High up in Highbury

Our bed and breakfast accommodation at Highbury Lodge is extremely comfortable and very warm. It has recently been renovated so everything inside is fresh and new. We had quite a workout lugging our suitcases up the various staircases to the upmost level but now we're here we are very thankful for such a lovely place to stay. It's a bit of a walk to the Highbury Islington Underground but we all need that after a hot English breakfast...

 

It has certainly been for us what it sets out to be -  'A place of rest in a restless city...'  

 

We headed off to what has certainly not been a place of rest throughout history - The Tower of London. Built in the 11th century by William the Conqueror, and added to through the centuries, there were so many fascinating tales to hear. The Yeoman's summary in the royal chapel was riveting (at least for Shaun) - so many famous, infamous and ordinary people buried over the centuries. 

We were suitably impressed by the crown jewels - who would have thought the one monarch needed so many crowns! The (original) White Tower was chock full of armour and weaponry; the boys especially enjoyed the hands-on cross bow; Shaun was fascinated to see the canon from the 'Mary Rose' - King Henry VIII's flagship which sunk on its maiden voyage.

Of course, the tales of torture and gore were the most interesting, especially about the 2 princes who were most likely murdered in the Tower by their uncle Richard III.

 

Elijah spontaneously told us all this joke when he heard Henry the VIII being spoken of

(written as said below):

 

'Why did Henry the ape have seven wives?

 

Because he liked to chop and change.'

 

 

Miracles happen! Everyone is smiling at the same time and London bridge is not falling down...

 

 

 

 

The Christmas lights in London are very pretty - ALOT of other people thought so too... There are

crowds of people EVERYWHERE in London!

 

 

 

Bethany writes - Visiting platform 9 and 3 quarters was a pretty magical experience.

The trolley is ready as you can see and of course there's a Harry Potter shop.

Happy memories of reading and re-reading the 7 Harry Potter books.

 

 

 

 Late at night we headed back to the Tower for the Ceremony of the Keys - the ritual that has been performed every night for the last 750 years to close up the Tower. The Brits certainly know how to do ceremonies properly, and the Yeoman's talk was excellent. Of course photos weren't allowed.

 

 

 

After a morning chocolate trail it was goodbye to Brugge

 

 

 

Our trip under the English Channel on the Eurostar to London was fast and fascinating.

 

After a slight hiccup when we were initially told that our tickets had been cancelled and our seats given to other people, we were eventually re-allocated new seats not long before boarding 

and settled in for a high speed trip to London...

 

 

We were welcomed at St Pancras station by two different groups of people playing and singing Christmas carols... It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!

 

 

 

After settling in and setting up and looking for lost things and allocating beds and looking for lost things and putting on a LARGE load of washing and looking for lost things...we had a delicious dinner at a Turkish restaurant a short walk from our accommodation in Highbury

   

 

Despite the Turkish coffee we still feel a bit weary from a day of travel - As a general rule, the older we are the more weary we feel... being 5 is only exhausting for those in close proximity...

not when you're living it yourself!

 

After a VERY LONG search of all the suitcases (twice at least!!) we have found our toothbrushes, power board and UK adaptors... time to plug ourselves in and go to bed!!

Cold in Brugge

 

 

 

 After a yummy big breakfast we set off to explore the canals of Brugge...

 

 

 

 

 

It was a fascinating trip in a reasonably small boat...

 

The oldest building we saw was a hospital building built in the 12th century

 

We had to duck to go under on of the bridges...

 

 

Do these people have a problem with the damp?

 

 

 

 

The boys did some more ice skating...

The girls did some browsing     

We decided to check out our boutique in Bruges - seems to be doing quite well!  

 

 

 

 

We made sure we were rugged up for minus 6 degrees in 'Ice Magic: the Land of the Hobs'

The ice sculptures inspired by the Hobbit stories were COOL!!   

 

 

 

 

The boys had more than a bit of fun on the ice slide and Isaac's pushes from the top became more and more enthusiastic but we managed to end the fun before anything (or anyone) was broken -

Let's just say Elijah came close!!

Reunion

 

 

Today was our day to say goodbye to Robin and be reunited with

the others to continue our adventures together.

 

Thank you Robin for everything - it has been such a gift to have you with us.

You are an excellent guide and wonderful travel companion.

 

After a couple of metro rides, a long moving walkway ride, a change of plans as a result of a cancellation of all trains from Brussels to Bruges due to a strike, a trip in a hired Mercedes WITH a GPS (Shaun wants one for Christmas!) and a very handsome driver.... 

we arrived a little exhausted but happy to be together in Bruges.

 

A short time to re-group and then off to hit the town...

 

 

This was one of the beautiful scenes on our evening walk to Grot Markt...

 

 

 

Two gorgeous girls watching the skaters...

 

 

McGregors on Ice

 

 

Hamish writes:

 

Ice skating was a blast!

I went from holding onto the hand rail, then to Annie's hand, but after that I had

heaps of fun skating around the rink. Bethany, Elijah, Annie and Dad were good at it too.

 

Shaun writes:

Skating surrounded by ancient buildings beautifully lit up was magical.

A wonderful evening with my family all together again. 

 

 

 

Two super skaters!