Cornwall

It seems that wherever we go, Martin and I always feel the need to check out the real estate.  Cornwall was no different, except that we still think about buying the cottage on the coast and officially giving up the city life for the Cornwall life. Our week in St Agnes was nothing short of perfect. 

There were beaches and bogey boarding, bike paths and country lanes, bakeries and pubs within walking distance and a general exhalation that allowed us to slow down and enjoy each day. It also helped that it was a heat wave so the weather was nice.

Stonehenge: American Style

After an amazing week on the coast, no one wanted to leave, and yet we had no choice. Martin and the kids had a flight to catch to Germany that Saturday afternoon. But we did have one final stop.  Come to find out Stonehenge was just off the highway that we had to take to get back to Heathrow. It seemed wrong to miss it being so close. 

But we were also close on time and with traffic, we had little to spare to fully enjoy the historical site. So we did it American style instead: 

1:10 arrival

1:20 purchase tickets

1:35 photos

1:45 on bus back

1:55 back in car to head to airport 

It was a bittersweet goodbye to the family as they headed off to Germany for a week with Oma and Opa. I was heading back to London for two days of fun and a little work.

Day 6: Chapel Porth

It was on the last and final day at Cornwall that I learned a very important lesson: never let a 7 year old put on your sunscreen.

Day 5. Glendurgan Gardens

I wasn’t sure what to expect but Glendurgan Garden was another guidebook suggestion and local recommendation and they had a hedge maze similar to the Triwizard Tournament. I figured we would spend an hour or two at the garden before grabbing lunch and going to the beach. At the entrance we were given yet another book for the kids to complete and we spent another 15 minutes before even entering the garden to find every item and complete every task. 

What was expected to be an hour walk turned into a full day affair. With time spent coloring in the apple shed, checking out the bees, the old fashioned “swing”, ice cream and the beach, and finally the maze.  We spent 4.5 hours exploring the grounds and the kids had so much fun it reminded me of Buschart gardens in Victoria, BC

Day 4: Back to Chapel Porth

Back to Chapel Porth for cartwheels on the sand and general happiness all around. 

Fun fact, if you are a member of the beach club parking is included. And if there is no parking you just leave you car double parked with the keys on the dash and someone will move it for you if needed.

Martin took the kids on a bike ride in the afternoon so I could do a little work

And we wrapped up the evening with a walk along the country lane behind our AirBnB.  

Day 3. Godrevy Lighthouse, St Ives and Bogey Boarding

Being on the coast it seemed necessary to check out a lighthouse. It was on the walk along the bluffs at Godrevy Lighthouse where we learned that Alva doesn’t like the wind since it tangles her hair. 

At the recommendation of a colleague we made our way to St Ives for lunch at the Deli, and shopping for Father’s Day presents.  After just a few days on the coast in our small village, the crowds at St Ives were just a bit too much.  We wrapped up the day with some more bogey boarding at Gwinith Beach.

Day 2: Tabernacle Beach at High Tide with an Oskar tumble

It was at Tabernacle Beach, at high tide where Oskar learned about the power of the ocean when a sizable wave knocked him into the rocks. He thankfully wasn’t hurt too badly, but we took it as a sign to head home since the beach was completely gone due to high tide 

Day 1: Chapel Porth and Riding Bikes

At the recommendation of our AirBnB host we checked out Chapel Porth beach our very first day. It ended up being our favorite which we returned to a few times. And yes we all road our bikes there, myself included.

If you zoom in real close, you can see me at the very far bend in the road...

London Day 5: Papa’s Day

After four full days of doing all of the sites and all of the touristy things, our last full day in the city was fully dedicated to whatever Martin wanted to do. And not surprisingly, it was the best day of them all (a point of which Oskar said multiple times that day)  We walked along the Camden canals, through Camden Market and took the bus to Hampstead. 

We had drinks at Garden Gate pub (where Alva remarked in her perfected British accent “why can’t we live here).  We walked up to Parliament Hill followed by lunch at Freemasons Arms. We each picked out a book at our favorite book store and had more ice cream all before taking the tube back towards Kings Cross for dinner nearby at Fig and Walnut, a Greek place we had passed the previous evening. 

It was the perfect, relaxing way to end the five days in London before heading out to the coast.

London Day 4: Harry Potter Studios

As soon as I knew we were going to London I knew I wanted to take the kids to the Harry Potter Studios. And after spending too much time trying to figure out how to get there and back with public transportation and booking reservations for the limited time slots, I ended up splurging on the private car service to and from the hotel which also allowed us to get into the studio earlier than the normal time slot allowed. It was worth every penny, especially for the trip home when we were all exhausted.

