London, England and Edinburgh, Scotland: The flight
Date of trip: August 2009
Age of children: 3, 6, almost 8
We flew Continental direct to London and could not have asked for a better airport or flight experience.
First of all, I was sooooo giddy at not traveling with a stroller and car seats. I was literally skipping through the airport and couldn’t stop telling my husband how excited I was to travel with so little. (Okay, comparatively little.)
We were ushered through to the front of the security line and the kids pretty much knew the drill: “Shoes off, backpacks off, everything in the bins, wait. Okay walk through one at a time and QUICK! Get those shoes and backpacks and move out of the way! Okay now put them on and we’re off.”
I feel as though I’ve said those words a million times. I just don’t want our family to be the ones holding anyone up in line. And, fortunately, we typically do make it through smoothly without any irritated glares.
We stopped by a restaurant to celebrate the beginning of our trip with rootbeer floats and then headed to the gate in perfect time.
On board, the boys were overwhelmed by their entertainment choices. I have to admit that I was also pretty excited about the more than 300 movie options… all of which can be paused, re-wound and fast-forwarded. (How cool is THAT?!)
With all those choices, the activities in the backpacks went virtually untouched. And that is okay with me!
I sat with our daughter and my husband sat across the aisle and next to the boys.
We allowed an entertainment free-for-all (within reason) until after dinner and then we did our best to bore the kids so they would go to sleep. I coaxed our daughter to sleep, but the boys took a little more work. Eventually, they drifted off and I stole a few winks of sleep myself. My husband has never had trouble sleeping… anywhere.
The kids woke just before breakfast, we all watched some more television, ate and prepared to land in London.
Upon arrival my husband and I were pleasantly surprised at how easy our trip through Heathrow was, as well. All of our luggage was there. We were whisked through the lines, once again, and it wasn’t long before we were loaded into a taxi and headed to our hotel.
It has been so nice to see how often we have been sent to a shorter line through security this summer simply because we are traveling with small children!
My giddiness over our lack of gear continued, as I was delighted that we all fit into one taxi with all of our luggage. And the kids were amazed at the built-in booster seat in the taxicab… And the fact that Mom and Dad were riding backwards.
Soon we pulled up to our hotel, 51 Buckingham Gate, and the London adventure began…
More later on the very pleasant hotel surprise, lots of sight-seeing, an incredible show to round out our first day and the rest of our adventure day-by-day.
- Tweet
London & Edinburgh: What I packed
Not too long ago our family enjoyed 10 days between London, England and Edinburgh, Scotland.
In preparing for the trip I spent way too much time trying to determine just what to wear on vacation. I didn’t want to look touristy, but I wanted to be comfortable. And I’m on the ever-present quest to slim down the suitcase and pack just the essentials with items that can be mixed and matched.
In making my decisions on what to wear, I tried to search the internet for pictures of REAL people wearing REAL clothes in each of the destinations. No go. I found lots of celebrity clothes, but no pics of regular people just living and enjoying life.
Yes, I am embarrassed to admit that, but I’m trying to be honest. And I cannot be the only one. So, after arriving, of course I realized my wasted time and effort in putting so much thought into my wardrobe.
Here’s my advice on that:
Don’t stress so much over what to wear. Really. Just wear what you love and don’t worry about everyone else.
But if you really must know because you are either curious or need some reassurance (or ideas), here’s what was in my suitcase and what I actually wore.
Here’s a peek at what I packed for casual wear:
I packed a gray long-sleeved hoodie, gray knit pants, denim jacket (never wore it), charcoal gray tank, purple 3/4 length pullover, navi camisole, light-weight print button down, bright pink 3/4 sleeve V-neck, jeans, purple camisole, navy capris, navy knit skirt, white V-neck sleeveless top, and a denim skirt.
I started out the trip in the navy camisole and navy knit skirt with the light, flow-y, flowery top layered on top. I felt pulled-together, yet still comfortable on the flight. In the past I’ve typically worn loose pants for a flight abroad, but the skirt proved to be just as comfy, yet it made me feel more attractive. (And when I’m sitting in coach for many, many hours with three children, I’ll take what I can get to feel prettier!) I used those pieces quite a lot through the trip in many ways… especially the cami and the flower shirt. Those were great layering pieces. Both came from Old Navy.
And a few dresses with a hoodie cardigan for layering:
My husband picked the dresses I packed for the trip. We had two date nights planned and I also wore the dresses site-seeing. I did borrow a light cardigan to wear over the black dress for part of our evening out in Edinburgh. At first I thought we were going overboard with all these sundresses, but I ended up wearing all but one on the trip.
And, if I can just say: the halter dress is from Athleta and it is an awesome travel dress! I could bunch it up and it would still arrive unwrinkled. Plus it has a cool secret pocket in which I could fit a very few essentials, including my phone.
And, of course you cannot forget the shoes:
All of these shoes were super comfortable, yes, even the heels. (I snapped those up in two colors at Ann Taylor five years ago and they have been lifesavers. The sole is covered in rubber and they are incredibly comfortable. Really. I toured the Tower of London in those suckers and my feet didn’t hurt at all. I keep hoping to find them again but, alas, haven’t yet.)
The gray mary janes, which I bought at Target last summer (and you can still buy now… even in green) were perfect. They paired well with skirts, pants and jeans and were very comfortable.
The black shoes by Clark’s were a bit better for Scotland, where we traversed more than a few slippery cobblestones in the mist.
The wedge flip-flops are called SwitchFlops and really rock. Not only is the sole a bit squishy and comfy and molds to your foot, the flip-flop part is attached via velcro, so you can switch it out to match whatever colors you are wearing… Super-easy way to bring lots of looks in one pair of shoes!
