Traditional Sites of London

It was an early start today because we had to pack our bags and to bring along to the Westminster, Victoria area of town.  We chose to schedule another bag nanny so that we didn’t have to return for luggage – there is still too much to see.   The hotel staff was top notch for the entire visit!  They called a cab for us and we had the most fun driver.  He has been a cab driver for years, supper friendly and sometimes just talked through his own thoughts out loud.  He was so concerned for us that we had a flight this afternoon at 1730 from Lutton airport and we didn’t yet have a plan to get there!  He must have said 4-5 times that if he didn’t have to pick up his Mum (who is 81) today, he would plan a meet-up time to pick us back up for the drive out to the airport.  Finally I just told him we could make room for his Mum!  He said, “that’s what I was thinking!”  He said something else to the tune of she wouldn’t be too thrilled and wouldn’t talk to us!  ;)

After dropping our bags at another little market, we started walking toward the Thames again.  These bag nannies are a fabulous idea!  This time we were seeing the largest Catholic Church in the city (Westminster Cathedral), Westminster Abby, Parliament and Big Ben.  The scaffolding is down and the clock is working!!  That was definitely a highlight today!  

It was so much colder today and we did get rained on a little.  Fortunately, I still had my towel with me.  John and I packed our rain jackets in the checked bags.  After standing around a while in awe of these architectural wonders, we walked by 10 Downing Street (we do not know if the Prime Minister was in) and Church Hill’s War Room.  We did see Churchhill!  

We opted not to get tickets to the War Room this time but that would have been great to see.  The next steps took us into St. James Park.

 Forgot to mention The Eye - it wasn’t open but cool to see.  As GraceLin sang, “I’m still standing.”  If you are movie lovers like our family, you’ve seen this icon destroyed a few times! :)

We were able to see the Horse Guard Parade ground, the flags of the colonies and multiple monuments to World Wars.  The park is beautiful, crowded and filled with birds!  One interesting fact is that King Charles II added the pond, I think, and had duck decoy placed there to entice ducks which became the King’s dinner.  At the end of the park, we arrived at Buckingham Palace (the King was not in!).  That area seemed different than when I was here years ago.  Probably due to security changes, it is somewhat.   I don’t know if everything was extra shiny and decorated for the coronation, which was just a week ago, or not but the gold especially around the palace and Big Ben were extremely shiny.   Even the black fences and gates were fresh looking.  

Did I mention the crowds?  Someone said it is supposed to be a record travel year in Europe!  Most of the week was not this crowded at all!  

We did walk all the way around the Palace grounds to the edge of Hyde Park and then began our way back to find some food.  That turned out to be a little challenging because something had been going on at the Palace and restaurants didn’t have any ‘bookings’ available.   We did find a really nice place, Rail House Café, where they allowed us to sit outside and order from the QR code on a limited menu.  It was a fantastic choice!  The burgers were outstanding as was the spicy hummus flatbread. 

The timing turned out to be perfect.  We gathered our bags around 1400 and called an Uber to the airport.  Security, check in and getting to the gate were so easy and we literally slowed our pace, stopped for snacks and a restroom before walking through the gate.  This plane was a walk across the tarmac and up the ladder on board.  That felt like the old days of going to Grand Rapids!  The flight has been super smooth and we are decending into Naples now.  The temperature is 20*C so yay!  Tomorrow we see Pompei! 

After note:  We arrived alive at the hotel much to GraceLin’s surprise.  I couldn’t tell if she was terrified or so angry she couldn’t speak!  John took up gypsy cab at the airport instead of a Taxi.  He called himself ‘Speedy Gonzalez’ at some point during the drive.  As in a lot of the countries we’ve traveled, there seem to be no traffic rules.   It’s a competition to get there first.  These drivers really are professionals but if felt as though we were in a race.  The driver tried to teach John some Italian along the way!  It’s too bad all I could think about was safe arrival and didn’t take a picture of this ride!

We have a 21 year old!! WHAT!

It’s Aspen’s birthday!  I woke up several times during the night thinking about it!  It never crossed my mind along the way that I would not be with one of my kids on their birthday!  Again, they grow up and Mamas have to adjust.  Before leaving the hotel, we sang a birthday audio memo to send since it’s only 4AM in Kennesaw, GA.  We will talk later on!  

