Day 474: You can run but you can’t Hyde

11/11/2022

This morning, it was still dark, when we heard a little voice call out “Mum, Dad, what are we going to do today?” It sounds like Eloise has caught the travelling bug too. Today was Remembrance Day, there was a large poppy at Kings Cross Station. This roof structure always reminds us of Adelaide Oval.

We were on our way to breakfast but Eloise and Paddington had a different idea.

We charged through Platform 9 and 3/4 towards Hogwarts. Lachlan was loving all the shiny things and was keeping Grandma on her toes. Keeping up with Marina is hard but keeping up with Lachlan is damn right impossible.

Thankfully after yesterday’s tube strike, the London Underground was back in action. Lachlan resumed his usual position of subway surfer while Eloise studied the map.

We dropped the grandparents off for their river cruise. Grandpa did not think Uber Boat was much of a cruise, more of a “hypersonic boat”, they were learning London only has one speed.

The kids were amazing yesterday so this morning it was up to them, we were expecting a request for a PG. However, they were both keen on some water play, we knew just the spot. We were back at the family favourite, Science Museum. Eloise and Lachlan flew past the Moon rock, not interested, towards their water playground.

It is one small piece of almost half a tonne of rocks brought to Earth by the Apollo astronauts between 1969 and 1972. Our sample is part of one of the largest rocks collected: Great Scott, named after astronaut David Scott who picked it up off the lunar surface on August 2nd, 1971 during the Apollo 15 mission.

Disappointingly, there were still no signs of Hazel or Tom, the kids had loved tearing through here with them and missed Hazel’s repeated “yahhh for Science”.

There was plenty more of the Science Museum to see, we headed to the medical floor to learn all about a day in the life of aunty Becca.

The button presses per hour (BPPH) were getting dangerously low, just like Chase, Eloise was on the case.

The kids looked exhausted from darting between exhibitions, we had earnt half an hour to pass through the maths floor.

We had lost track of time, we should have rung the grandparents to ask what it was as they stood on the Prime Meridian line at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich. They were making the most of their London Pass.

The Royal Observatory, Greenwich is an observatory situated on a hill in Greenwich Park in south east London, overlooking the River Thames to the north. It played a major role in the history of astronomy and navigation, and because the Prime Meridian passes through it, it gave its name to Greenwich Mean Time, the precursor to today’s Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). The ROG has the IAU observatory code of 000, the first in the list. The observatory was commissioned in 1675 by King Charles II.

When in Rome, it was a proper British afternoon tea with scones. They then teleported back on their “hypersonic” Uber Boat to rendezvous at the London Eye.

The kids were shouting at the same time, letting the grandparents know what they had been up to. There was a surprising amount to catch up on after a few hours of separation. It was a lovely day for a stroll through Kensington and Hyde Park.

Kensington Palace is a royal residence set in Kensington Gardens, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. It has been a residence of the British royal family since the 17th century, and is currently the official London residence of the Prince and Princess of Wales, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, the Duke and Duchess of Kent, and Prince and Princess Michael of Kent.

Grandpa’s squirrel count was going through the roof, just like Lachlan he enjoyed chasing them, although some chased back.

We were all tired after another bigger day than planned. London speed was getting the better of us. On our way back to the tube we spotted an impressively lit up building down the street, we should have known it was Harrods. Turns out Emma Raducanu had only just switched on the Dior Christmas lights yesterday. On closer inspection, the whole building was decorated as a gingerbread house.

The grandparents headed in, they still had to get souvenirs for their daughters.

Okay, it was finally “home time” now, more than enough walking for one day. Eloise requested Italian for dinner, Super Mum delivered the goods, we all needed to continue carb loading.