Sunday 19 October 2014

A little taste of the big city


I took the biggest boy to London on Saturday.  It was his first visit, and apparently he was the only person in his class who had never been there.  He's quite often "the only person in the class who...".  Anyway, we had a clear itinerary.  Natural History Museum (Stuffed Birds Department), Stanley Gibbons (three million stamps) and a little bit of the iconic stuff.



How gorgeous are dodos?  (Or should it be dodoes, like tomatoes?)  It's a tragedy that we don't have these beautiful creatures any more.  Look at those wonderful tail feathers.  Of course it probably didn't help that people were capturing them and stuffing them.  Look at that face.  There's nothing even remotely like a dodo now.


We flew through an area about capturing images.  It was wonderful, I could have spent longer there, but the stamp shop was beckoning.


Look at these beautiful botanical journals.  Exquisite.



Outside there's a small wildlife garden.  Sheep and moorhens in the middle of London.



We ate our sandwiches sat on a bench overlooking the grass at the front of the museum, then set off on a trek.

I absolutely love this building covered in plants.  It's so lush and tropical looking.  I'm not quite sure how it's all done, but it's clever and I wish there were more like it.  It reminds me a little of a balcony near where I used to live in Bristol.  I always like to see plants squeezed into unlikely places.  Gardens created where before there were none.  Greenery for those in the middle of a city.  Love it.


It just so happened that there was a TUC march and rally in London on Saturday.  It meant that lots of the roads were closed.  It was great to be able to walk down the middle of huge roads that are normally so busy.


We only took one tube, and spent the rest of the day walking, walking, walking.  After the stamp shop on the Strand we headed for Trafalgar Square.  The biggest boy climbed up Nelson's Column a little and we took touristy photos and ate cookies by the fountains.



Then we went to look at the river.


We found more wildlife - a cormorant, enjoying the late afternoon light.


The sun came out and everything was just right for some pictures.



We found the London Eye (hard to miss!) which the biggest boy was happy to see.  We read The London Eye Mystery recently and really enjoyed it, so it was exciting to see the actual Eye.  We counted the pods and looked for the red VIP one.





We wandered down to the Houses of Parliament to end our trip.










I'd forgotten how beautiful and thrilling and tiring London is.  So much to see, it's hard to know where to start, which bits I needed to show him, which things are too wonderful to miss.  The architecture is stunning.  Left to my own devices I could spend days wandering the streets, taking photos of the amazing buildings.  Every type, every style, every period.

Another day I'll take the others, but this was just for the biggest boy.  A little treat to maybe make up just a little for missing his school camp because of his broken kneecap.  I bought him some stamps and an ice-cream and he declared the day to be pretty excellent.

By the time we left the sun had set and the lights were on on Chelsea Bridge.  It was a perfect ending.

42 comments:

  1. What a lovely way to share the day.
    Isn't it funny how all children "are the only one who hasn't got something / aren't allowed something ....." - although I seem to recall using that line too!
    x

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  2. What a beautiful post, and a special day with your son. You will both remember it forever. A perfect ending, indeed. Thank you for sharing this :)

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  3. It looks as though you had a wonderful day and saw all of the sights there are to see!! Your son can't say that he hasn't been to London now can he!! You are right about the Dodo(e)s, there really isn't anything else that has ever been like them has there!! xx

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  4. Your photos are amazing. I think I love London. Thanks for sharing your viait.

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  5. I've never been to London or England, for that matter, but someday. . .

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  6. thank you so much for takign me back to London. how beautiful you have made it look! sigh. i want to go back.

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  7. What incredible memories you are both weaving together. What glorious goodness and connections you thread with all of your boys...an incredible tapestry of love and connection that will never be torn or forgotten. It will last lifetimes and bind you all together for generations to come. Such wonder and special times...a wondrous weaving of a family bound and stitched by intentional love. (makes me very happy and swells my heart in these tough times xoxo)

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  8. I totally enjoyed your photos.. I've never been there and just want to see it all so bad! So, thanks for sharing your wonderful day with the biggest boy. ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

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  9. Sounds like a fantastic day out and so special, just the 2 of you. I love all the photos but especially the cormorant, the London Eye with the plane and Big Ben in the sun. I haven't been to the Houses of Parliament since I was a child - I can feel a visit coming on! Have a wonderful week. x

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  10. What a great day you tow had. I love London and like you am captivated by the wonderful details on the buildings and the skylines and the greenery and the ... You could visit every day of your life and still not see it all couldn't you? Wonderful, exhausting but lovely too.

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  11. What a fabulous day out. It's so nice to share time with just one child when there's others in the house, one to one time is very special. I've only been to London a handful of times but I'd love to go again, there's so many things there I'd love to see.

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  12. Hey CJ,
    What a lovely treat for your eldest. We are planning on taking olly for the first time next year. I agree you have to stick to an itinery else you would wander aimlessly forever. Did you do the houses of parliament tour? I would highly recommend it. Sam and I did it a couple of years ago. Worth every penny, esp if any of yours are history buffs.
    Leanne xx

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  13. You packed plenty into your day didn't you?

    I wonder how true to life the stuffed dodo is surely they didn't wear that expression.

    I wonder if at school the story does an about turn and he becomes the only one on his class to see a dodo.

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  14. Потрясающе! Восхитительная прогулка! Спасибо за фотографии! Моя мечта путешествовать в Англии!
    Архитектура завораживает! Отлично, что ребенок остался доволен!

