American Family Travels

29 June to 1 July 2016: Hyde Park, Kensington Palace, Princess Diana Monument, and Royal Albert Hall and Monument

29 June to 1 July 2016: Absolutely Fabulous

We had three nights in downtown London in the Mayfair Area which turned out to be a great location. We walked almost everywhere, only taking a taxi once to gain some lost time. The first morning we drove to the hotel, no small feat, and took a walking tour of the immediate area including Piccadilly Circus, Regent Street and Chinatown. We spent the balance of the afternoon at the British Museum. For dinner we had a special treat, one of Cara’s childhood friends, Shan, and her boyfriend Alex met us for dinner in Oxford Circus. On the way back, we stumbled into the red carpet for the Absolutely Fabulous Movie Premier Party. I have heard about the British TV show but have never seen it. They must love it because some folks there were about to lose their minds, especially when Spencer’s limo pulled up, whomever he is. We had a blast being in the middle of the excitement even though we had no idea who was who.

The second day we walked, a lot; about 16 miles. The tour included Notting Hill, Hyde Park, Kensington Palace, Royal Albert Hall, Princess Dianna Monument, Natural History Museum, Harrods, Buckingham Palace, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square, and The Eye.

The third day we our sightseeing included London Tower, including the Crown Jewels, Tower Bridge, Thames River cruise, St. Paul’s Cathedral, and the South Bank Area. Cara and the kids got to have dinner with another of Cara’s childhood friends, Julia, and her family. Unfortunately I missed it because I came down with a cold and after two days of some serious sun up to sun down walking, I needed to call it quits early.

Here are a few of the many pictures we took. I’ll follow up with a few of the highlights in separate posts.

London Central

British and Natural Sciences Museum

River Thames

28 June 2016: Lego Wonderland

In 2014 we took the kids to Legoland in Winterhaven, Florida. Both love Legos, especially my son. It had only opened three years prior to our visit and the Lego Hotel was under construction. The kids loved the park. We thought it was nice but not nearly as professional and organized as the Disney parks.

After the kids endured waiting in The Queue at Wimbledon for 6 hours, we thought they deserved a day for them. Legoland Windsor is celebrating its 20^th year. This park was comparable to Florida but much better run. The Mini-City and Star Wars displays were particularly impressive, if you like that type of thing. The parks rides are relatively tame and while it is for kids of all ages, ours seemed to be at the top end of their target audience. The weather was good through most of the day but the rain started to come down for the last hour.

Dinner was at Toby Carvery, a nice restaurant chain, with a selection of hand carved meats and vegetables. It was some of the better food we have had on our trip and a change from the typical pub menus. Tomorrow we head into to the city center of London for a few days.

27 June 2016: The Queue and the Championship – Opening Day

The Queue: When I started planning this trip, it was a surprise to me that I could not buy tickets in the normal fashion. There are only four ways to get tickets to Wimbledon: the ballot, Ticketmaster, hospitality packages, and the Queue. We had missed our opportunity at the ballot and it sounded like the chances were slim for people outside the U.K. Hospitality packages are not for your average Joe. I had no idea what the Queue was but I knew Ticketmaster and it seemed at first this was the obvious way to get them, until I dug a little deeper. We did try but to no avail. I won’t bore you with all the details now, maybe later when I get back for those planning to go one day.

With no tickets and the Championships starting the next morning, we were headed for the Queue. To their credit, the folks who run the event want to make sure tickets are available at a reasonable rate and prevent reselling. The system they devised is well-organized, but wow does it take time. You really need to want tickets to get them. Again I’ll try to add some more detailed information later but basically you need to wait in line or “queue”. The Queue become a mass of humanity in line after line in a field outside the grounds.

We got up at 5 AM however it took us longer to get there than we had hoped and only entered the Queue around 7:15 AM. I was number 5925. By 8:30, I’d guess there were around 8000 people in line, maybe more. We finally entered the gates around 1:15 PM, after 6 hours standing in line.

The Queue is an event unto itself. I had never heard of it before this trip but now it gives us a very different perspective on the true Wimbledon experience.

The Queue

The Championship: We finally entered the gates of the All English Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (AELTC). For the kids, it was wide-eyed excitement. For Cara, it was a life-long dream. For me, it was a huge sense of relief that we made it and I didn’t screw this up for my wife.

The facilities are steeped in tradition. They are also much smaller and intimate than I was expecting. The AELTC provides a very different experience than the U.S. Open. The main courts are small stadiums as you would expect but many of the others are in cramped quarters with only a row or two of seating on both sides and masses of people walking by as they played. We hopped from court to court to watch portions of many different matches and of course ate and did a little souvenir shopping as well.

