I've been to London to Visit the Queen

On Thursday, my dad proclaimed to my Cambridge-educated colleague that the only thing he knows about London is "pussycat, pussycat, where have you been? I've been to London to visit the queen..." Her wan smile did not make it clear whether she suspected he was crazy or telling a bad joke...or some combination of the two.

Either way, after Saturday 14 August, 2010, Mark and Gloria Dobberfuhl are much more intimately familiar with London. After taking the train from P'boro to Kings Cross and hopping the Northern line to London Bridge, we sauntered along the Thames to the Globe Theatre.
While it was a recreation- it was made without modern tools and quite a site to behold. They still have room for 600 'Groundlings' that can get in for £5. Old Shakey may have been in a somewhat low class profession at the time, but he sure was a master of language. We enjoyed a trip to a new site in London.

Our second trip to the Tower of London went well and we all enjoyed the Crown Jewels and armor displays.

Our girls had not been in Westminster before, so we opted to bring them along. They did an activity trail and were rewarded with giant chocolate coins, which made it all worth it.

After a healthy walk to Buckingham and then through Green Park, everyone was happy to rest on the Tube for a few minutes.

Overall is was a great day, and as usual we were all exhausted from the walking, standing, and incessant barrage of historical facts.

I Love to See the Temple

I love to see the temple.

I’m going there someday

To feel the Holy Spirit,

To listen and to pray.

For the temple is a house of God,

A place of love and beauty.

I’ll prepare myself while I am young;

This is my sacred duty.

I love to see the temple.

I’ll go inside someday.

I’ll cov’nant with my Father;

I’ll promise to obey.

For the temple is a holy place

Where we are sealed together.

As a child of God, I’ve learned this truth:

A fam’ly is forever.

Young children have been encouraged to visit the temple grounds and touch the temple. President Thomas S. Monson once counseled, “As we touch the temple, the temple will touch us.”

Thomas S. Monson, “Finding Peace,” Liahona, Mar 2004, 3
"As a loving teacher guided a boy or girl to the large door of the Salt Lake Temple and the little one reached out and up to touch the temple, I could almost see the Master welcoming the little children to His side and could almost hear His comforting words: 'Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.'”

Amy & Emily touch the temple.

Shanna Butler, “Acting Like Pioneers,” Friend, Jul 2004, 14

After the Salt Lake Temple was completed, two boys brought their younger brothers to the temple so they could touch the walls. “We want them to know how great the temple is,” one of the older brothers says in the play. “Yes,” the other boy says, “so they’ll want to go inside when they get big! They knew that just as they could touch the temple, the Spirit inside the temple could touch them, too.

“I Love to See the Temple,” New Era, Dec. 2009, 38:

“I have been inspired by the temple all my life,” says Caitlen Christensen, 16, of the Rockledge Ward in the Cocoa Florida Stake. “When I was younger the Salt Lake Temple was being updated. I was upset because I was unable to see it up close. All I wanted was to touch it. We asked a missionary there and got permission to get close enough to touch it. I had no idea why this was so important to me then; now I know. I know that Christ dwells in the temples and the action of me touching it gave me the feeling that I was touching Christ himself, like the woman who knew she would be healed if she just touched His robe."

To learn more about Mormon temples, click here.

Last Monday, our weekly Family Home Evening lesson focused on temples.  It was decided that we ought to make a family trip to the London temple (as we haven't been in a while...)  Matt took the girls around the temple grounds where they were able to touch the temple, feed ducks, enjoy a picnic lunch and play with the interactive displays at the Visitor's Centre.  After I finished a session, we re-grouped and watched the new Joseph Smith film at the Visitor's Centre.  It was an amazing account of the prophet's life!  (ie I cried a lot).

My family is my greatest joy and blessing.  I really appreciated the opportunity to be at the temple this past weekend and to reflect on the more important things in life.

A Grotesque Old Woman

Says Matt: We perused the National Gallery in London -and this was the one that really caught my eye: "A Grotesque Old Woman"- Quinten Massys around 1500. Forget Van Gogh, Seurat, Monet, Manet, Gaugin- Massys is top of the class. Some claim this was a satyrical composition.... what do you think? Our girls immediately said- 'why is that man wearing a dress?'

Lana: I thoroughly DISapprove of that image. National Gallery or not, it is FOUL!
Want to know my pick of the day?


"The Thames Below Westminster" by Claude Monet. Not only does it capture the timeless elegance of Impressionism but also the timeless elegance of London itself.

So yes, last Saturday Matt and I traveled to London (without kids). After spending the morning at the National Gallery, we stopped by the famous St. Martin-in-the-Fields church at Trafalgar Square:

Inside St. Martin-in-the-Fields:

Trafalgar Square - just outside the National Gallery.

