Andy and Liam were so ready to visit London! We spent four days in London more than a week ago, but I've been so busy writing my final paper for my master's degree that I couldn't take the time to update the blog! I'm in the Duke Humphrey Reading Room in the Bodleian Library in Oxford--I can't take pictures here, but if you want to see it the boys tell me that Hermione Granger spent a lot of time here in a few of the movies.
I've asked the boys what they enjoyed best about London; Andy likes that it is a huge, international, bustling city, and Liam likes the Princess Diana Memorial Playground in Kensington Park . Reflections on their ages?
We were fortunate to spend three nights at the home of Victoria Schofield, an Oxford grad, president of the Oxford Union (a formidable debating society) and great friend to Benazir Bhutto. It's been two decades since I walked the streets of London, and it was a treasure to be able to introduce the boys to the city. Friday afternoon we settled ourselves in and then learned the Tube--we rode to the Embankment so that we could walk across the Thames to the Globe Theatre, where we saw Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors. Great fun, though the boys got tired about half way through. We were glad that we stayed until the end, however, as the comedy just got better!
Saturday we explored, and I'm sure I'm forgetting some things, but after walking to and then along Portobello Road for the Saturday market we spent most of our day along the river--listening from right underneath to Big Ben chime noon, waiting in line to ride the London Eye, climbing the 311 spiral steps to the top of the Monument (to the 1666 fire) then hanging out around Trafalgar Square . Saturday is sort of a blur for me--the constant press of people, the incessant noise of traffic, and making sure that I didn't lose either boy in a crowd or on the Tube were draining. One highlight for the boys was stopping for dessert late at night after riding the Tube back to Bayswater--they felt very urbane.
Sunday we began the day at the British Museum along with two million other people! Silly me! After a quick glance around, we took off for the Crypt under St. Martin in the Fields, where we did brass rubbings for several hours--it was a wonderful experience for all of us, and it allowed us to be away from the too-present city. We rode the boat along the river to Greenwich, not to see the center for time in the world, but to walk under the river! The boys love the London unlocked guidebook for kids, and this was a recommendation!
My highlight was the Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower of London--an amazing, quiet way to be part of history that has been going on every single day for at least 700 years . We weren't allowed to take photos (and it was too dark anyway), but to hear the footsteps of a single beefeater marching along the cobblestones, and then to hear the call and response: "Who comes there? The keys. Whose keys? The queen's keys," and then to hear a beautiful rendition of The Last Post--what a memory!
The title of the posting comes from when the ticket holders were waiting outside the Tower gates. The Beefeaters live there, but not all are on duty every evening. As we were waiting for admittance to the ceremony, a soldier unlocked the gate to allow a mini to go out--four huge Beefeaters stuffed inside, much like a clown car!
Before returning to Oxford Monday we spent the morning at the wonderful Princess Di playground in Kensington Park--it has a huge ship, several smaller boats, a stream running through it all, and enough sand to make a kid think he is at the beach. It was hard for the boys to leave!