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  15. A most enjoyable post and wonderful photos. You clearly had yourselves a great day out, and it's certainly one I would have liked at his age. Flighty xx

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  16. What a wonderful little getaway! I'm sure he'll look back on this trip years from now and relish these memories:) What a special day. I went to London when I was in high school with the marching band. We were there for New Year's Eve in 1999 and got to march in the Millennium parade. We also got to see all the wonderful sights of the city. I loved it! Everything is so grand and has so much history. My favorite part was taking a trek outside the city to visit Stratford-Upon-Avon. So many sights to see!

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  17. What a great day out - I should think you were exhausted at the end of it, but what an adventure. I think its all too easy to forget / take for granted all the touristy things in our own country - but your post just shows what can be achieved in just one day,
    Hope you're putting your feet up now !
    Kate x

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  18. It looks just wonderful! How nice to have some time with just one child, I bet he felt really special and important when he got home. I don't think I could take mine there and back for the day just yet, they're are too young and the journey is too long, but when they are older I'm definitely planning more trips. x

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  19. What a great day you two had. I'm sure he'll always remember his first trip to London. I would really like to visit someday myself, it's at the top of my list.

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  20. You always remember your first trip to London, and it sounds like you had a wonderful time, it's always best to walk and see the true side of the city!

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  21. Being a Londoner, I know exactly how much you packed in, and my feet throb just thinking about it! Taking the tube does make you miss a lot of the little treasures, so you certainly do see more by foot (even though it hurts!). An amazing day for your little one - very special xx

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  22. sounds like a wonderful day, I love that photo of the evening light on Big Ben.

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  23. Well, I never knew there was a VIP pod on the London Eye. I'm quite sure they didn't show me into that one when we went. Great trip, I'm glad you had a good day.

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  24. He did all that walking after coming off a broken kneecap?! I am impressed! Thanks for the little tour, though I have to admit that stamps and stuffed birds aren't my cup of tea. :)

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  25. Thank you for sharing your wonderful trip with us. I love that you took him for his first trip to London just you guys. It just makes it that much special I think. It was very sweet.

    I hope to get out that way with my son one day, hopefully soon. thanks for the inspiration.

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  26. I love the idea of just you and the biggest boy going on an adventure. I'm sure he will remember this forever. I've never seen a stuffed dodo bird, so I studied your picture for several minutes. I find his facial features fascinating and I too wish they were still around. What a neat animal. This day sounds very magical.

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  27. Wow, what a great day. How special to spend time together.
    Thank you for taking us along too. :-)
    Carla

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  28. What a beautiful city, and as cloudy as I imagine it haha It's wonderful you took him there and just the two of you!

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  29. What a wonderful post, thank you for taking us along with you, I really loved going along with you on your day out and yes, I think the dodo is extraordinary looking, how sad that its gone forever, I have a real soft spot for all kinds of birds.

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  30. That does sound like a wonderful day! I loved the living walls on the building and those botanical sketches, exquisite! Yes, such a shame about the dodo.xxx

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  31. A lovely day out with your eldest. It bought back memories of doing the same with our children when they were younger. My son nows visits London on a regular basis and probably knows it better than me. I'm sure those in frequent visits when young helped to make it more of a familiar place. It's nice to visit for a short period but even nicer to come home! Sarah x

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  32. Biggest boys need special days because they are the biggest and should do things first. Plus they have to put up with pesky brothers and broken knee caps. It looks like you two had a wonderful day. I loved your visit.
    Hugs,
    Meredith

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  33. I too was in London on Saturday - taking part in that TUC march!

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  34. Beautiful! A trip you will both remember for a very long time.

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  35. What a great day out for you and biggest boy. It is nice to have some 1:1 time when you have more than one child. My (just) twelve year old would love the stuffed birds room and the stamp shop too. Thanks for stopping in on my blog :-) x

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  36. What a lovely day you had. I love the British Museum, apart from it's contents it's a fantastic building and it was only on a recent visit that I noticed the little apes on the arches on the top floor. I was pleased to see a picture of St. James's Palace on the corner of Pall Mall and St. James's Street - I used to work 100 yards from there in St. James's Street in my previous life before children; I think the building is now HSBC. Glad you both enjoyed your day.
    Jane x

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  37. Ah yes, the one child only trips to London. In our case it was the Imperial War Museum with son 1, the V&A with both daughters and somehow I never got around to taking son 2 on a just us day out.

    It looks like you both had a brilliant time :)

    Dodos still with us, that would be amazing!

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    1. Just to be clear, son 2 got lots of days out just him and me - he was home educated - but never to London.

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  38. All that, and the thrill of going home to a new bread knife. The plant-covered building is beautiful and just as striking as the pomp.

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  39. I've never been to London either. Will you take me? *batting eyes*

    That's how it was when we lived in NYC. People came to visit all the time and we gave them the tourist experience. I always had a hard time deciding exactly what to show them. It prepared us for being unofficial tour guides in Orlando though. =)

    Unleashing the Dreamworld

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  40. Looks like a great day in London. My kids loved the Grant Museum, part of UCL, a small but inspiring natural history collection. And we loved HMS Belfast. Hope you get to come back.

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  41. You've made me feel guilty now, CJ, as I have all of this on my doorstep but rarely visit now. I used to do all of these and more (Science Museum was a favourite) with my boy. I miss those trips now he's grown up. There's such a lot to see here, you did well to limit yourself although I expect it was still exhausting and you were glad to be on the train home. Next up on my list of Places-You-Can-Go is the Chelsea Physic Garden; again, never been but want to.

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