London Calling

Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament

(and hordes of people on the bridge)

London is another shock to the system, but instead of the oceanic, pastoral difference we found on the Isle of Arran last weekend, London promises an extremely urban experience this weekend! Teeming with people, it makes Glasgow feel like a country village. Everywhere we went there were crowds, making the city packed with life any time of day and night!!

We started our London adventures with a ride on The London Eye -- spectacular views!

view from the Eye

We saw many people betting on the "where's the ball" scam -- 20 pounds a bet, which is over $30 -- why?!?

After the Eye, we made a quick dip into the Tate Modern, where Cormac especially enjoyed seeing the Lichtensteins and Warhol. Then, the boys chased each other through these birch trees.

A walk across the Southwark Bridge, a tube ride home, a late dinner at Sen Viet (I definitely agree with this reviewer -- great food, cheap prices, and super-friendly service) near the flat ended our day.

Saturday morning, we were off to the hustle and bustle of Portobello Markets, where the crowds of tourists jostle each other to check out the hundreds of stands selling everything from toast racks and Banksy-esque t-shirts, which were what we bought.

Some of the more unusual items available to purchase. (Declan honked a very deep horn right in a man's ear -- funny!) We could imagine Tintin finding the ship model of the Unicorn in this market.

Remember the beautiful window art in York ( a lot of cat statues)? Here's London's version!

After a lunch of mediocre pizza and pasta (we should have eaten the amazing street food -- including paella, chorizo on ciabatta, churros, fried prawns, falafel -- but we needed to sit down for a while), we headed to 221B Baker Street. The Sherlock Holmes Museum was filled with furniture and objects from Victorian times, plus life-size figures of characters from Holmes' adventures. The best part was posing as Holmes and Watson in different spots.

Back to the flat to rest a bit, eat delicious take-out from Sen Viet, and change for the theatre.

We ended the day by seeing The Phantom of the Opera, which has been playing in the same theatre in London since 1986! The highlight of the show for Declan was the chandelier that swung over the audience onto the stage, while I liked the candelabras that rose from the floor in the phantom's lair. Liam's favorite part was when the phantom appeared above the audience inside part of the set that looked like it was part of the actual theatre. Cormac liked the scenery of the phantom's cavern, especially the gate and the candles on the floor of the stage. As you can tell, the set and the special effects were quite spectacular. After a walk through Trafalgar Square and past the fashion shops to Covent Garden, we hopped on the tube and returned to our flat to recover from the fabulous start to our London holiday!

Weekend on an Island -- Castles and Flowers

Although it was still off-season and some places were closed, Arran showed true signs of spring with daffodils and jonquils growing in clumps along every roadside and in every garden. We appreciated the lack of tourists and the two-for-one pizza deal at Eilean Mor, both of which would not be available in the summer.

The weather was mostly foggy and cloudy, but not a drop of rain, allowing us to take advantage of all the outdoors Arran had to offer.

Here's the garden of our hotel -- you can't tell, but it overlooked a beautiful harbor and Holy Isle which is home to the Centre for World Peace and Health.

We were all excited to see Lochranza Castle, since it was the inspiration for the castle in The Black Island, a Tintin adventure where he chases counterfeiters to an island off Scotland. At one point in the story, Tintin is almost killed by a gorilla, who is kept by the bad guys in an old castle (see below) as a guard-animal. The castle was just an empty hulk, padlocked, so you couldn't explore inside. But it was located in another lovely harbor!

Brodick Castle, on the other hand, is more restored and part of it is still occupied at times. Although the castle itself does not open until April 1, we walked around the gardens, mostly in solitude (an advantage of visiting off-season).

Cormac and Declan made good use of the playground!

Although a lot of the garden was not in bloom, there were MANY more daffodils and some lovely, flowering shrubs.

All in all, we were most impressed by our weekend journey -- loved the ferry ride, where I saw dolphins which always remind me of my Aunt Cindy; felt rejuvenated by the sea air and negative ions from the moving water; and just savored the relaxed pace and chance to be with the family and MeMe!

