One Very Long Day

June 29th turned out to be one of the busiest days of our year so far. We had planned to go to the LDS temple in London a long time ago. I actually had to write it down on our calendar that it had to be done on that particular Saturday since the temple was scheduled to close for cleaning beginning the last week of August.

At first it was just the temple, then we had our church picnic added to the day’s schedule—that was at four o’clock. And then our piano teacher scheduled final piano recital for that evening at six.

To get to the temple, we had to leave promptly at 8 am since the drive there takes almost two and a half hours. Traffic was in our favor so we got there without many adventures.

We had some yummy Thai food for lunch on temple grounds and then while waiting for Robert, I snapped a few pictures.  Kids were just running around and having fun.

Wait, wrong picture!

This is Mark’s upset face. Someone probably was faster than him at racing so he got a bit disappointed. It’s hard to be the smallest sometime.

Most of the time, everyone was happy though:)

Even when people were squishing each other.

Thank you, Mark, we love to see your dirty feet.

And this is my attempt to put all kids in a “circle” so that I could get their head shot. Mark couldn’t figure that out.

Brothers who squish and wrestle each other all the time.

Around 2 pm, we started driving back up to Huntingdon where our church picnic was going to happen. We basically had only an hour to chat with people and get our dinner. It was rushed, but we still had fun. I like how we are making more and more friends through our church—this time it has been a much slower process.

Then we drove up home, changed and ran to the kids’ piano recital at the Abbey College hall. This is our teacher, Mrs. Eldred.

Twenty five kids (!) played at this recital. Most of them performed just one super-short piece (some were as short as thirty seconds), so the whole thing went pretty fast. Most students are very much beginners because they are simply kids from regular primary (elementary) schools that Mrs. Eldred teaches during school hours. She has only a few private students like us who have her come to teach them at their homes.

The kids did great. I told them to bow at the end of their performance. So Alex was the first kid in the whole recital who bowed. Everyone was so surprised, in a good way. I figured that’s just plain proper manners at a piano recital, right?

Glad we managed to fit all our events into this crazy day! And glad we got to go to the temple.

You Raise Me Up!

It was in 2004 that I first heard of Josh Groban. Katya was just a baby, we were finishing BYU, had very limited budget to work with, and I bought his CD! I rarely bought CDs, seriously. In fact, most of our music at that time came from all those cheap Ukrainian CDs that I had bought on my visits to Ukraine, not sure if they were even legal. Anyway, I bought Josh Groban’s CD “Closer”… and both Robert and I loved it! Call us old fashioned or whatever, but we both admire his voice and love most of his songs.

A year later, song “You Raise Me Up” became a great hit. We were living in Minneapolis by then, Robert was going to dental school. As a tradition, first year students organized and put on a memorial service for those who donated their bodies to science. It was at the end of their anatomy course.  Robert got a chance to sing solo “You Raise Me Up” in front of hundreds of people that evening. It was an amazing night!

As our kids got older, they all learnt Josh Groban’s songs. You should hear Katya sing “You Raise Me Up” or Alex create his own version of “In Her Eyes”.

This winter, I was checking out our local list of events compiled by some military spouses. I saw that Josh Groban was going to be visiting with concerts in June! He was performing at a few medium size venues in Birmingham and Nottingham. Nottingham was a bit closer to us—under two hours—so I searched and searched for tickets that were not outrageously expensive and found some on ebay.  My great friend here was kind enough to keep Mark and Katya overnight (Alex was already on an overnight school trip at Burwell). And Robert and I attended our first EVER live concert (orchestra doesn’t count in this case).

IT WAS AMAZING!!! Despite the fact that Josh Groban is our age, it seems that in the UK he is only popular with the older crowd. Seriously, we were probably the youngest people in that audience.

But the hall was full! Great crowd and great atmosphere at this rather small venue (for such a famous singer). He sang all his most famous songs and a lot of new ones that we had never heard before. He was also so funny!

Oh what a night! It was worth every pence!
Lyana.

Beefeaters And Fat Tires

Our June and July weekends were so busy, that I had to planned well ahead this trip to London to make sure we get to go. This was our third time—first one was in October, second one in December and this one was in June. One thing for sure, it is so easy to travel when it’s warm outside. We had fun the other two times we went, but it was just so much more pleasant (although more crowded) to explore the city.

We have this deal online that if you use the train to travel to London from where we are, we get some sweet 2 for 1 deals for many London attractions. One of them was Tower of London. Tower of London is an expensive attraction, in my opinion, but everyone loves it. I believe one adult ticket is around $33-34, while a family ticket is around $90.

We did not get to the Tower of London till almost 11 am. We grabbed some lunch at a convenience store across from the tower(do not get nasty fish and chips nearby) and ate it inside the tower grounds. Then we caught one of those Beefeater tours.

If you don’t know what a Beefeater is, here is a picture with one of them, but not the one who was our tour guide:

To be a Beefeater (a guard at the Tower of London) you must have served in the military and have a loud voice. I am sure there is another requirement but we cannot remember. And was he loud! Our tour group consisted of probably a hundred people, but somehow we were able to hear our guide even from afar.

