Polas on the Go

LOVED LONDON!!!

We got to London and immediately took the advice of friends and hit the town.  We stayed near Westminster Park (Bayswater tube station) and hit the Duck Boat Tour to Westminster Abbey –which we visited the day it was announced that William would probably be getting married there-we tried to see as much as we could.

 

 

Gavin joined me on the London Dungeon Tour and it was pretty scary - he was proud to have lived through it!  Meanwhile, Liz, Brock and Nate hit the markets. We went a little overboard on the half price West End plays - with different combinations of us seeing Oliver, Billy Elliot and what I believe is a new release - Les Miserables (which I loved even more than Cats when I saw it last year).  The boys loved seeing so much theater in such a short time and it was a real treat to see the shows in some of London's most beautiful houses.

Liz, Brock and Nate went to the changing of the Guards-the rest of us would’ve liked to have gone but Liz wouldn’t wait for us to tie our shoes…  The boys spent 3 afternoons at the Science Museum next to the Natural History Museum and I especially loved the Imperial War Museum-which did a great job depicting life in Britain during WW2 from a kid’s perspective.  Ate a lot of greasy fish and chips and drank a couple of pints and had our first Chinese food since our trip began-only I stood up and knocked my head into some antique lamp which shattered all over the restaurant-I covered my head, more out of shame than pain and waited for the shrieking to end.  As we were packing on the final day-Liz saw that the new Harry Potter Movie was opening and assumed lines would be around the block-we were all surprised when the boys went to the 9AM show and the place only had ten other people in it!  The weather was crisp but clear and it made for a wonderful backdrop in a great city.

 
 
 

 

 

 
 

In Route

We are lucky enough (huge understatement!) to be going to some of the most amazing places in the world and seeing spectacular sights but today (actually, now over a week ago) was a different kind of "great day".

We woke up in The Latin Quarter in Paris on a Monday morning and knew we were taking a train to London at 12:30.  We hadn't decided the night before if we were going to take a cab or the metro to the train station.  I went down to look for a cab and there weren't any of the large ones around so we decided to take the metro.  The kids  did great... we have three big duffle bags, another smaller "catch all" bag full of the last minute stuff that inevitably tends to just get thrown in and then we each have our own backpack. Oh yeah, there is also Brock's stroller, his GIANT "baba" (pillow)  and the halloween pumpkin basket he got in Nerja that he continues to fill with balls and cars from home and from the various places we go.   So, needless to say, we have too much stuff.  (But, after the next couple weeks when we go back to 'chasing the sun' we will get rid of a bunch of it.) 

 Although getting to the train was a little exhausting, it was actually a pleasure to see the family working together. We lugged our stuff across town and up and down stairs to get on crowded trams, made transfers, went through customs and arrived in our seats, with all of our stuff and an extra ten minutes to spare! As you can imagine, a feeling of victory! 

  

 This was another example of how it is not the destination but the journey (not to sound cliche) and  yet  another chance to be reminded just how NICE the French people are. Yep, you read that right.  Since the first hour we arrived in France the people were nothing but friendly and helpful and generous.  The storekeepers gave the kids gifts, the people in the metro helped us with our bags (yes, we looked THAT  pathetic!) and pretty much whenever we pulled out a map the Parisians would stop to give us directions. Several literally walked us to where we were going. 

Pola's in Paris.... By Nate ([email protected])

 My parents  let Gavin and I each choose a city to plan and be in charge of. I chose Paris. I wanted to go to Paris because I really wanted to see the Eiffel Tower and some of the art museums. Paris is famous for the museums, you know.

On our first day, we went on the Paris metro for the first time. When we got off, we were at The Opera Plaza stop where everyone told us to start the double decker bus tour. Gavin was frozen on the top of the bus.

 

 

 

 

When we pased the Eiffel Tower, we decided to get off and go up it. (Took the stairs, of course.) The first floor was really fun because it has a history museum of the Eiffel Tower. There also was a "Folow Gus" scavenger hunt where you had to find the answers to questions about the Eiffel Tower. We learned a lot from it. Gus is the nickname for the architect Gustave Eiffel.   When we went up to the second floor, there was an awesome view of Paris.  I was sad to leave the Eiffel Tower.

 

 

 

We also went to a few museums. We went to the Louvre. Once we entered, I realized why this is the most famous art museum in the world.  When we got the tickets, we got to skip an hour wait because Brock had a stroller.  We were really glad about this especially because it was raining so hard outside.  One of my favorite paintings was the Mona Lisa. I got a great picture of it.  

 

 

That night, we walked over to the Tuileries Garden. From  a distance, there was a part that just looked like a big hedge but when we went back in the daytime I could see little tunnels, leading, who knows where… I climbed through one in the front and ended up in the back of the maze so I had to keep going through it…it’s like teleportation holes. Gavin, Brock and I played hide and seek with some kids from Washington D.C. and one round took 30 minutes!  

 

We also went to the Musee d’ Orsay. Gavin sketched a drawing of a sculpture at the museum. I walked around.

One day we went to the Notre Dame Cathedral. When we looked inside of it, it was gigantic. There was one rose window in the center that was definitely spectacular.

One of my favorite places was this awesome pastry shop. I ordered an almond croissant that was really good. We all ordered something but everyone voted mine the best.

 

We also loved a "tart place" in the Latin Quarter that had the most amazing quiche!

 

In our apartment, there was one bed (or we thought). When we looked up we saw the ceiling. But, when you looked from an angle it was a different color and we figured out it was a bed. At first we didn’t know how to get it down but then we read the instructsion and just yanked on it and it fell down. In the morning, we pushed it back up for the day.

I have to say that Paris is one of the best cities I have been to so far, if not my favorite.