It has been a long time (2008) since we had three postings in a month but, frankly readers, you all deserve it! So here are the highlights of our express trip to London and Denmark.
We started in an unseasonally cold and rainy London as Tony had a Board meeting there and the FrenchamFamily flew in to join him during their summer school break. Sarah and Alexander had visited with Melissa and Tony when they were too young to remember and so this time it was all new for them. The obligatory Big Bus tour on the first day took in all the historic sites, many adorned with London 2012 banners and the like for the then upcoming Olympics.
Next it was time for the much anticipated (by all members of the FrenchamFamily) visit to Warner Brothers Studios which took us to see the very sets and props that were used on all eight Harry Potter films. Many who visit London do the tour of the London sites that were used in the Potter films, but the FrenchamFamily HIGHLY recommends the bus trip north (the studio is near Watford) to see and experience the wonder of the films and to be confronted with how much was real and how little was computer generated.
We also visited Ribe which is a Viking town and the oldest town in Denmark having been established in the eigth century. Walked the streets; climbed the Cathedral; visited the Museum; and experienced the Viking Village on the outskirts of town. As you can see from "Hunger Games" Sarah at left the locals introduced her to archery but we are happy to report that even if the target was real there would have not have been any animals killed in the making of this blog.
On the last day the weather was so good we walked to the local beach on the North Sea which, as you can see from this post-swim photograph, was a tad colder than expected. Consensus was that the late start to Summer had delivered a water temperature of around 16 celsius (which is why the smarter adults did not even consider going beyond ankle stage). All power to the kids!
We started in an unseasonally cold and rainy London as Tony had a Board meeting there and the FrenchamFamily flew in to join him during their summer school break. Sarah and Alexander had visited with Melissa and Tony when they were too young to remember and so this time it was all new for them. The obligatory Big Bus tour on the first day took in all the historic sites, many adorned with London 2012 banners and the like for the then upcoming Olympics.
Next was a walking tour that included Baker Street and took in the Sherlock Holmes Museum where we actually met Sherlock Ack: incredibly lifelike for a fictional character (Madame Tussauds work no doubt!). Very much worth a visit but robbery is afoot in the Gift Shop.
We then marched north to the Camden Market which, for those of you reading from Melbourne, is the London equivalent on the Victoria Market. As you can see from the photo at right, Sarah was intent on a shop-'till-you-drop day and did her best to pump up the British economy (and perhaps the Chinese economy as well). To be fair to Sarah, she had been saving and earning (remember the Flash Mobs?) and had been planning this day for many months.
Next it was time for the much anticipated (by all members of the FrenchamFamily) visit to Warner Brothers Studios which took us to see the very sets and props that were used on all eight Harry Potter films. Many who visit London do the tour of the London sites that were used in the Potter films, but the FrenchamFamily HIGHLY recommends the bus trip north (the studio is near Watford) to see and experience the wonder of the films and to be confronted with how much was real and how little was computer generated.
During the London visit we also made sure to take in a couple of evenings in the West End and saw two tremendous shows with Matilda and Billy Elliot. You just can't beat live performances.
So how did we next end up in Denmark? Those Blog readers with Sherlock skills wil remember we have friends in Denmark whom we met in our Hong Kong days. So since we were "in the neighborhood" we decided to drop in.
We first flew into Billund in southern Denmark which happens to be the global headquarters of Lego and we stayed at Legoland Hotel for the first two nights which was a lot more fun than some might think.
Legoland and its hotel is, as expected, a gallery of lego-inspired magnificence. It's also an adventure park with lots of great rides including a roller coaster with an unexpected feature that will excite even the most experienced theme park visitor (we can't say anymore).
Alexander threatened to knock this fellow's block off and so he backed off not knowing exactly what that meant.
We also visited Ribe which is a Viking town and the oldest town in Denmark having been established in the eigth century. Walked the streets; climbed the Cathedral; visited the Museum; and experienced the Viking Village on the outskirts of town. As you can see from "Hunger Games" Sarah at left the locals introduced her to archery but we are happy to report that even if the target was real there would have not have been any animals killed in the making of this blog.
We settled in south-western Denmark for a few days with our friends the Jensen's and as the weather excelled we enjoyed the great company and the long evenings.
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