - Touring Tuesday

Last fall I had the pleasure of going to Paris. 

Twice.

The two-hour Eurostar train ride from London's St. Pancras Station couldn't be easier.  If you book your ticket well in advance, you can get a round trip for £79 ($120).  Another bonus to the Eurostar is that when you disembark from the train at Gare du Nord Station, you are already in Paris and can get started with your touring immediately.  If you fly it can take well over an hour from Charles de Gaulle Airport to get into Paris via public transport.  No one has time for that on a short visit.

The first of my trips to Paris was with my mom.  She was planning to visit Paris with some of her friends, but unfortunately that trip fell through.  So Matt knew that she'd appreciate a short side trip when she came for a visit in September.  He booked us for one night at a hotel close by the Arc de Triomphe.  The goals of our trip consisted seeing as many iconic structures as our feet could handle and eat along the way.  We lucked out with gorgeous weather.  With our limited time we only went into the Musée d'Orsay, and I am so glad we did.  The museum is a beautiful old train station, and the art is gorgeous.  We liked the place so much we decided to have lunch in the cafe, and it was delicious.  

It may appear that a majority of our caloric intake was from sugar, but we did have four square meals while in Paris.  Breakfast in the hotel was standard European pastries, muesli, coffee, and fruit. One lunch was at a terrible cafe a few blocks off the Champs Élysées, but dinner completely made up for it.  We ate at a little place where we could see the chef cooking our meal and practically licked our plates. 

I can't share mom's trip to Paris without showing you this scary van.  Stay away children, stay away.

The second visit to Paris was with two mums (that's British for moms) from school.  This trip was planned for the first weekend in December.  It's not the most ideal time to go, but we were willing to take our chances with the weather.

The thing that was different about this trip........we went to Paris for the day.  

We left on the 6:30AM train and returned on the 10:30PM.  We did not tour any museums, but we sure saw a lot of beautiful spots.  Even though it was the first Friday in December, not all of the trees had dropped their leaves.

Notre Dame is a stunning building.  The bridges covered in locks are not as stunning.  I think the concept is a smidge overdone, but that's my opinion.  

The Christmas market was up and running along the Champs Élysées, and we made a pit stop for a glass of champagne.  It gave us enough buzz to keep walking to get to the  Eiffel Tower.  Once we made it to the spot in the photo above, our feet refused to move much further.  We hopped on the Metro in search of dinner.   

One of the moms talked to the French man sitting with us on the train to tell us where we should eat.  At first he thought she was joking, but when she wouldn't drop the subject he gave us a few places he liked.  It did not cross our minds that the places he recommended would not open until 8PM so that did not work for us to make our return train.  We stumbled across a restaurant that made us all happy, and our feet thanked us for the short respite.  

Our ride back to London was significantly quieter than our ride into Paris, but we made the most out of our few hours.    

Would I go back to Paris?  Oui.
Would I do a day trip again? Oui.

As if you needed another reason to why Europe is great.

Dubai - Touring Tuesday

We spent the February half-term break in Dubai.  Why Dubai?  Other than the Caribbean it was the only place that guaranteed us sunshine and warmth.  Dubai and the Caribbean are approximately the same distance from London via airplane, so we chose to visit somewhere new.

With only four full days to explore a completely different corner of the world, I created a big list of things for us to see.  However, things do not always go according to plan.  Here's why....

1.  The selection of flights to Dubai did not provide us convenient flying times.  We left London on a 12pm flight Monday, and we did not arrive to the front desk of our hotel until 4am Tuesday morning Dubai time, which is +4 hours from London, Tuesday morning.  Not a big deal - we knew this going into the holiday.  An interesting experience in passport control is something I'll never forget.... 

2.  To accommodate our late arrival Monday night/Tuesday morning, we planned for Tuesday to be a pool day.  The kiddos had not had a fun holiday with pools and beaches in a long time so we knew this would be well received by all four of us.  A little time at the pool and at the Gulf beach filled our day, along with a lot of sunscreen and sunshine.

3.  Tuesday night Youngest Kiddo's body decided that everything he ate that day needed an immediate jettison from his stomach.  So thankful both kids can make it to the bathroom in these situations.  He did not feel better until Wednesday night.    

4.  Oldest Kiddo and Matt spent Wednesday morning at the pool while I hung back to snuggle with a not 100% Youngest Kiddo.  We watched TV dubbed into Arabic and appreciated the sunshine from our 18th floor windows.    

5.  Wednesday night Matt's body took the same route as Youngest Kiddo the night before.  And I will spare you the details.  It was my turn to spend the afternoon at the pool with the kids.  

6.  Late Thursday afternoon Matt was feeling well enough to navigate the Dubai Metro to find dinner.  The bonus of our adventure was to see the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa.

7.  We had big hopes for Friday as it was our last day in Dubai, and the boys were feeling pretty good.  But we woke up to a dust storm.  At least we called it a dust storm, the locals might just call it dusty.  However, we knew it was bad when the hotel restaurant would not sit anyone outside.  So on Friday the family hung out in our hotel watching out the window hoping the sand would subside while we consumed the internet & watched movies from 2004 on the TV.  At least they were in English.

