A Family Jaunt to London Town

January here in the Attic always comes with a feeling of celebration combined with a large dose of personal emotion as we celebrate Little B's birthday at the beginning of the month. Although to be fair, I think I'm the only member of the family who goes through the whole emotional bit, but that's OK - I'm over the trauma of his birth and can manage to process all the vivid flashbacks internally, so it's all good. He is now eight years old would you believe, and I still so clearly remember the posts I wrote to announce my pregnancy in 2009, and his unexpectedly early arrival in 2010.

This year, in a spontaneous fit of lets-just-do-it, I booked us train tickets to London for his birthday. This was to be a first time visit for Little B, and the excitement was understandably pretty much through the roof and up into the wide blue yonder. It was an early start as our train departed at 6.55 am but we were all very giddy as I'd miraculously managed to secure us cheap First Class travel - woo-hoo!!!! It was a first for me as well, as in all my forty nine years on planet Earth I've never ever traveled First Class, not ever. Oh, it was fan-tAS-tic! I won't bore you with how many cups of free coffee I was served without leaving my seat (well, it was three if you must know, and in proper china cups!) or what free food we ate (pain au chocolat anyone? with yoghurt and fruit and juice and biscuits to the side?), or how much extra room we had to stretch out (oh the luxury), or how many other people there were in the carriage (only 2 besides us, so quiet and peaceful in the Upper Class Accommodation). Its safe to say that all those little things  added up to one terrific start to the day and made the three hour journey whizz by in a flash. 

We arrived in the Big Smoke just before 10 am, and following Little B's unwavering request we journeyed straight to the Natural History Museum. It's been many years since I've visited this incredible museum, and although it's changed quite  lot over the years, it's still an amazing place to take children.

Little B wanted to go directly to see the dinosaur exhibits, but after that we just kind of wandered around and looked at things in a meandering, random fashion. The huge Blue Whale skeleton that hangs in the central Hintze Hall is just mind blowing, and was my most favourite bit by far.

I spent lots of time ooohing and aaaahing at the intricacies of the building as we meandered through the rooms, the decorative details are absolutely stunning. I usually feel very stifled being in old historic buildings (they give me a bit of Historical Claustrophobia), but not so the Natural History Museum. I loved it in there. 

Coming out of the museum in the early afternoon we asked Little B where he wanted to go next. It's not like we had really planned anything for our day (typical of us, just winging it the whole way), so we just let him decide...and he fixed on Buckingham Palace. O-kay, yes, we can do that, no problem! J decided that we should walk the distance and with hindsight I have mixed feelings about that idea. It's not a short stroll by any means and it was flippin' freezing, but on the up side we did get to walk all the way to Sloane Square to take in Harrods before heading on through the poshness of Belgravia.

Little B was a weeny bit disappointed by Buckingham Palace ("it's just a big grey building!") but we did enjoy using my camera to zoom in and watch the very smart guard carry out his back and forth marching. 

After all the walking we were in need of refreshment (it suddenly seemed a long time since the pain au chocolat). So we did our usual family thing and completely disregarded the frigid weather, eating a shivery picnic lunch huddled on a bench in St James Park. Boy, was it cold! Even the pigeons looked frozen.

After lunch we walked onwards through the park to take in the landmarks of Westminster. Little B voiced further disappointment as the famous Big Ben clock tower is currently undergoing refurbishment and is all covered up. Ah well, never mind, lets hop on the Underground and go somewhere warm! Over to you Little B - where to next? Hamleys, please!

For those of you who aren't familiar with Hamleys, it's a giant toy shop on Regent Street in central London, arranged over five floors with escalators and everything. It's full on, loud, in your face and overwhelming, but children do seem to like the over the topness of it. We went straight up to the Lego department where Little B wandered around in a trance, and I photographed all the lifesized royal lego sculptures (the Queen was looking a little dusty I noticed, but impressive nevertheless). We bought a small lego red London bus to bring home as a souvenir of our trip, and a pencil with a little golden model of Big Ben on the end. 