And, yes, I did wear my athletic shoes for some sight-seeing and didn’t feel like I might have had I worn them several years ago abroad. Now, they seem to be everywhere.
I did pack a pair of exercise clothes that, ahem, didn’t get any use on the trip.
In packing, I have come to love my folding compartments.
I can group clothes by day or weather type, fold them neatly and know that they’ll be easy to find and look good when I arrive. I use quite a few, which makes my duffle resemble a filing cabinet:
(The little yarn tie indicated what to open first. That compartment held a change of clothes for our first day. That way I could just pull it out and go if I didn’t feel like unpacking everything right away.)
This time I also packed a few things on hangers. I hung a dress and shirt or sweater on each hanger, grouped them by twos and then put a plastic drycleaning bag over every other pair. I slid the whole contraption into a hanging cover that folded and slid that into a different duffle. Everything arrived unwrinked and ready to wear or hang. Perfect!
For more packing secrets, check back soon for my one week trip packing checklist. And I promise to post more on our family adventures in London and Edinburgh… it was a magical trip!
Filed under London, Scotland | Comment (0)Edinburgh, Scotland: Outstanding Shows for Children at the Fringe
We’ve just returned from an action-packed trip to London and Edinburgh, Scotland. My plan was to share the details of the trip with you chronologically, but I’m going to break from that in the event you know anyone planning to be in Edinburgh in the next few days.
Each year Edinburgh turns into a premier performing arts venue through the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the largest arts festival in the world. In 2009 the Fringe is hosting 34,265 performances of 2,098 shows in 265 venues. The shows range from comedy to drama to the absolutely fantastic children’s shows which captured my children’s imaginations (and also my own!) last week.
Our host for trip selected two shows: Giraffes Can’t Dance, based on the Giles Andreae book and performed by Blunderbus Theatre Company and Room on the Broom, based on the Julia Donaldson book and performed by Tall Stories.
We own both of the books, so I was particularly interested in seeing the live adaptations. Between the two families, we had children ages 3, 5, 6, 7 and 8 years.
Giraffes Can’t Dance, performed by Blunderbus
Giraffes Can’t Dance tells the story of Gerald, a giraffe who dreads the annual jungle dance festival because he is clumsy and, well, can’t dance. He feels out of place until later in the story when he discovers that he can, in fact, dance… he just needed to find his own rhythm.
Blunderbus’ three performers do an excellent job involving the audience and portraying nearly 10 animals of the jungle in vibrant headpieces.
Before the show, the actors wander about the audience, chatting a bit and gathering names and information which they’ll tie into the show later. Before the show our hosts told one of the actors that we were there because their son remembered Blunderbus’ performance from a previous year and asked to see another show by the same company. The son’s name was mentioned several times in the show and the mom ended up taking part. Another dad in the audience ended up being transformed into a chimpanzee for the show!
The actors did a fantastic job in pulling us right into the story and keeping our attention with their energy and enthusiasm. The fact that at one point they invite all the children to stand on their seats and dance like a chimpanzee didn’t hurt. Nor did the fact that the parents were asked to stand on top of their chairs and do the same dance while the children giggled at us.
We all enjoyed the show… our almost 8-year old was probably on the cusp of the age bracket, though. It was advertised as appealing to 3-7 year-olds and I would completely agree with that age range. (The oldest child with us was still intrigued, though… but he was the one who was already a Blunderbus fan.)
And don’t worry if you are at the end of the cue and get a seat at the back of the theater… the performers run through the crowd and involve everyone in the show. There really wasn’t a bad seat in the house!
After Giraffe’s Can’t Dance, we had lunch (more on that another day) and took in another show.
Room on the Broom, performed by Tall Stories
On a previous trip to Scotland, our friends had shared The Gruffalo with us, so when I saw Room on the Broom by the same author at Pottery Barn several months later, I snapped it up and our family has enjoyed reading it every October. So naturally I was intrigued by the idea of a live adaptation of the book.
Again I was quite impressed.
Four actors captured our attention before the show even began, as the actors climbed through the audience, stepping over rows of benches, chasing each other and involving the audience in conversation. (Is this just how it is at The Fringe?)
The story stayed true to the book with a bit of creative license thrown in at the beginning and end. In the story, a friendly witch flies through the air on her broom with her cat and drops things, causing her to land and retrieve them. In the process she makes friends with a dog, bird, and frog who join her on her flight on the broomstick until, eventually, there isn’t enough room, and the broom breaks near a deadly dragon. The friends join forces to save her from the dragon.
The costumes are clever and the costume changes are well-executed. (You’ll know what I mean if you go.) The effects are superbly carried out, often tongue in cheek, and just made me (and the others) giggle. This show was quite clever and lots of fun.
All of our children were completely engaged and they all easily shared his or her favorite parts after the show. The actors sang, danced, taught us magical spells and entertained as the hour-long performance flew. This was another excellent show that I cannot recommend enough… for the kids and the parents.
Like I said above, there are many, many other shows associated with the Fringe, so if you are able to go (this year or next) and can’t take in these performances, don’t fret. But if you are looking for two sure bets, Giraffe’s Can’t Dance and Room on the Broom were sure winners for us!
For more Fringe reviews and Scotland experiences, please check back. I’ll be sharing my tales of London in the next few days (Peter Pan at Kensington Gardens, the Tower of London, London Eye, Princess Diana Memorial Playground, a fantastic hotel, Lego Land, plus a grown-up date night, and more) and then move on to our overnight train ride to Edinburgh, Scotland and what else happened during our 6th visit to that city. We had a blast, so you don’t want to miss it!
Have you seen any children’s shows at the Fringe that you particularly enjoyed? Do tell!
Filed under Scotland
|
Comment (1)