Absolutely no idea what this is but interestingly irresistible for a photo!  

First stop this morning was the Tower of London tour with a Beefeater.  It really was a fantastic history lesson/reminder.  The one surprising thing to us was that they Beefeater lives in the tower outer walls.  I don’t know if they all do but many do.  They also have to serve in the Royal military for over 22 years before they are even open to opportunity in that role.  Another interesting tidbit was that there are six raven living in the tower freely but they do not leave.  It is legend that if the raven leave, the White Tower will crumble and the Monarchy falls.  Over the thousand years, the Tower was used in many different ways from soldiers quarters to living royal living quarters and social arena.  The Crown Jewels have been securely stored in the Tower since the 1300s.   Currently, the Constable, leader of the Kings military, lives at the Tower and he is the only person who has complete anytime access to the King.  Sir Issac Newton once lived in the tower.  Sir Walter Raleigh was imprisoned in the tower for 13 years along with his wife.  (The prisoners would be sent by boat up the Thames River after the judicial decision whether a person would die or be imprisoned.  The guard on the boat would hold the ax one direction or the other as they went up the river which alerted people to the decision.) Eventually they did behead Walter Raleigh and evidently his wife loved him so much that she boiled his head and carried it around in a bag for the rest of her life.  Most of the guilty were beheaded on Tower Hill up the hill from the Tower but Henry VIII’s wives and a few others were executed on the Tower green inside the walls.  John and Carter spent a lot of time viewing all of the armor from Kings of the past, including their horse’s armor.  Needless to say, this was a worthwhile visit.   Rarity to study this much detail or will this be a pattern?! 

                                                    The reality of what's happening half our day!! 

The Tower tour evidently left us very hungry for lunch and since breakfast I had not been able to stop thinking of fish and chips!  That isn’t even my normal type of food!  It didn’t take much to convince everyone else so we crossed back over the Thames to the Borough Market again.  The ‘award winning’ FISH! did not disappoint.  We also didn’t pass up a few treats – Carter in particular wanted a cookie as big as his face and sour gummies.  The market is happening EVERY DAY and is so amazing!  I wish we had markets like this at home!

CHEESE!  Mushroom, I didn't know they made starfruit so big or pineapple so small!  Space was quite limited so we did what we must to fill our hunger!

After lunch, we continued our river walk past the Globe Theater.  In the co-op the kids and I did this year, they read “A Mid Summer Nights Dream” which happened to be one of the currently showings at the Globe!   It was so fun to see it in person!  We were also able to see a bit of staging going on outside the theater.  Some actors climbed into a wooden boat on a rolling stand and were wheeled onto the set.  Years ago when Parker was studying Shakespeare he put together a paper puzzle globe that turned out so cool!  The next stop was the Millennium Bridge.  We were counting on Doc Oc not showing up to toss us into the Thames!   Straight across the bridge and up a hill is St. Paul’s cathedral.  Though we did not go inside, we definitely walked that direction to take in the architecture!  From there, we went underground two stops one direction and two stops another direction to Piccadilly Circle.  Unfortunately, just at the top of the stairs exiting the tube was an athletic shoe store!  Carter was broken hearted because he found the shoes he wants but our carry-on only luggage doesn’t allow space for another pair of shoes!  Last historical stop was Trafalgar Square.  

It’s really pretty but I think we were a little over stimulated so after resting our feet a while and people watching we headed back to the underground.  Another train change took us back to London Bridge station where we arrived yesterday morning.  One last stop walking back to the hotel allowed us to pick up a beautiful charcuterie dinner from the B Street Deli we loved so much last night.  Beautiful because GraceLin took the time to present!  I think she will be proud of me for adding this food photo! 

Day out in London

May 17 – We landed at London Gatwick airport around 6:15 AM after a few hours of sleep on the plane.  Exiting the airport was actually a breeze!  I don’t know if that was because we came in from the US where security is so tight but all we had to do was scan our passport and exit to ground transportation and trains.  It felt like leaving a metro train station.   John is so great at doing the research ahead so we were able to navigate to the correct train station fairly easily.  Once he taught us all how to scan ourselves in and out of the station, we are able to move through like pros.   

