Family Vacation to the UK

March 2007

   

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We went on a weeklong vacation to Britain for Spring Break.  Mostly we stayed in London, but we made a short trip to Stonehenge and Bath.  The weather was unusually good -- sunny and cool for most of our stay.  It started to get cold our last day there.  Our good friends, the Krauses were also on vacation in London at the same time, so we arranged to have dinner, shop (Cyndy), and see an English Premier League game with them.   

The Neighborhood
We stayed at the Enterprise Hotel on Hogarth Road in Earl's Court.  I enjoyed the neighborhood a lot; it's very close to the Earl's Court tube station, and there are lots of good pubs, small restaurants, internet cafes, and neighborhood stores.  We particularly liked the "Prince of Teck" pub which distinguished itself with the good food, friendly service, and free wifi.    

  

  View from the balcony.

  Prince of Teck

London Tourist
We saw a few of the many things to see.  I hoped to see more museums than we did, but honestly it feels like we just run out of steam after a couple hours in a museum.  We were probably at the Tower of London for 3 hours, but I would have been happy to spend even more time there.  We took a few pictures with a Lion at Trafalgar Square, which is a family tradition. (Somewhere I have a picture of me taken there in 1969.)

 


Max and Grant at Piccadilly Circus


Cyndy in the White Tower

                  
Max, David, Grant at the Tower of London


Beefeater Boys
     
 
      
                                                                               Trafalgar Square

Stonehenge
Everyone who visits Stonehenge inevitably comments on how you first see it from the road as you approach.  You round a bend in the road and come over a hill and -- there it is sitting on the hill, fenced off, roped off with tourists milling about.  But it IS worth seeing in person.  The only frustrating part is that we're roped off from the stones and can't actually wander around in them as we'd like.  What I forgot from our visit in 1989 was how windy it is at Stonehenge.  It's on a top of a hill, and there's no wind break, so the wind made it very chilly even though the sun was out.     

 

 

The London Eye
The London Eye is an enormous Ferris wheel.  Each "car" is large and fully enclosed with glass on all sides.  You have a great view of Central London.  In the background of our pictures you can see Big Ben, Parliament, and Westminster Abbey.  The entire ride is about a half hour.  If I were to do it again I would try it at night or at sunset.  		 

Our Friends
Our good friends, the Krauses, were also visiting London for spring break.  We met them at the Silver Cross, near Trafalgar Square.  We ate, drank, and enjoyed their company. 

 

English Premier League Soccer
The English Premier League (EPL) is the best soccer league in the world.  So the Young Gentlemen and I wanted to see an EPL game.  And the Krause Men had similar desires.  We met up again and attended a wonderful game between Charlton and Newcastle United.  We had some excitement getting to the game (long story), but we made it with time to spare before kickoff.  It was fantastic; a good game (Charlton won 2-0) and an amazing crowd.  We were delighted!