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!

Tintin Everywhere

Being a big fan of Tintin comics ever since I was a kid and read them at my friend, Kristina's house, I've converted my children into Tintin fans also. We have some old comics that were Liam's when he was kid and some new ones we've acquired over the years (some before we even had children). We were all excited to see the new Tintin movie and although it combined plots from a few comics, we still loved the animation and the thrills.

So imagine our delight to find many things that remind us of Tintin in Scotland. Our favorite, so far, has been what we call the Tintin store. No, it does not sell Tintin products, but instead is a huge junk shop similar to the one Tintin visits in Red Rackham's Treasure to buy his diving suit. Check out the amazing stuff this shop has -- the first photo should give you an idea of how cramped and crowded everything is; you can barely make your way between stacks of stuff!

I have no idea what this even is

Chinese warrior goes skiing?


James Dean and ice cream!

Other Tintin references we've spotted -- do you know what they refer to and which Tintin comic they are from? Answers later.