planes and trains and buses, oh my!

Wednesday 25 June 2014

Today we braved the London bus system!  We knew that walking to the British Musem was going to be a no-go for the children!  So we took a bus which let us off just a few blocks away.  We had to buy Oyster cards which are supposed to be less expensive than day passes (Travelcards).  You need to pay a £5 deposit, then you put money on the card to use.  We did this for the 4 of us--Joshua is young enough to ride the bus for free.  The website said that we could return the Oyster cards for a refund of the deposit and any unused money in the system.  Joshua was very excited to ride a double-decker bus!

So on to the museum.  Most British Museums are free, subsidized by the government.  So, it was free.  We started out together, but after a few rooms we became very separated.  So I suggested that we split up.  I gave Anneliese and Shelby my watch to use, Joshua and I used his, and Randy was on his own.  And that worked really well for all of us!  We could stop and read, divert to other rooms, take as much or as little time as we wanted, and see what we wanted to see.  We met on the front steps at 3:00, giving us two hours after we split up.  Joshua and I enjoyed our mommy-son time together and he was very conscientious about watching how much time we had left on his watch--we even planned 5 minutes to use the toilets before we met the others and had enough time to see a well-known chess set that Joshua wanted to see.  On the front steps, we were all on time and shared what we saw--that was fun!

Those dark spots are birds (probably pigeons) resting on the
glass cover of the atrium.

Anneliese is one of the kings

fist bump!

Rosetta Stone

Close-up of the Rosetta Stone

Walk Like an Egyptian!

We noticed the lego blocks up there (at least they look like
Legos!).  So Joshua is trying to add another!

Very famous chess set carved from walrus tusk

Next we took the bus to Hyde Park.  We rode right by Selfridge's, which was cool after watching two seasons of Mr. Selfridge on Masterpiece Theater.  Last time we were in London, our hotel was right by the Marble Arch and Hyde Park, so every evening we went to Sainsbury's (right across the street from the park), picked up fruit and reviewed our day in the park while we ate fruit.  It was such a lovely memory, the children wanted to reconstruct it.  So, Sainsbury's is still there; we bought nectarines and ice cream bars to have at the park.

Then we walked to Buckingham Palace (with a shortcut through Green Park).  We did the tourist thing there, taking photos, then walked to the Houses of Parliament and took the bus back from there.  We brought our Oyster cards to the counter and she had to ring up each one separately which included a signature for the amount, then a form to fill in name, address, zip, and signature--FOR. EACH. ONE.  When that was done, we smiled apologetically at the long line waiting for us, then went back to our apartment.   Tomorrow we get our rental car and head north.

The guards

The main gates at Buckingham Palace

Ta-da!  The gates leading from Buckingham Palace to Green Park

They can't get out!

Buckingham Palace

Green Park

As a tourist, this can be so helpful!  It is printed at each major
street crossing in London with arrows (in case you don't know
left and right!). Of course, sometimes it says Look Left.