The tour guide informed us about all the gory details of the history of the Tower as well as a ton of stories of infamous people of Britain. Fascinating!

After the tour we stood for a while in line to see the Crown Jewels. Mark is really enjoying himself in the heat.

Apparently it was so hot that we decided to grab some ice cream from the ice cream stand right next to the line.  People in front of us took such a loooong time that by the time we go our ice cream and joined Robert in line, it was time for us to go inside the building (the line continued inside as well). But of course, we had to stand and finish our ice cream outside as “no food allowed” sign caught our eye.

This is one of the guys who guards the Crown Jewels. And the jewels were quite impressive. 

We spent about three hours at the Tower London. We did not visit the White Tower and a few more smaller towers. So we might have to go back if anyone comes to visit us and wants to see it.

Some fabulous views of the Tower Bridge. I love that bridge.

Around 2 pm, we headed towards Bank tube station. We were on our way to another fun adventure—Fat Tire Bike Tour.

We passed the Monument which is located on the very place where the Great Fire of London started in 1666. The plan was to go up all the way to the top (it doesn’t cost much and we had 2 for 1 vouchers) but we were a bit in a rush.

We passed a few more cool buildings…

but mostly we were surrounded by hundreds of banks in the bank district.  Apparently there are more Japanese banks in London that in Tokyo (?) because being here they can trade during the wake hours of the US and Asia.

Finally we got to our meeting point for the tour. We were able to use our 2 for 1 offer on this tour as well, and Mark was free since he was still in a bike chair. The tour started at 3:30 and went for about four hours. We had about 15 people in our group.

We visited a lot of main sights, some that we have seen before and some new ones.

We stopped at Kensington and talked a bit about who used to live here and, of course, who is planning to live here pretty soon.

Riding through Hyde park was so relaxing.

And here is Wellington Arch. Without the monument on top for some reason.

And in case you are riding a horse in the middle of London, press this button to help you cross the street.

We stopped at Buckingham Palace and learned about one crazy guy who broke into the palace twice to speak with the Queen.

Victoria Memorial in front of Buckingham Palace.

And right in front of the gates. Someday we’ll need to make it to the change of guard ceremony here.

We stopped at this place (I think that’s where Prince Charles lived after he and Diana separated) and tried to make the guards laugh. Nope, they were staring at each other or straight and did not crack a smile.

For dinner, we had a half hour break at the Trafalgar Square. We had some quick pizza right there, in the middle of London. In fact, that’s where the official center of London is located.

We stopped at the Stables??? and learned about Prime Minister’s house.

Of course, Big Ben was a must see.  Did you know that last year the tower was renamed to be Elizabeth Tower?

Westminster Abbey-beautiful as always. Just thinking about all those people buried inside (and in the walls) gives me goose bumps.

Mark has the best seat—relaxing and warm. This is the last time we could use the bike seat, I think. He is almost 45 lbs and I think the weight limit is 45 lbs.

And yes, our favorite part was riding through these gorgeous parks and watching Londoners enjoying the sun—having a picnic, reading books on benches, riding bikes, roller skating, jogging, walking with dogs.

We highly recommend bike tours. The kids love them as well, and that’s always a bonus. Seeing how sights are connected via bike trails and streets is quite neat. It makes the city seem less overwhelming.

We know there is still so much to see in London. Looks like we need to pencil in our next trip on the calendar or we’re going to run out of weekends before Christmas!

Belgium: Dinant

Before we left Belgium, there was one more stop we had to make.  Lyana had found out about a neat little village built between a steep rockface and the river:  Dinant.  It was a bit out of the way, but based on the pictures we had seen (and the fact that we drove OVER it on the expressway the other day), we just had to go there. 

As we came into the town, the first things to greet us were these gigantic rock cliffs.  This picture is taken from the boat tour (later) of the the split in the rock that the road goes straight through.  Our big minivan (oxymoron?) barely fit.

First step: find the boat docks.  Second step: find a place to park.  Neither took a terribly long time (not a big town).  It was just a bit tricky navigating the narrow streets, most of which were either one-ways or should be.

Once on the tour boat, we could rest a while.  I could easily of fallen asleep except for the fact that I paid for the boat ride, and I wasn’t about to waste my hard-earned euros on a nap.

We went under several bridges during the river ride.  Tell me, who doesn’t enjoy seeing the underside of a bridge once in a while?  This behemoth is the expressway viaduct that we drove over two days prior where we could look down on this little village.  Certainly is a different perspective looking up.

Saxaphones on display along this bridge.  Why?  Because the musician who invented the saxophone (Adolphe Sax) was born in Dinant, Belgium.

More of the stunning river view.

On top of the rockface there is the citadel, most famous (or infamous I guess) for the multiple times it has been destroyed and rebuilt throughout the centuries.  One of the scariest was when the attackers tossed over 200 men, bound together in pairs, over the cliffs into the river.  The city itself was the site of several German attacks during both World Wars, and it is a wonder that the town still exists.

