2009 Nov Trip to England

Video

Play Group With The Blooms 1 (20.4 Mb)
Play Group With The Blooms 2 (11.6 Mb)
At The Playground With The Blooms (20.5 Mb)
Down On The Farm With The Blooms 1 (20.6 Mb)
Down On The Farm With The Blooms 2 (21.2 Mb)
Down On The Farm With The Blooms 3 (20.7 Mb)
Time in London (16.8 Mb)
Corinne at Hanleys Toy Store (19.9 Mb)

Photos

Play Slide Show (15.1 Mb) (lower quality than photo gallery below)

In November, we flew to England to spend an extra-long weekend with our friends the Blooms – Wes, Karen, Evie, Simi, and Pippa. We met the Blooms when they lived in Weilerbach – the same village as we do. We were sad to see them leave last summer. Anyway, they are only a short flight from here now.

Our trip was a nice combination of touring, visiting, and playing with the four children. We visited a place called Church Farm which had animals to visit and pet, trampolines to jump on, sand to play in, hay bales to climb on, tractors to drive, and lovely food to eat in the café. We practically had the place to ourselves!

We also visited historic Cambridge and Cambridge University. The university is celebrating its 800th anniversary. We may have walked where Sir Isaac Newton did in the 1600s. Did we pass the apple tree under which he was sitting when the concept of universal gravitation hit him? It was a beautiful college town with lots to see. We particularly enjoyed the homemade fudge and chocolate shops. Yum! When we had lunch Robert enjoyed traditional English Sunday roast complete with Yorkshire pudding.

On one day we ventured into London. We were able to take the train right into London from the town where our friends live– only a 90 minute ride. Our plan was to take a hop-on/hop-off double-decker tour bus so we could see as much of central London as possible without walking too much. The weather was clear, cool, and windy. We saw many sights (at least from the outside) – Big Ben, the London Eye, Tower Bridge, London Bridge, the Tower of London, Trafalgar Square, Madame Tussauds Wax Museum, Buckingham Palace, where Madonna stays when she is in London, where Margaret Thatcher lives, Shakespeare’s Globe Theater, and many other spots. The day just went way too fast.

One of the highlights was our trip to Hamleys toy store. It has seven different floors of toys. We visited them all. Corinne had a blast (and so did her parents). There was so much to see and touch and try out. Somehow we escaped with only a souvenir teddy bear since our baggage weight allowance wouldn’t allow too much more on the airplane.

On our last day in England we enjoyed playtime at a baby/toddler playgroup with our friends. The kids had a great time going in the ball pit, playing with the toys, and painting. We had such fun we might try to sneak in a quick trip back to England before we move in the summer! Of course, we are planning on visiting in the summer of 2012 for the London Olympics.