Weekend on an Island -- Stone Circles

On Saturday morning we drove the circumference of the Isle of Arran, stopping at different sights. Our first destination was the Machrie Moor Stone Circles, which were inland about a mile according to the guide book, but more like two miles according to our children and aunt (notice the stile seat above -- used for some walking breaks and Liam's sheep wool moustache). Despite the long-ish walk, we enjoyed seeing burial mounds and stone circles dating from Neo-lithic times.

And, the standing stones were quite impressive, towering far over head. The three above formed part of a circle and when I stood in the middle I could understand why ancient people chose this spot. It felt like you were in the center of the island with mountains rising up around you -- it was very spiritual!!

En route to the stones, we walked along a farm road through many flocks of sheep. The boys were desperate to pet one, but the sheep did not let them come close despite their attempts to herd them. Declan and Cormac chased them from one field to the next to no avail -- who was more tired boys or animals?

Heard Law in action -- Declan and I cut through an abandoned farm despite the warning sign.

Weekend on an Island -- The Ocean

We went to the Isle of Arran for the weekend -- this is a beautiful island off the west coast of Scotland. Although it's just a short drive and ferry ride away from Glasgow, it feels like you're miles from the big city! We had a great time enjoying the fresh air and ocean views.

One thing that cracked us up was that any time there was a scenic view there was a bench. All along the windy, two-lane road the circumnavigates the island, there would be a bench every few miles -- for the locals to contemplate their surroundings or for walking tourists who need a break?

Lots of boys scrambling on rocks

Lots of gorgeous water views

Lots of wildlife, including seals and many types of birds. Luckily, Liam, at MeMe's suggestion, had borrowed a bird book from the library so we could identify the ones we saw. Below is an oyster catcher, which has an incredible orange beak.

Yes, that's a seal, not just a rock on a rock!

Stay tuned for the castles and gardens of Arran.

Robert Burns Memorial

On Friday, we took the boys out of school to spend time with MeMe and to go on a weekend trip out of the city. We went to Robert Burns Birthplace Museum, which was a delight. The museum itself had lots of interactive parts, including a video game involving stabbing a haggis, as well as information about Burns' life and work. Beyond the museum, there was a monument, bridge, garden, poet's path, cottage, church -- a nice variety of things to see! We all really enjoyed this trip to Scotland's most famous poet!

But the true highlight was meeting this friendly cat -- well, not really , but since we miss our cat, we love finding ones that want to be petted.

The Burns monument itself stands in a beautiful little garden with a stone bridge over the River Doon.

The path to the cottage where Burns was born was lined with strange, animal statues and scenes from his famous poem Tam O'Shanter, which is about a drunken man who sees the devil and witches dancing in the churchyard. Burns wrote the poem to accompany a print of the Alloway Kirk (church), which is also part of this Burns memorial complex.

not a wee or timorous beastie, but instead one taller than a teen

witches chasing Tam

Alloway Kirk, the spooky inspiration for the poem

After this visit, we headed on to Arran Island, which you can read about in the next post!

Cathedral and Tea with MeMe

Yesterday, Liam's aunt and I went to see the Glasgow Cathedral, which looked even more splendid in the sunshine. MeMe has had incredibly sunny weather during her visit, so we've been able to see sites again with bright light, rather than clouds. Check out how sparkly everything looks, even indoors!

We had lunch at Stewart's Tea Room which is quite old-fashioned in style with tablecloths and oil portraits and many baked goods.

But its old-fashioned style is tempered with quirks like this painting.

We have found that afternoon tea is just too much food, though MeMe and I saw a couple of ladies taking home their leftovers which I never had thought to do. Anyway, we find a sandwich or soup followed by cake is more to our taste than the delicious but overwhelming amounts of food served for a classic tea. So, MeMe had egg salad and cress sandwiches and I had smoked salmon on brown bread. Then, we split a slice of Victoria sponge cake (white cake with jam in the middle and whipped cream on top), which was the cake featured in the play we had seen the day before, called Slice. When we saw it on the menu, we had to try it -- MeMe said it was a little dry (compared to her mother's, but when does anything compare to your mom's cooking), and I found the whipped cream more than made up for any flaw in the cake.

A great excursion especially when it ended with some shoe shopping in the City Centre!