Let's start with giving credit where credit is due. This trip came at the insistence and planning of Jari. She is awesome.
While living in Europe, we had some issues with one of the cylinders in our Honda Odyssey. The first time it happened while we were in the Netherlands. We changed out the coils at the recommendation of a local repairman (will post that story at some point) but it would still happen on occasion. I say this only because you should know that while I enjoy traveling without kids I have developed a small sense of anxiety when driving (small is an understatement by the way). As we set off on our journey my fears became a reality, 1 hour into the drive and 3.5 hours from our port call the car began to lurch and jerk. We had been through this before so after some deliberation we decided to just push through at a slower pace. This added 2 layers of stress: a broken car and trying to make it to Dunkirk, France for our port call.
Well, clearly we made it just on time and soon found ourselves on the boat crossing the English Channel.
Here the kids are playing while we cross.
And here they were, the White Cliffs at Dover. I have longed to see these as an adult as I grew up hearing stories about how Grandpa Johnson had nearly collided with them while flying with his crew in WWII in a fog. The fog lifted just in time to see them and they began the climb up and had to dump everything possible to rise fast enough to not hit the cliff face.
Getting off the ferry and driving on the left side of the road took some concentrating for sure. The first stop was to check out the local area
Not far from the ferry you can park and hike up to the formidable Dover castle.
What a day! We totally lucked out on the weather. It was so peaceful and the sun felt so good on our skin as it had often been cloudy in Germany (not that England is known for its sunny weather).
Seeing these old castles and forts never gets old for me
They still have old anti-aircraft cannons and other tools of war on the cliff
We took a tour through the tunnels and I will say it was a treat to do a tour where we could understand the language. After going placed in Korea, Japan, Germany and other countries where you just watch and guess what people are saying it was neat to be here and be able to communicate with people so easily.
Check out these views!
Zachary taking a nap. I am posting these pictures 2 years later so it is fun to see him so small.
While Zach slept (and Camille as well in my arms) I sent Jari on to check out parts of the castle grounds that the family could not go to see within our allotted time. So Jari checked out the chapel and a few other areas on her own. She deserved the break.
It is so neat to see these old castles so well restored/preserved. For sure a different style of building compared to what we had seen in Germany
Random shot by Charlotte.
We did not take a tour of the castle and don't remember why at this point. I think it was a matter of price and timing (both of arrival and how long we had allotted to spend there).
After spending time here we putted (literally) up to just outside of London where we were going to camp. Yes, we camped outside of London. Why? 1) it is a lot cheaper when you have 6 people traveling and 2) it provided a unique experience.
Getting to London was harder than I anticipated. We walked to the train station (~1 mile from our camp ground) only to find out we needed an Oyster Card (scan cards to travel on the train/underground). So I had to walk around and ask shops who had them until we found some so we got a late start on our day in London
First stop was London Tower
Inside there are living quarters for the Royal family and Guard
These poor guys have more photos of them than anyone else in the world I bet
We had read about London Tower prior to going so we had to take a photo when we saw the ravens. If you are not familiar with the importance of their presence then you can read about it here: https://www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/whats-on/the-ravens/#gs.hxap55
Pretending to be in Jail
We saw the crown jewels but you are not allowed to take pictures. Sorry, I guess you can google some pictures and pretend they are on our blog:)
Enjoying the warm inviting weather London is known for
After walking in the rain we stopped for a snack of overpriced hot chocolate, smoothies, and croissants
I think this shop was not ready to take care of kids LOL. It was for a more mature crowd but they took care of us all the same.
Then we split up. Time for some Zachary/Camille/Dad time while Jari took the girls to a show.
I was grateful for my light rain jacket because Zach and Camille needed our umbrellas the rest of the night. They were not happy about mom leaving them but I made up for it with McDonald's french fries and then a trip to M&M world
They were both happy with how the evening turned out.
We then met up at a Brazilian Steak House close to where the girls went to their show. Jari chose this for dinner. Great choice.
Then we walked back to get a photo to remember their outing
Ridding he train back to our camping ground outside the city
Side story, when I was a 2, I traveled with my mother and father to London and while asleep my umbrella stroller front wheel caught in the gap between the train and the platform and I was dumped on my face. I of course don't remember this. I paid the memory forward in a way when pushing Zachary back from the train station to the camp ground as I hit a bump and he went face-first onto the ground while asleep. No I did not mean to do that and I was super sad but maybe one day he will make a memory of dumping his son on his face in England?