8.  We hoped that the storm would die down by dinnertime, but no such luck.  We had to call it a day around 7pm because our taxi was scheduled for a 4am Dubai time pick up to head back home.  

I still have my list of things to see and do in Dubai, and I hope to share that with you soon.  I hope that we can plan another trip if time allows while we are in London.  We've affectionately called this half-term trip - Dubai, the trip that really tried.  

Morning Routine Hell

Recently I shared what a typical day is like for me in London.  Today you will learn about the intricate dance that is getting the kids to school.  It only lasts about 90 minutes, but many days it can be the most exhausting part of my day. 

Back at The 407 we set our own pace for the morning.  I liked to leave by 7:45 so that I could drop the kids off at before school care and still have time to get my classroom ready for the day.  If we did not leave on time, it was an internal fail, and we could only blame ourselves.      

In London, the bus rules our morning routine.

Once I’m ready shortly after 7AM, I wake the kids and cajole them down to breakfast.  They are pretty easy to please for their morning meal so it usually goes quickly.  After they eat, the kids are to get dressed and brush their teeth.  This is one time when the whole morning can derail.  Youngest Kiddo can decide that he is not interested in donning his uniform and commence playing cars whilst in his undergarments.  Oldest Kiddo might decide that an impromptu concert is needed in front of the bathroom mirror instead of brushing her hair.  

By far what causes the most drama is when I check the bus status using the City MapperApp.  Our morning lives or dies by these times.  The bus typically runs every 6-8 minutes, at least that's what Transport for London hopes.  However, the bus is subject to traffic delays and diversions due to construction which impacts the frequency of the busses.  

Just before the kids make their way downstairs for shoes and coats I check the time to the next bus.  I bite my lip and squint my eyes when I type in our destination, and I prefer to see these options...

Not our real location

I like that we can zip to the stop and get a bus in 3 minutes or if we are moving slow we have 10.  Unfortunately, it's usually this....

4 minutes then 27!?!?  What the heck!?  If school starts at 9, and the time on the clock is 8:25, we aren't going to make it if we wait.  Cue the panicky, "Come on kiddos, we've got to go!"  It can either go swimmingly or Youngest Kiddo can decide that he's not interested in hustling up the street for the 4 minute bus.  

So, that means we have to walk.  Cue a pouty fit from Youngest Kiddo.  He's not opposed to walking in London, but he's pretty particular about taking the bus to school.  Additionally, he is not a rapid walker so when we only have 30 minutes to get to school, our walk is more of a speed walking event.  Let me tell you that it's no fun to walk in public while dragging a complaining and pouting child behind you.  Sometimes that pouty child even stops in the middle of the sidewalk to declare that he refuses to walk to school.  

The days when the bus isn't for 27 minutes is when I curse us for living so far away from the kids' school.  But at the end of the morning, we always make it.  The kids have only been tardy once this year and once last year so we are doing something right.  No curses necessary.  The bonus?  There is always a coffee shop on the way home.  

What's In The Diary For 2015?

Our little family has some big plans for this year.  

Oldest Kiddo gets to go on a two night school trip.  She has the chance to go canoeing, climbing, mountain biking, and zip lining.  It's a right of passage for the Year 6 classes, and she's pretty pumped.  

I'd like to get my UK drivers license.  We may only have a year left in England, but our US drivers licenses are no longer valid since we've been residents for over a year.  If we'd like to rent a car for a UK trip one of us needs a license.  

Travel (of course) - Matt and I plan to sit down and map out the year.  Italy, Ireland, Croatia, Poland, and Greece are on the top of our list.  If we need a tropical getaway the Canary Islands are up there, too. 

Welcome new guests to The Manor.  The spring is turing out to be a busy time for guests.  I'm excited to show our friends and family the amazing city in which we live.  

Check in through the year to see how we are doing! 

Stonehenge - Touring Tuesday

Our day trip to Stonehenge continued on after our picnic at Highclere Castle.   

I'm not sure about you, but I had some romantic ideas about Stonehenge.  I pictured the stone formations in the middle of a huge field surrounded by idyllic fields of grazing animals.  Well that's not exactly how Stonehenge is laid out.  As you can see, you can do a drive-by viewing from the road. 

Aside from the road bisection, Stonehenge is surrounded by the fields of grazing animals.

The visitor center for Stonehenge newly opened in January 2014, and it is a modern space.  The former visitor center used to be next to the rocks, and I appreciate that the new one is nestled at the bottom of a rolling hill and out of view from the rocks.  It is a mile and a half ride via the tram or your own feet to get up to the rocks.  The visitor center exhibition provides history and theory behind the rocks.   

Then we made it up to the rocks.

Wow.

Visitors are not allowed to walk among the stones as the composition of the dirt is heavily chalk based and therefore unstable for masses of people each day.  For a separate fee you can get up close to the stones.  Or you could be President Obama and just go among the rocks because you can.  

Oh and the clouds.  What a spectacular addition to the day.