What I Did on My Summer Vacation: July 22–London Calling

Look at this–I actually have a chance to post some more updates on what I did while I was in Europe. And more pictures, folks! We left Slovakia on July 21, and it wasn’t exactly the easiest trip to London.

  • Drive from her mom’s cottage to Trencin: 30 minutes
  • Train to Bratislava main train station: 1 hour 30 minutes
  • Bus trolley from train station to bus station: 20 minutes (through pouring rain)
  • Bus from bus station to Vienna airport: 1 hour
  • Wait in airport: 3 hours
  • Plane to London: 2 hours and change
  • Train from Gatwick to Croydon: 20 minutes or so
  • Get picked up from Croydon train station and driven to the nice family we were staying with: 20 minutes
Umm . . . yeah. We weren’t all exactly chipper and happy by the time we were through with all that. But we made it in one piece, and after collapsing for a bit, even had the energy to go to an Authentic British Pub, which had awesome food.
But this isn’t about July 21. This is about July 22, where we took the fam to the Tower of London and the British Museum. The verdict? Cool on both counts. TRC wasn’t too crazy about the museum at first, mainly because he discovered that most Greek and Roman statues are pretty naked, and he felt like they all really ought to put some clothes on. Then he found the mummies, and he was happy after that. The Tower, on the other hand, was a hit right from the start. It helped that they had a torture chamber–increased the cool factor significantly in a 7 year old’s mind. Though he did wonder why so many people kept getting their heads chopped off.
Overall, it was a great day. Very busy, and my back felt like I’d spent a few hours in the torture chamber by the time we were done, but the way I figure, you don’t go to London to kick back and read a good book all day. You go to experience every last ounce of it you have time for.
Mission successful. More to come when I talk about July 23. In the meantime, how about some family pictures?
The Tower of London and Tower Bridge (taken from London Bridge. People get Tower Bridge and London Bridge confused a lot, apparently)

Sort of describes how I felt by the end of the day:

TRC at the Tower

 The kids at the Tower

Requisite picture of a funny looking guardsman. You have to sign a contract when you enter England that says you agree to taking at least one of these.

Fam in front of Tower Bridge

Paddington Bear got lost.

You can take kids halfway around the world. They still think playgrounds are more fun than anything else you found for them to do that day. 🙂

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