At the Studios we were once again greeted with an activity passport to help us make the most of the experience, and I quickly began to curse the damn thing.  Oskar wasn’t willing to move on until he found each and every hidden golden snitch. Meanwhile Alva wanted to see it all, all at once trying to run through every square inch of the studio within the first ten minutes.

It was sensory overload but then we settled in. And it was amazing. There are no words other than if you are a Harry Potter fan or love movie magic, you have to go. 

London Day 3: National History Museum and Hyde Park

Trying to avoid doing too much, the plan for the day was to check out the National History Museum and meet up with Irish John for dinner. It seemed do-able enough.  I had not planned on there being so many people at the museum midweek (I was officially overwhelmed and done with the crowds) nor did I anticipate Oskar’s need to read every single plaque and experience every single exhibit the museum had to offer. We thankfully got a break from the crowds in the Space Exhibit that cost extra and we headed off the hunger meltdown before it hit nuclear levels with another late lunch at the museum cafe. 

We finally got out of the museum around 3 and were happy to sit in Hyde park with an ice cream for a moment of calm and normalcy.  The highlight for the kids was playing  in the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain before heading back towards our hotel for dinner with John.

London Day 2: London of Tower, Tower Bridge, Millennium Bridge, a Detour, Leadenhall Market and Bank of London

With our central location we were able to take the tube most places and then walk the rest. Our first full day was a very long one and can be summarized by some of the highlights below:

Tower of London: Alva was unimpressed but the rest of us enjoyed wandering the grounds.  And it was here, while in line waiting to see the Crown Jewels, that the kids learned the slang definition of Crown Jewels which Oskar continued to deploy the rest of the trip.

London Bridge: Oskar was super excited about this one after learning about bridges in school and was happy to share all of the fun facts that he had learned.  Alva was very excited to do cartwheels across the top walkway and Martin was excited to throw the kids into the boiler.  We were also introduced to the first of many kid friendly activity books that helped move the kids through the history of the bridge. 

Millennium Bridge: From London Bridge we took the bus to the Tate Museum side of Millennium Bridge. But first we had a break just outside of the Tate for some water and snacks. We were to learn shortly later that the snacks were not nearly enough… by the time we got across the bridge the kids were nearing meltdown (to be fair we had been out and about in the city for over 8 hours and it was definitely time for dinner).  We scrapped the tour of St Paul’s Cathedral in favor of finding a market to buy more substantial snacks. It took us an additional twenty minutes and a few extra blocks but we found a Waitrose Market where we told the kids they could each pick out 5 things. We bought enough to last us the rest of the week. 

Fully replenished with food we sat outside by a fountain to eat before making our final stop on this overscheduled day of sightseeing.

 Leadenhall Market: This market was only on my list due to the countless Instagram posts telling me we had to see it.  And yes while impressive, I don’t think this was a must see at all costs type of places. We could have avoided the earlier meltdown by going to dinner somewhere else but here we were, eating dinner in a side alley of the market watching the hostess break a few glasses, spill a few drinks and yell at her coworker while enjoying a British take on Spanish tapas. Lesson learned. 

Bank of London: on our way to the tube to head back home, we just happened to pass the Bank of London, home of where the great Jade Buddha was stolen in yea the Jackie Chan classic Around the World in 80 Days.

London Day 1: An Introduction

We arrived at our hotel, the Standard, just after 5pm. This was to be our home base for the next five nights and they definitely made us feel welcome and at home. The breakfast buffet was amazing (Martin and I both researched recipes for their coconut chia pudding), the library provided entertainment to the kids (including a good spot to read while I had a few late evening work calls in the hotel room) and the gym allowed the kids an opportunity to get any remaining energy out of their systems. 

With the hotel being across the street from Kings Cross, our first stop in London was to Platform 9 and ¾.  Thankfully the kids didn’t want to wait in the hour queue required for a picture with the cart going through the wall (they would get a chance later in the week) and so we just passed by on our way to dinner at Hoppers for some amazing Sri Lankan food and a very spicy pepper that both Oskar and Martin had to try.  

With dinner over and it being so light outside and still great weather we introduced the kids to the tube and made our way to Covent Gardens (with a quick stroll through one of the many alleys that inspired Diagon Alley) for ice cream and some opera singing.