Usually when we head towards Europe, we plan to see and stay with Rachel, Jarad & kids, living in London, and usually when we do this, we also try to visit somewhere else in the UK and this year, 2026, was no exception.
This will be a succinct post, simply due to only being in the UK for a short time during the grandies long annual summer school holidays, and it was an opportunity to assist their parents during this time, translation… enjoying some child minding.
Before we arrived we had planned a few things we could do with the 3 grandies, starting with teaching them to play a card game called ‘Bastard’, not a good name, but it wasn’t very long before they became quite obsessed with wanting to play it a LOT.
Couldn’t play cards and other games all the time, so it was time to ‘tap on’, board a London bus and find the Water & Steam Museum. In the museum there is a large array of very large, historical machines and pumps, designed to move water and sewerage throughout an ever growing London.
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| Some of the historical machines used were very large and complex |
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| The grandkids were intrigued by some of them |
This movement of liquids, became even more important as buildings started growing in height, let alone population increases in an ever growing and spreading urban area.
The grandies enjoyed looking at the machines for awhile but enjoyed a variety of working models they could crank handles on to simulate these movements and/or the videos available to keep them additionally entranced. Thank heavens!
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| This hands on display encouraged building dams, diverting & pumping water by hand |
Rachel has one day free each week, so the 3 adults and grandies, after more games of cards, spent the day visiting various locations in London like Trafalgar Square, the West End, Covent Gardens and walking over a footbridge across the Thames.
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| Trafalgar Square |
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| Tourist busy footbridge across the Thames |
Rob had researched a few ‘quirky’ locations to include in our extended walking tour. One of these was an underground Cafe located inside a Victorian era toilet. One of the seating areas included sitting between mens urinals and only a photo can explain that!
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| The underground urinal cafe |
We also visited the Crypt Cafe near Trafalgar Square and this unique cafeteria lets you dine if you wish, under original 18th-century brick-vaulted church ceilings with worn tombstones built directly into the floor.
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| The Crypt Cafe |
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| This is called 'Coffee with a corpse' |
Not far from their house is the River Thames, so we took them for a walk to feed the ducks and pigeons, before then taking them to a favourite cafe to enjoy smoothies (and coffees for ourselves), was something they always enjoy.
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| Along the Thames River near where the family lives |
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| You can ponder this |
On a weekend, everyone went exploring around Twickenham and found Strawberry Hill House, locally known as a Gothic Castle, but actually a villa, built by Horace Walpole between 1747 and 1792. Morning tea for all in the gardens was a treat but really impacted on us was how brown the normal green parks were.
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| Strawberry Hill House and note the brown lawns |
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| Another building in the same complex |
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| A philosophical saying |
The UK like other areas of Europe had been hit by very hot weather and lawns and parks were simply brown and dusty, causing me to suffer badly with hay fever from the moment we had landed.
The UK and London especially due to its long history, has a plethora of interesting and at times quirky places to visit, which was what Rob had researched before our visit and she thought might intrigue them.
Another full day with the grandies, meant a train ride which they always enjoy, back into the city and more walking. Part of the goal was to entertain them but also wear them out a little or a lot. First was the ‘Thin House’ in South Kensington, which is certainly thin.
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| The Thin House |
The Victoria & Albert Museum allowed us to have a break in its cafe, but the real reason we were there was to admire the decorations across its walls and ceiling, quite something.
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| Cafe in the Victoria & Albert Museum |
The final visit required booking timed entry tickets into the Science Museum, including the Wonderlab. It was a first for us and we all enjoyed it with 4 hours immersed in the various displays including for Clocks and Flight and hands on experiences in the Wonderlab. It was a very good day out and about!
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| Part of Flight display with a Supermarine Swift |
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| Artificial lightning (Tesla) display in the Wonderlab |
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| Magnetic power moving display in the Wonderlab |
It was time for Rob and myself to travel to a new location in the UK and this time due to a warm invitation by some new found friends, met during last years Rhine/Danube river cruise, we travelled by train to Norwich in Norfolk.
Here, our new friends met us at the station, and then over a few days, showed us through Norwich the city, with its beautiful Cathedral, UNESCO listed cobblestone roads and flint rock built Tudor buildings and a river walk, resplendent with canal boats to hire.
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| Norwich Cathedral |
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| Flint Stone built buildings |
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| Very old buildings |
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| Canal boats for hire and larger than narrow boats |
Flint rocks are a common natural building material in this part of the UK, which can be used with a round shape pointing outwards or are split, so that a flat face points out on the building.
We were also taken down along the coast to a small town called Sheringham with a links golf course, great views down the coast from a nice hilltop on the coast, walks along the beach front and to add to the experience, watching a small steam train taking tourists on a short ride along the coast.
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| Golf course and great coastal views |
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| Summer time on the Norwich coast |
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| Quaint tourist steam train |
Our friends were incredibly hospitable and it was great to spend time with them in a different and their environment.
Before leaving London, we dedicated some times just for ourselves, again involving a lot of walking but we managed to see quite a lot.
This included the monument to the Great Fire of London, Mug House - a pub under a rail line, Parish Church -over 1,000 yrs old and built by Christopher Wren, Ye Old Mitre Pub - built in 1546 where we enjoyed lunch, Temple Church of Da Vinci Code fame and Host Cafe, located inside a church.
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| St Pauls Cathedral |
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| Great Fire of London Monument |
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| Entry to Mug House pub under the railway lines |
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| Host Cafe located inside a church |
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| Parish Church history |
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| Narrow lane entry to 'Ye Olde Mitre' pub |
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| Inside 'Ye Olde Mitre' |
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| Temple Church of Da Vinci Code fame |
If you put in the research effort, there is an abundance of very interesting and at times quirky and odd-ball places to visit and learn about.
If you would like to see a few more photos of our time in the UK, click on the link below.
We were done and it was now time to head off to the next phase of our overall trip out into the Atlantic Ocean, to be covered in the next post, so until then… have fun and go well.