The train into London was an express which was good and bad.  The train was packed because it was rush hour.  Carter and I stepped on the train leaving zero room for John and GraceLin.  They continued walking down the platform and I’m not sure if we felt confident they did get on the train.  Those already on did not shift around to accommodate new comers.  We were standing with backpacks on for a half hour or more rocking along the tracks like sardines in a can.:)   We had a plan and it was great to reconnect our family at London Bridge Station!

The walk to drop our luggage with ‘Nannybag,’ took us through a residential area.  The best part was watching parents walking their children to school!  One big sister who was along to drop her little brother at daycare before she went to school walked away saying, “he’s so happy!  That made him happy!”   The Nannybag location was just a small dry goods market.  He just shifted aside a shopping card filled with cardboard, moved a few things about on his storeroom shelves and parked our bags.  We walked away with our smaller backpacks in search of coffee.  The store owner recommended one just across the street and came out on the curb to make sure we found it.                

Armed with a little more caffeine, we headed for the Tower Bridge along with all the locals just starting their day.  Imagine living in the midst of thousands of years of history and just going about your day getting to work/school.  We felt in aw as we looked across the river to see the Tower of London.   We were not the only people out touring early in the morning.  There were many people along the river walk posing for photos with the bridge as the backdrop.  We quickly found a breakfast spot tucked into what looked like office buildings.  The food was decent and servers were attentive however, our next stop was the Borough Market which made us wish we had held our hunger a little longer.   I’m not sure this restaurant made Grace’s journal. 

This being our ‘body adjust day’ and already we had about 12,000 steps, we decided to go ahead with a Thames River cruise eastward to Greenwich, the summer playground of royalty as I understood it.  One outstanding piece of history that I did not know was that Henry VIII was a very into jousting.  Greenwich was evidently where he ‘played’ frequently.  Ultimately it was a jousting injury that created his sedentary lifestyle and portly appearance for which he is well known.  As we focus on living more healthy lifestyles, it’s odd to remember that being Royal or someone in a governing role once was shown by rich, unhealthy eating habits.  

At Greenwich, the west meets the east at the prime meridian.  John thought it very clever to have the Wild West meet the Far East on either side!  You can slightly see the dark streak in the grass behind them representing the line.  There was an official marker in brick. 

💜

After Greenwich we picked up bags, checked into the Residence Inn, and rested our feet a while.  Eventually hunger drove us back out into the local community.  There is quaint area around the corner with restaurants and a market.  We chose B Street Market for a light dinner sitting at a bar along the inside wall of the market.  The food was outstanding and the staff were a lot of fun!  This one definitely prompted a write up by Grace (to be added later).  *Bremondsey was the community or district.   After forcing our feet to move us back toward the hotel we had a nice after dinner walk.  That woke us up enough to quickly ran down to get some laundry started while everyone took turns showering.  It was maybe a half hour to 45 minutes and we had lights out by 7PM.  I’m not sure Carter’s head hit the pillow before he was asleep and snoring so loudly he had the rest of us laughing.  We all loved our first day! 

ATL-BOS-LGW

It looks like a beautiful day to fly!  Enjoying the journey is part of our goal and so far, we are off to a good start.  Despite the kids being awake since around 4AM, there has been lots of laughter.   We have had a very low key start to our journey and feel like we should get as much rest as possible today.  Landing tomorrow morning in London, we hope to feel somewhat rested and ready for a walking tour.   Our first stop is almost three full days in London with the only pre-booked/planned tour being the Tower of London (and the luggage nanny to hold our bags for the first day).   I’m looking forward to lots of walking and getting to know the city.  John is hoping for a river cruise to Greenwich for the atmosphere and food.  