China Town

We spent most of our afternoon in London's West End. We enjoyed lunch at a French cafe in Covent Garden, browsed the markets, and indulged in decadent desserts at a couple different patisseries.

The culminating event of our day was a stunning performance of Les Miserables. We'd forgotten how emotionally powerful this musical really is! The West-End theatres are small, to say the least, but we had such a phenomenal view of the cast (and the live orchestra!) The vocals were impeccable and the orchestra was amazing - the combination was beyond description! Having seen this same musical four times before (including once on Broadway) I have to say that London is by far my favourite. Put this atop your list of "must-sees" the next time you're in town!

After the show, we grabbed a quick bite to eat then battled the crowds in the Underground to make our way back to the train station. We arrived back in Peterborough at 8:00 PM and found the girls (babysitter included) happy at home.

London

Our day trip to London began with the usual train ride on the National Express which goes direct from Peterborough to London in 50 minutes. Above left: Grandma & Grandpa at Peterborough Station (this was Grandma's first time on a train EVER). Above right: arriving at London's King's Cross station.

We really enjoyed the street entertainers and market shops at Covent Garden. Amy was nearly beheaded by this human statue (above).

Grandma & Grandpa watched the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace whilst Matt, Lana & kids went for a bird's eye view of the city from the giant London Eye ferris wheel.


Above: on our way to the London Eye which you can see in the background next to Big Ben.


We decided to walk from Buckingham Palace towards the Parliament buildings, Westminster Abbey and Big Ben. This route took us through Green Park and many other beautiful and significant parts of London.

With the Circle Line (London's main subway line) being closed for the day, we spent some extra time navigating the Underground in order to get to our various destinations. But it's all part of the fun!

We had a great visit to this historic city and the weather was picture perfect - sunny and cool.

London with the Kids

We did our first-ever trip to London with the kids this past Saturday, starting with a train journey from Peterborough into London's King's Cross station.

Yes, we even passed by Platform 9 and 3/4... although we were told the Hogwart's Express was not operating this close to the Christmas holidays. Maybe we can catch it next time!

Our first real stop was the Tower of London where we reviewed it's 1000-year history as London's premier fortress, tried our hand at shooting a long bow (and other weapons), saw various armoury displays throughout the ages, and viewed the Crown Jewels - including a 533-carat diamond!

The old days were rough in England - even children began training for warfare. Pictured below is the typical child's suit of armour.

We enjoyed resting our legs for a while on the London underground before we braved the queues at London's Museum of Natural History. We didn't see the whole museum, but did spend quite a bit of time seeing the dinosaur exhibit and the giant mammals. The interactive displays were great: Did you know it takes 8, 831 Amys to match the weight of the great blue whale? And it takes 33 Emilys to equal the weight of a musk ox... I know what you're thinking, only 33 Emilys? She must actually be growing!

While Dad and the girls enjoyed a few more exhibits at the museum, Mom headed over for a brief visit to Harrod's. As it turned out, there were more specimens of unusual "mammals" at Harrod's than there were at the museum!

We finished the day at the Thames River, viewing the London Eye (giant ferris wheel) and the Houses of Parliament. Then we made a mad dash back to King's Cross to barely catch the 6:03 pm train back to Peterborough.

Our Favourites:

Matt - "seeing Tower Bridge"

Lana - Platform 9 and 3/4

Amy -buying a toy battering ram at the Tower of London gift shop

Emily - "eating lunch at McDonalds"

...and there you have it!

Day Trip to London

England house-hunting trip continued (June 15-22):

After we had decided on our housing and had looked at cars we might buy, we found ourselves with some down time and decided a day trip to London was in order. We were able to walk to the train station in Peterborough from our hotel and purchased off-peak return train tickets on the express train (direct from P'borough to London). The train was fast - only took 45 minutes to get into Kings Cross Station in London and our tickets included all-day tube passes (subway). Our first stop was at the BYU London Centre in Notting Hill where I lived 8+ years ago. They let us in and I got to tour Matt around a bit. Then we headed riverside - over to Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, the London Eye (giant ferris wheel), and spent a few hours inside Westminster Abbey. We grabbed lunch at a little fish 'n' chips place and then continued our adventures at Tower Bridge, the Tower of London, St. Paul's Cathedral and the British Museum.

Without kids in tow we were able to cover a lot of ground and at least get a sampling of all the exciting destinations that London has to offer. We also mapped out WC locations (since public toilets are hard to come by and often cost the equivalent of 50 cents to use) and found a few parks and playgrounds that the children would enjoy for our next trip to London - since they will likely come along on future trips.

Our train tickets were for off-peak hours, meaning we had to travel after 10 am to London and after 7 pm home to P'borough, which was fine because we were so busy seeing things all day. We caught the 10:30 PM train home and it was a comfortable and quick trip back to Peterborough. We look forward to trying it again in the near future!