Cara had led us to another tradition. We sat on “The Hill” to watch the big screen in the evening to see the premier match-ups that we could not get a seat. There we had our strawberries and cream amongst a diverse group of tennis fans speaking a variety of languages and wearing anything from proper suits and dresses to shorts with the backsides made to look like tennis balls.

The last matches ended before 9. We stayed to the very end to soak up every bit of the experience we could. Cara is already planning another trip back with her sister. I on the other hand might never be back, but it will forever change my perspective on this annual event I have been watching since I was a child.

Wimbledon

26 June 2016: The Royal Castle

We finished our day on a high note, the Windsor Castle. The Castle has a tremendous amount of history. It is fully intact and decorated throughout with exquisite furnishings and finishes. They do not allow you to take pictures of the interior so you’ll only see exterior shots here. Windsor Castle is a different experience than some of the others we saw and is definitely worth the visit.

25 & 26 June 2016: Shakespeare, Robin Hood, and Oxford

Saturday was a low key day. We started with a visit to the Sherwood Forest of Robin Hood fame. From there we went into to Birmingham for lunch near the canals. It was not nearly as impressive as the River Walk in San Antonio but similar on a smaller scale and still very nice. We had planned to stop to visit Warwick Castle but the day had escaped us and we were behind schedule. With plenty of castles under our belt, we decided to move on. We drove through Stratford-upon-Avon where William Shakespeare was born. It is a nice little village with shops and cafes but nothing of real substance for us so we kept going. We made it to our hotel outside Glouchester in the Cotswolds Area, shopped for supplies, ate fruit and bread for dinner, and the kids went swimming in the hotel pool before bed.

Sunday was a busy day. We began our day by driving through some of the small villages and scenic byways of the Cotswolds. Compared to the parts of England we have seen so far, the Cotswolds was unique in the small towns and country roads; however compared to parts of Ireland and Scotland, it paled in comparison a bit. We continued down the road to Oxford, home of the world renowned Oxford University. The town and university was charming and well worth the visit but somehow different than we were expecting. Our last stop of the day was in Windsor to see the Windsor Castle. I will follow up with another post on it.

Sherwood Forest

Birmingham

Cotswolds

Oxford University

24 June 2016: Durham and York

We got a late start this morning leaving Edinburgh. We headed east toward the coast (pictured above) and then south through our last bits of Scotland and into England. We made stops in Durham and York.

Durham’s main attraction is the Durham Cathedral. It is being refurbished so the top of it is encapsulated in white plastic as you can see below. The town center was nice and made for a good place to take a walk and grab some fish and chips for lunch. We got an extra kick out of Durham University. We live near Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. We were tempted to buy a Durham University t-shirt just to see if we’d get a reaction back home.

York’s main attraction is the York Minster. The town center is a great place to spend some time. The York Minster is an impressive structure that pictures can better describe although I don’t think they capture just how large it is. Similar to Durham’s Cathedral, they are doing some construction on it as well.

We ended our day in Sheffield where we checked in and ate dinner. Tomorrow we move more inland as we get closer to London.

Durham

York

24 June 2016: Should I Stay or Should I Go?

On 23 June 2016, the United Kingdom voted on a referendum to remain in the European Union or leave (aka Brexit). On 24 June 2016, it was determined that they would leave. Soon after their Prime Minister, David Cameron, announces he will step down by October. New reports flood in on local TV and radio that the British stocks and currency were taking a beating; Scotland might go to a referendum vote to gain independence and rejoin the EU; Northern Ireland might go to a referendum vote to merge with the Republic of Ireland; and Spain might want to have more involvement with Gibraltar. Some refer to it as their new Independence Day. Others worry about the collapse of the British economy and the domino fall of the remaining EU. Today was truly a historic day for the United Kingdom. Only time will tell if it is the start of something positive or not.

We have no right to take a stance one way or another; however we wish our brothers good luck and root for their success. If nothing else it was an extremely interesting day to listen to talk radio as we drove from Edinburgh to Sheffield.

22 – 23 June 2016: Center of the Old Town

We got to the castle too late last night, it had just closed. Cole was disappointed and we went to Plan B. The next day after our hike up to Arthur’s Seat and lunch, we went straight to the castle. We put him in charge of the map and leading our exploration of the complex. He was determined to see every last square-foot. We all enjoyed the castle but none more than Cole. No matter how much our feet hurt from the morning hike or how tired we were from walking up the Royal Mile, we were going to see – it – all. The Edinburgh Castle has a lot to see. Besides the views of the city below, it has several museums and plenty of the history of Scotland. If you are going to visit only one place in Edinburgh, this is a must see.

Edinburgh Castle

Castle Selfie (would be better if my giant head wasn’t blocking it!)