We were blessed to have Marriott benefits which allowed us to stay by the airport last night, get to sleep early and have someone shuttle us right over to the departure entrance.  We are especially blessed by our friend Heidi who was willing to drive our car home from MARTA after dropping us yesterday!   Currently the four of us are staring a screens in Boston while occasionally glancing out at the beautiful view of the harbor!  I can see a light atop a rock hill but do not see it on the map of lighthouses around the Boston area.  There will be plenty of time together so I’m not worrying about this not so frequent activity for the Lymans.  The kids chose to sit together on the plane so John and I had an unexpected treat of sharing the opposite side.   

We were wondering why the airport was build on the cost which causes so much turbulence.  It was originally built by the US Military, owned by the Army until 1928.  Landing didn’t treat Carter well.  Praying that he doesn’t get motion sickness on this next flight and recovers with sleep!   Time to board the plane to London, have dinner and say goodnight.  

I’m still trying to wrap my emotions around the fact that there are only four of us on this journey instead of five.  As much a part of life as this is, we will miss you so much Aspen!  Happy Happy 21st Birthday - I hope the rest of your week is a blast.  We love you beyond words!  

Is this working?? Ok so it’s Grace Lyman here, I just wanted to write how blessed I am to be adopted by the most awesome family ever. (My opinion, and if you beg to differ that’s your problem about not knowing how fantastic these people I call family are!) They took the time to make sure we spent a few days in Paris. Just because I had requested. Like who the heck takes a detour like that? So, Thank you mom and dad. I love you!! Miss ya Aspen! <3 ;p

Europe 2023

Ten days from now, we will have bags packed and check out of every day life for a little while to enjoy the historical sites of London, Rome, Paris…. Plus some of God’s beautiful creation in Italy!   The planning of this trip has been quite a journey of challenge, fun and stress in the midst of everyday life during the school year.  The kids are not the only ones thrilled that we have one week of school left!   This concludes my blogging test on travel divide.  See you soon family blog!!  

Rocky Mountain National Park

 We get to visit Rocky Mountain National Park today!  Our day began as it has consistently,
taking our time in getting up then going to the store for groceries.  By 10:30, we were working our way up the mountains toward the  YMCA of the Rockies.  We were able to check in and even get our things into our room before our reserved entrance time into the park.   We stopped in Estes at a grocery/deli to grab sandwiches to bring with us.  The line was about 10 cars to get into the park and we immediately headed to find a Lyman style picnic spot.  We stopped at a viewing area bordered by a huge bolder area where we could sit to eat.  The wind was strong enough to blow off our ball caps so we rushed lunch a little so that our paper wrappers and napkins wouldn’t end up floating down toward the valley.  Johns greatest desire was to drive up the Old Falls River Road which is dirt and a one way climb up the mountain to the 12,000 visitors center, the Tundra.  The drive was absolutely incredible!  The water flowing from the melting snow created some of the most beautiful falls where we were able to get out to hike down a little.  We made multiple stops just to see the variety of scenes where the water flows.  One pull off looked particularly inviting for some reason though we couldn’t really see what was beyond the trees.  We took a break to check it out and it lead us to a meadow with a wonderful surprise – a very large Moose bull.    A little further along, there was a traffic jam caused by five male elk who were grazing and playing around right on the edge of the road.  Just beyond that we could see the Tundra.  To get there, we drove along some very steep cliffs with no guard rails. 

We parked at the top for a quick hike but some of us chose to stay in the car because the wind made it so cold above 12,000 ft.  The drive back down the paved road was much more scary that most of the dirt path because again, no guard rails and the wind was so crazy that either I struggled to open my car or to hold it from flying open depending on our direction at each viewing stop.  Very quickly, Parker and I began to feel altitude sickness.  It wasn’t until we got back down to about 7,000 feet that I started to feel better.  Before returning to the room, we took a detour to hike around Bear lake and up to Nymph lake.  Both amazing little mountain treasures but the crowds were more than we would like. 

 

We arrived back at the YMCA about 8:05 only to find out that all restaurants closed at 8:00.  We scrounged through what was left of our sandwich materials and snacks to feed our after hike hungers.  The peanut butter only lasted for about a half sandwich each; not that there was more bread than one slice each.  No one seemed to care what we ate because we had such an amazing day in the park.  Our little camp room has a queen bed, two sets of bunks, a sink and table plus a small bath inside the roo.  It’s kind of fun to be at camp.