Our luxurious accommodations.
In Europe, camping is often what Americans call Glamping because they have showers, electricity, play grounds, and areas to clean your eating/cooking stuff. It usually costs about 20-45 Euro per night total (including the electricity and shower fee) for a family to camp. That sure beats 200-300 Euro per night at a hotel (we have to get 2 rooms). I took an electric converter and a rice cooker and then brought all the dry goods we needed and canned goods as well. Chicken and rice, soups, the sky is the limit. We celebrated Charlotte's Birthday with some ice cream I found a half-mile away (went on foot. I did not want to drive the van any more than we had to).
We then drove out to Bath which was a must for Jari.
This was a center for the Roman government and the baths have been well restored.
A few of the church, the Abby of Bath, next door
Apparently, this style of hair was really popular at the time
Coins pulled from the bath and other fountains. People would come pray to the Gods and throw coins in to them when asking them to do things for them
We discovered that writing on metal plates was not uncommon and people would write notes and throw them in as well. Many of the requests were for the cursing of people who had crossed them or stolen something.
One of the pillars here was built by a noble that came from Trier Germany! That is just to the south of where we lived!
Downstairs and inside there was a fountain that has been flowing for 1000s of years that you can sample from. It contains sulfur and that is obvious both in smell and taste.
Just after we left the gift shop and were walking to the exit next to the water as seen here the 1 inch thick glass of the gift shop wall gave an ear-splitting pop as it exploded for no apparent reason into tiny shards. It was somewhat busy and crowded do it caught everyone by surprise. Gratefully no one was injured.
In the gift shop I bought Camille a giant gold coin and because she was yelling I sat with her and the other 2 younger kids and Charlotte and Jari went inside the local church which she reported was beautiful
Camille enjoying her coin.
The town had a relaxed feel with plenty of old stone. Here we are mixing the new world with the old.
Jari recalls we found a street named Charlotte street but otherwise it was just relaxation and window shopping
That night we stayed in Piccadilly and stayed at a different camp ground that had only 1 other person staying there. The kids enjoyed some play time while I cooked and then we did our best to get some sleep
I took these pictures for google maps. Not exactly the camping experience from my childhood where we had to bring a shovel to dig out rocks and level the ground to sleep on.
The next day we spent a few hours in Lacock which is small and very picturesque. It was quiet and seemed to be frozen in time (the 1800s). This is the place where they filmed parts of Downton Abbey.
In a spontaneous game of distraction from fighting we played pick your favorite door color.
We went on a short walk and found some really pretty areas where you can totally imagine a horse-drawn carriage rolling down the small lane towards these small country cottages.
But all good things come to an end and we had tickets with a time of entry on them :)
This was a surprise for the kids as we had not told them we would be going to HP world. They were super excited to be there.
Entering the Great Hall
- which was decorated for Halloween
The Goblet of Fire
Hazel learning to command her broom ("UP!") to rise to her hand
Taking a walk in the Forbidden Forest
Meeting a Hippogriff (Buckbeack)
And some of Aragog's family
Oddly enough getting on to the platform to go to Hogwarts was near the end of the tour
Checking out the Hogwarts Express
and the Night Bus
Letters addressed to Harry Potter, Number 4 Pivot Drive, Second Bedroom, Top of the Stairs
Fighting Deatheaters
The Weasley's enchanted car
Dobby computer graphics were a favorite as you could dance and move in front of it and the computer would follow you motions
The large model of the castle they used to film the soaring views of the castle
That night, because we were driving home the next morning and needed to get to the ferry at a decent hour we decided to stay in a hotel. This gave us time to leave early the next morning and see Dover one more time. We were in luck, we had another day of great weather
This time we drove up on the cliff side and found a walking path and followed it out to the cliff
It was really windy and we made sure to keep a hold of the kids as it was a long drop to the bottom.
Jari and Zachary
Myself and Camille
Here is a video of us on top. A bit windy on top but it helps you see what it was like.
Yes, our car continued to shake and tremble but we made it! The ride home was long but we made it happy we were able to spend time together. It was a trip we will never forget. We hope to return to the UK one day.
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