Our lunch consisted of  . . . fries.  That’s it.  Just fries.

The Collegiate Church of Notre-Dame, one of the main landmarks of the town – rebuilt after rocks from the cliff fell and destroyed it in 1227.

The cable car from behind the church to the citadel.  Lasts less than 5 minutes, but who’s counting.

The view from the top was stunning.

Most adults: “Wow, look at the cannons!”

My kids’ parents: “Go get in the cannons guys!”

Okay, this is where the fun began for us at the Citadel.  Let’s see, how should I tell the story.  Oh, I have an idea.  Here’s an excerpt from the email I sent the tour director regarding our most memorable experience.  I apologize for the strong language.

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“As you may recall, my family and I arrived a few minutes before a large tour group was to start at 1:30.  The tour guide (I do not know his name, but he was old, short and slightly bent) was speaking in French and then he said something in Dutch.  We did not know what he said at the time, but now we realize he must have been asking who speaks which language in the group.  He did not say anything in English, so we didn't think he spoke English.  We decided to just follow along with the tour group, as there were signs in English along the way.  

“I think we were on the third stop (at the end of the long hallway) when it happened.  A kind Dutch couple next to us also spoke English, so they were quietly translating to us a few things he said, and then the tour guide loudly said "Shhhhhhh!!".  We apologized, though we thought we were being quiet enough.  Then the Dutch couple explained to the tour guide that they were translating into English for us,.  The tour guide offered to translate into English for us (though he sounded unhappy about it), but we worried that if he had to translate everything into three languages, the tour would take a very long time, and we did not have much time to visit.  So we asked him if we could just walk around by ourselves.  Without explanation, he said something to us in an angry tone, in another language, and turned away from us.  The couple told us with a shocked look on their faces that the tour guide told us to "piss off!"  

“We turned around and left the tour.  That is when we went to the souvenir shop and found the young lady there who helped us.  She was so kind to listen to us and then she worked so hard to help make the situation better.  I do not know her name, but please tell her how wonderful she was that day, and how much we appreciated her.  She got us in touch with you, Julie, and of course you were so kind to help us too, allowing us to visit the rest of the citadel on our own, even when it is not normal to allow tourists to walk around there alone. 

”As for the tour guide, there is no excuse for his rude behavior.  Maybe he's just a grumpy old man and he was just having a bad day.  But that doesn't mean he can be so rude.  It was even more offensive that he was too cowardly to say it in English, and we had to ask the other people to translate for us.  If he had just told us something like, "No, I'm sorry.  That is not permitted,"  we would have understood fine.  Instead, I will remember him as the worst example of customer service I have ever seen.  

“I am sad to say, that despite my wonderful visit to Belgium, and all the wonderful people (including you and the other lady who helped me) that I met in your beautiful country, this one man's rude and immature behavior will always be part of my memory of our visit to the Citadel, to Dinant, and to Belgium.” 

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If you managed to read through all that, I’m sorry.  Don’t think that our vacation was ruined just because of one crotchety, old tour guide.  It just stinks that it was right at the end of our time in Belgium.  We still had fun.  In fact, though he didn’t realize it, his actions paved the way for us to find a way to walk around the citadel on our own, at our own pace.

We jumped ahead of the tour guide, and we made sure we kept moving so that the tour group didn’t catch up to us.

We still got to have fun and see some cool things.

Like plastic people in a fake kitchen skinning a fake boar.

These hats were real though.

Spoiler Alert!!!  The last part of the citadel ‘tour’ was a recreated WWI trench which is under attack, and part of it was caved in.  The kids loved this part here where the whole room was tilted.  They are actually standing up straight (or trying to do so) because the floor was slanted toward one side.  Almost got vertigo trying to walk through.

We eventually found our way out of the crooked room, the citadel (with the nasty tour guide but the at least the view was amazing), out of Belgium and to Calais.  Then onto the ferry (after taking Mark to the restroom, then returning and finding that all the cars around ours in line had already loaded).

The view of the white cliffs of Dover was much better this time around.  I’d never really seen them before.  They really are white.

Oh, this picture.  Yeah, petrol was not our friend this trip.  We have a card that lets us get 100L of petrol (that’s gasoline, for you non-British folks) per month, but at American prices.  Otherwise, the British price is at least three times the price in the States.  So you might understand why we would do all that we could to use that card (in Britain only).  The only thing is, it’s just for Texaco.  And there were no Texacos in Dover, or anywhere near Dover as we found out.  Well, we purposefully filled up only just enough in France to get us to the ferry, thinking that we’d find a Texaco within 30 miles.  Not the case.  We were reduced to petrol-hopping, filling up just enough at one station to get the light to stop blinking, in hopes of making it to a Texaco.  In the end, Lyana found one, albeit a bit out of the way, near London by using the Google Maps feature on her phone.  Next time, I’ll plan that one out better, mapping out AHEAD of time where the Texacos are along our route. 

In the end, we made it home.  And that’s all that matters when you really think about it.

Rob