After the toy shop experience I noticed that we were all flagging a bit and the 5.30 am start to the day was catching up with us all of a sudden. So I took charge and suggested we use the Underground to take us to Covent Garden where our number one priority would be to find a cafe for a warm sit down and a hot chocolate. Covent Garden was as bustling and atmospheric as ever, I never tire of it's quirky charms. I took the Little People to one of my favourite nooks (Neals Yard) and I wished it hadn't been so cold so that we could have sat there and loitered a bit, but it did look beautiful glowing in the gloom of a late Winter afternoon. We wandered around the old part of Covent Garden, taking in the street entertainment (some of which was worryingly bizarre I have to say) before settling into a cosy cafe for warmth and refreshment.

It was such a long, full day from start to finish (we got home around 9.30pm), but I think the Little People enjoyed it all. Little B really loved the whole experience of travelling on the Underground (he gets super excited by escalators, bless him) and actually I think the travel in general was exciting for him. It's a good thing to venture out of ones normal day to day environment every once in a while don't you think? We  don't travel much as a family but I'd like to try and make a few more trips to different places this year, to give the Little People a bit of a wider view on life.

And in other news, Little B has one hand knit sock!! Just the one singular rainbow creation for now, but I'm so chuffed that it fits like a dream and he is really, really pleased with it too. I cast on the second sock yesterday, so in amongst everything else I'll try and find time to get that knitted up for him, especially as the weather has turned very cold here again this week and woolly rainbow socks are just the thing to keep toes cosy.

On the way home from London on Saturday evening I came down hard and fast with the cold that swept through the three Little Peeps during the Christmas holidays. I could feel it descending on me in Covent Garden, and by the time we were half way back up the country I was fighting a temperature and feeling like poop. So I've had a bit of a shabby week, packing away Christmas, trying to restore the house to some sort of mild order and preparing for the return to school, all on shaky legs with a hacking cough and a head stuffed with snot.

My Woodland blanket has been such a bright spot though, and I've absolutely LOVED seeing so many of you starting out on the journey with me this week. I've not been on my computer much since the weekend so I'm a bit behind with Facebook (which moves at the speed of light when everyone's excited!), so apologies if I've missed questions or queries whilst I've been fighting the germs off. I'm hoping to catch up a bit before Part 2 this coming Friday, and wanted to thank you again for your company on this blanket journey.

Thank you, you are the best xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

 

 

 

 

 

Comments

[Jilly]

Lucy, Please adopt me :)

[Mary Lieber]

Hi Lucy,
I enjoyed reading your post. We were just in London recently (mid December) and enjoyed our trip tremendously! It was our 1st time. We live in Northern California. It was fun seeing your pics and recognize quite a few spots 😊. Thanks for sharing and keeping my memories fresh! 😊

[Tuula Maaria]

Lovely! I also love Neals Yard, such wonderful colours in the buildings!

[witloof]

I was lucky enough to spend three weeks in London this past August and loved every minute of it! It was my third trip to England and I decided that I didn't have to do anything to improve myself, so instead of going to the theater or to museums or monuments, I walked around the city, took day trips to interesting little towns on the train, went to a folk festival, rode the tops of double decker buses, and took masses of wonderful photos. Oh, and had cream tea almost every day!

[Sierra]

I definitely need to go back to London, I feel like there was so much that I didn't get to explore! I didn't do any of the museums and really would like to go and spend some quality time in them.

[Jay]

Hamley’s has an exclusive Lego polybag of a guard.

[Lindyblu]

How lovely to give your children experiences rather than things to celebrate a birthday.

[Jane Dorfman]

Those unplanned trip sometimes turn out to be the best. Hope you are feeling better by now.

[Angela-Southern USA]

They grow up too fast. A belated happy birthday to L. B! Sounds like a fab time of it. Get well soon!xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[CJ]

What an excellent adventure. I've taken my eldest to London, but not the other two, I really should get around to it. We ate our lunch in the Natural History Museum garden which was lovely, they even had moorhens and a couple of sheep. A tiny bit of countryside in the middle of the city. Glad everyone had a good time. I hope you're all better soon. I've had the cold/flu thing and I just can't seem to shift it, have been feeling wiped out for days now. CJ xx

[Denise]

Morning Lucy,
I do hope you are feeling much better. What a wonderful birthday treat for little B. Memories stored up for the future worth there weight in gold. Having decided to give the woodland blanket a go we tried to order the wool yesterday, OUT of STOCK, just shows you how popular you designs are. Never mind it will come soon I'm sure.
I do have to finish the border on the summer harmony first so perhaps the wait is a good thing.
I am enjoying crochet more than I ever thought possible thanks to you.

