Off to London!

Last month we went to London, England for Spring Break. Now that we have Benjamin in school we are amongst the mass exodus of those that vacation during school breaks.

This year we chose London as our Spring Break destination. We are halfway through our tour here in Germany and we have been given a great opportunity to visit a lot of different places throughout Europe. The kids are sometimes winey and weary on trips but overall they continue to surprise us with how adaptable they can be and how much they embrace new and different experiences and cultures (ie: different food, unique bathrooms, etc.)

London is one of the largest cities in Europe which can presents some challenges in traveling with kids. Don and I were constantly looking over our shoulders and counting in threes to make sure the kids were all accounted for. We spent four days in London.

And this is what we did:

Day 1: Walked along the Thames River and over the Millenium Bridge to St. Paul's Cathedral - toured the outside; Continued on to The London Eye (which is a huge ferris wheel). Stopped at a children's park there then on the 30 minute slow moving "ride" on the Eye. Went on a boat cruise and toured the sights from the Thames River. Watched a 3D movie experience about London which scared poor Samuel out of his shoes.

Day 2: We went on a double-decker red bus tour. This allowed us to see most of the city then we got off the bus near Kensington Gardens so we could take the kids to Princess Diana's Memorial Playground.

Day 3: We got Krispy Kreme Donuts! (Which was a welcome treat since they don't have Krispy Kremes in Germany). We took the London Underground or Tube over near Westminster Abbey. We walked to Buckingham Palace and visited the Royal Mews (or horse and carriage stables). We missed the carriage which Prince William and his new bride were to use after their marriage ceremony by just minutes! (As they took it from display to prepare it for the big day). Then we stopped at a playground just across from Buckingham Palace. When you travel with kids you tend to take note where any and all playgrounds might be and welcome the break for the kids to just be kids.

After eating some hot dogs there we continued on to Westminster Abbey. The kids were tired by this point but they mustered up some energy after taking a brief rest. We picked up a kids' guide of the Abbey that had the boys searching for all sorts of animals and interesting things throughout the tour.

Day 4: We walked along the Thames River and over the Tower Bridge to the Tower of London (which was used as a prison starting in 1100 AD). We toured the grounds with a Beefeater which was entertaining and interesting all at once. After the guided tour Samuel and I ducked into an area that holds some of the Crown Jewels then Don and Benjamin toured one of the towers. We took a black taxi back to our hotel to pick up our luggage then were off to the train station... a quick flight back to Germany and a 2 hour drive from the airport and we were home from our whirlwind trip to London.

Overall, a great trip... Benjamin loved seeing Big Ben up close and in person and hopefully, will always remember some of the things we did on our trip. Samuel wants to go back!

Why? Because he would like to pick up another knight and horse figure (like the ones they got in the Buckingham Palace gift shop!) I took pictures of our lil Grace with as many of the London landmarks that I could so hopefully she will at least remember our trip through pictures!