Checking in on the Queen

The passport control landing at Heathrow was a bit more extensive than Iceland, and we spent a good 90 minutes getting to know our line neighbors before getting set free. We made our way to our hotel out in Wembley (adjacent to Wembley Stadium) and were very thankful for the 24-hour McDonald's nearby. Late night.

Our first two days in London (Sunday and Monday) were a blur. There are so many great sites to see and the temptation is to do everything, of course. How do you choose? We spent a good chunk of the first day at the British Museum (treasures from around the

world, annotated and delightfully displayed, gained from expeditions and invasions for centuries), and then made our way in a double-decker bus (happy Fifi) to the Tower Bridge. The next day we went to Westminster Abbey, saw Big Ben, walked over to check in on Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace through St. James' park, lunched in Trafalgar Square, toured the Tower of London, bought chocolates at Harrods, and then collapsed in our hotel.

And what did our kids think of all this? They both found treasures in the British Museum that I had brushed aside; the clocks and watches and Lindow Man for Fiona and the board game of Ur and the Lewis Chess Set for Harley (plus any sword, the longer, the better). They were fascinated by the Palace guards and the animal menagerie that had been kept at the Tower. They were horrified by the story of the two princes locked in the Tower, never to be heard from again. The Crown Jewels were a favorite (ooohh, maybe that was Mama Sarah speaking...). The fact that Sir Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin were buried at Westminster Abbey was very impressive to them, which did my heart good. Both of them taxed my knowledge of English history with questions about which king came next.

Tuesday morning was a quiet one for schoolwork in the hotel room. Yes, they are actually doing schoolwork and I think it gives them a connection to their friends back home and some sense of normalcy. In the afternoon we made our way to Leavesden to tour the Warner Brothers Studio where the Harry Potter movies were made. All the sets, all the costumes, the wigs, the mask shop, the creature shop...all the history above might have been for Scott and me, but this tour was for my kids. The studio tour was incredible. We saw the set for the Great Hall, the Gryffindor bedroom and common room, the Ministry for Magic, the potions classroom (my favorite), the Forbidden Forest, 4 Privet Drive, and the 20' by 20' model of

Hogwarts for all the swooping landscape shots.

We left London Wednesday to go to Stonehenge (stones added 2500 BC) and Bath, the site of the Roman Baths (0 AD - 400 AD ish). Bath is gorgeous--all amber stone and built into the hillside. Fiona felt like she was in Italy. Bless Scott, our driver of the rental SUV (manual transmission with your left hand and of course driving on the left. Thank goodness the brake and gas are consistent with American cars. No shoulders, by the way, on any roads) down to Bath. I could not have done it. As it was I only had to close my eyes a few times.

Our next segment (Thursday) took us through the Cotswolds, which is a series of small towns north of Bath known for their stone-built villages and historical preservation. Miles and miles of rolling pastoral farms between these towns, all edged with stone fences assembled without any mortar--and stable enough to stand their for centuries.

Chipping Camden is one of the most beautifully preserved towns we came across, complete with a marketplace in the center of town from the early 1600s. Absolutely charming, and today the main street is home to small shops, restaurants, and inns.

We ended our touring day in Stratford-on-Avon, at the northern end of the Cotswolds, birthplace of William Shakespeare. More Tudor architecture here than the golden stone of the Cotswolds.

Friday we went to Warwick Castle, originating in the 900s with improvements through the Middle Ages, which has figured prominently in the history of England in the War of the Roses. Castles are huge to upkeep in modern times, but it would be such a shame to destroy them. Merlin Entertainment (also owner of Sea Life Aquariums and Tussaud's Wax Museum) purchased Warwick Castle

and is bringing it to life with fairly tasteful reenactments, a Bowman Show, a Trebuchet, wax figures in the staterooms showing a Victorian dinner party, and an English maze. We had a great time. That evening we drove to Shrewsbury, birthplace of Charles Darwin, which featured a beautiful city center and a mix of architectural styles--Tudor, stone, Victorian. Fiona, our budding architect, noted the challenge with these buildings: how do you maintain and upkeep such a sense of history while incorporating the needs of the modern town? She has decided she will need to add some engineering to her college courses.

Today, Saturday, we traveled westward Shrewsbury through Chester, where we walked the city walls (they've incorporated the local castle walls into a well-used promenade for the city residents) and observed the posh horse race attendees in their suits and fascinators, and then into Wales. In Wales we stopped in the

historical town of Conwy and explored the Castle Conwy, stopping for the armor and swords demonstration. Castle Conwy is a gorgeous ruins of a castle built in 1296 for Edward 1 and once again the city walls surround the city center. Welsh language is not an easy one to wrap my inexperienced tongue around, but I've included an example. We also stopped in Bangor, watching all the college kids arriving for Prifysgol (Bangor) University and trying out some dragon cookies before arriving in Holyhead tonight (Harley decapitated his dragon on getting it out of the wrapper). We'll take the ferry to Ireland tomorrow. Cheers!