[jacqui]

I love reading your posts and what a lovely day you had you did so much I got tired reading about it all he he
Have you considered Windsor the castle is amazing and you get much closer to the soldiers. There are boat ridea, shops and of course LEGOLAND.
I am doing your CAL but decided to use my own colours to use some of my stash up, I am thoroughly enjoying it thankyou, your patterns are so easy to follow and you lovely blogs always cheer me up.
And yes that damn cold swept us off our feet at Xmas xx hope you feel better soon.

[Linda]

Thank you, Lucy, always love reading your blog. Can never see pictures of The Natural History Museum now without thinking of Paddington and his lucky escape from taxidermy! Hope you're feeling better now xxx

[Lorna Truscott]

Lovely account of your visit to London. Hope you're feeling much better. Can you share your tips for finding cheap first class travel?

[Carol]

Received my blanket pack for a Christmas present and have started. Getting the hang of the pattern and looking forward to the journey. Keep warm and hoe you feel better soon. Luckily I had all that before Christmas.

[Aimee Dewar]

I was worried that something had happened. I knew your absence from FB was odd for you during the CAL. Hope you feel well soon. We have all had it too, ever so slowly working it’s way through the 5 of us since before Christmas.

[LindyloufromOz]

What an exciting day your family had in London! I love London and will be visiting in June this year for a few days(all the way from Australia!). Hope the weather is warmer then! Hope your cold gets better soon. Love to read your posts and drool at your photos. Hugs from sunny and hot Australia! 😁

[Laurie Mowat]

Happy Birthday Little B! When my nephews were younger they loved Legos as much as you do. My sister, who is 45 years old, built the London Bridge from a Lego kit and it sits over her fireplace. It has little red double decker buses and everything! She got to visit London for the first time too a few years ago and absolutely loved it.
I'm writing from Greenwood, Indiana in the United States. It is just outside of Indianapolis where they have the Indy 500 race every year. The race cars drive 200 times around an oval track that is just two and a half miles around and that makes up the whole 500 miles. I'm not sure what that is in kilometers so I hope you are good at math. I had to look up some of that information so don't tell anyone....sshhh!
Enjoy your socks and say hello to Tilly for me.
Laurie Mowat

[Helen Welsh]

Feel better soon Lucy! Sounds like an exciting birthday celebration for your youngest and a day he will probably remember for the rest of his life! (Mine, all well into their 20’s, still remember trips to London from that kind of age, I think it makes a big impression on our little people who grow up so far removed from big city life!) I am 15 stripes in to my woodland ripple and loving it so much! 😍 hope you get the chance to put your feet up a bit & rest some this week now the kids are back to school. Hugs from the frozen north!
Helen x

[Karen G]

A perfect day in London by the sound of it Lucy, must admit to loving London any time of year and I’m looking forward to taking our little grandchildren when they’re a bit older. Hope you feel better very soon, I’m loving doing the latest CAL but I am doing it in the baby ripple as I prefer a closer pattern. Still doing the colours to the woodland order though and it’s looking fab so thank you very much

[Sue]

Hi Lucy! Your blog travels are the best- I just imagine all of what you describe like I'm reading a book. And the photos are wonderful! As always, smiling through the entire read. Bless you & hope you feel better soon.
Sue

[Mary Lloyd Jones]

Hope you feel better now Lucy....have just come down with dreaded cold today so feel pretty grotty! Sounds like a lovely family day out in London...I love to visit family there but am so pleased to come home to N. Wales for the peace, the Straits and the mountains! Keep well.

[One-oh-four]

Sounds like an exciting trip, shame about the cold - we have all had it here too and the cough certainly lingered well past its sell-by date! Enjoying the CAL although doing my own colours, lovely pattern and very relaxing, rippling up and down :)

[Mary Margaret]

Hi, Lucy, loved reading about your trip to England. I’m in Texas and have gotten to go to London twice—very exciting and so much to see/do! Please tell Little B that I agree with his assessment of Buckingham Palace! We took the train out to Windsor from London, and it’s much more impressive. And the changing of the guard at Windsor is the best! Thank you so much for sharing your creativity with all of us. I am making your granny stripe blanket for my niece in her university colors, and it is beautiful!

[SARAH ALLEN]

EEEEK!!! this post made me excited! My husband and I are coming to London in March for a week visit. I am extremely excited! This is our first visit.