Halloween in London

After last year, when we learned firsthand that France doesn’t really celebrate Halloween, this year we decided to take a family trip to London, hoping that maybe we could find some Halloween festivities there.  Or at the very least some enormous black ravens to set the mood. So we went with our friends, Louisa and Barron Crosby, who have an 8-year old daughter named Tess, whom our girls adore.  Though it was tricky taking the London Underground all over the city with four kids, we managed not to lose anyone, and we really had a great time. 

Tess (as Rapunzel), Maisy (also as Rapunzel), Jocelyn (as Princess Leia, but the wig was too "itchy"), and Jenica (Batgirl).  Let me just tell you how dirty Jocelyn's dress was by the end of the day!

Highlights on our trip included:

A ride on the London Eye, which is the largest Ferris wheel in the world

A Riverboat cruise down the Thames (a jolly good show)

The Tower of London, seeing torture chambers but also the crown jewels

Eating traditional fish and chips

Eating excellent Indian food (the Brits do love their curries!)

Big Ben and the houses of Parliament

St. Paul’s Cathedral, which made us want to sing “Feed the Birds”

The London Disney Store near Regent Street

Buckingham Palace

Green Park right by Buckingham Palace with gorgeous fall leaves

Tower Bridge and London Bridge

Piccadilly Circus (their much smaller version of “Times Square”)

Westminster Abbey
Camden Town and seeing all the bohemian shops

The Tower of London was the perfect ghastly thing to do on Halloween day.  It was very spooky in parts because of its history.  I made sure the girls didn’t read the information too carefully, and I’m positive they didn’t quite know what they were seeing, but maybe I’ll clue them in when they are older.  For example, we walked through a torture chamber with a rack used to pull on people until their joints dislocated.  Jason kept everyone calm by commenting to strangers, "Nice rack, eh guv'nah?" We saw an actual chopping block, oversize axe, and executioner’s mask. We also saw rooms full of weapons of war, such as cannons, rifles, swords, etc.  They mostly just loved this cleverly-made dragon (below), the medieval suits of armor, and the beautiful diamonds, rubies, emeralds and gold on the crowns and scepters where the crown jewels are displayed.  I’ve never seen so much gold in all my life, but they wouldn’t let us take pictures.

It might be hard to see through the glass, but this is a chopping block and oversize axe.  The mask is on the upper left.  Very creepy looking.

The girls really dug this medieval dragon.  It was made out of metal scraps.

This is called "Traitors Gate," and it was where prisoners were brought into the Tower of London to be executed by beheading, including people like Sir Thomas Moore and Anne Boleyn.  

Jeni and Joss in front of Traitor's Gate.  I think they got the concept.

Jenica loved the suits of armor, and there were many displayed

Here the girls were at the beginning of the first day (October 30):

Tally-ho!

And then here they are at the end of the first day, completely knackered:

This picture was not staged.  Maisy really was asleep, and Jocelyn had had it by dinnertime.  We must have walked 10 miles, and the girls did great.  Hardly any whining or complaining.

 My girls could have played in the leaves in one of London's many parks all day.  This is Green Park, one of the five royal parks in the city, and it's right next to Buckingham Palace.

Buckingham Palace.  There were crowds of people waiting for the changing of the guards.

Westminster Abbey

I'll admit I wanted to dip Jocelyn in Clorox after this picture.

Big Ben and Parliament: my girls all loved the sound of the chiming clock and simple melodies it played

 My favorite thing we did was probably the Riverboat cruise down the Thames.  The guide was funny (super dry sense of humor like a typical Brit--"That's proper good, that is.") and informative, and I loved learning the history of so many buildings and landmarks you can see on the Thames.  The bridges were beautiful, even though the river water was murky brown.  The most interesting thing I learned was why there’s so much French in the English language, which is roughly about 30% derived from French, and the rest is Anglo-Saxon.  According to our guide, it is because William the Conqueror, who was French, invaded and took over England in 1066.  He is also the guy who built most of the Tower of London and used it as a palace and residence.  I won’t lie: I absolutely loved being able to understand our tour guide perfectly and also just being in a country where everyone speaks English!

The Tower of London

St. Paul's Cathedral

Tower Bridge on Halloween Day

Barron and Louisa Crosby on the Gatwick Express to London

Final impressions: London is a huge, beautiful, sophisticated city, and I was surprised how clean and well-maintained it was. The Underground railway system was amazingly convenient, and it was clean and free of graffiti.  I loved seeing how people dressed, and I thought the Brits were stylish, but a little funkier than what I am used to seeing in France, so it was fun to see their ensembles.  I was also blown away by how polite the people were to us, even with four loud kids.  A young gentleman actually offered “to give me a hand” and he carried my suitcase down the stairs for me as we headed into the subway.  Chivalrous, right?  People also let us get in first on trains.  Young men even gave up their seats for me on crowded trains!  (That has NEVER happened to me in Paris.)  Overall, I was very impressed with London and we had a smashing good time.  So Cheerio, and pip pip to all our mates and blokes!  Long live the queen. . .

and Happy Halloween!!!

The girls' full costumes on the day of their school Halloween party with all hair pieces and Jeni's Batgirl mask

Happy Halloween from the London Disney Store!

And from the steps of St. Paul's!