Budget Time

Deena here again.  Today marks the end of August and time for us to assess the budget.  Deciding on an amount for the budget limit was very difficult before the trip because there was no way to tell how much we would spend in a foreign country.  Research helps, but living it out is the true test.  I finally settled on $5000 per month knowing that some months would be cheaper than others.  The book I read that started all of this grand scheme is How to Travel the World on $50 a Day.  The author, Matt Kepnes, explains that one can’t do every day or country for $50, because some countries will be over that amount and some will be under that amount.  I figured our cheaper countries at $4000 per month and the more expensive ones at $6000.

Western Europe is expensive, and we are tempering that time by spending the same period of time in Eastern Europe—a much more inexpensive place.   Expensive New Zealand and Australia will be paid for by extended time spent in inexpensive Southeast Asia.

We had 21 travel days in August.  The daily budget is $166 if we are figuring on a $5000 month.  Ireland and England are expensive countries; so I should figure on a $6000 month, but let’s see if we can get away with $5000.

I am not including short-hop flights in our daily budget—too complicated for me, but all the long-haul flights are free, paid for by points.  So let's recap:  we have traveled from Charlotte to Boston to Ireland for around $40 per person.  We then flew from Ireland to London, England for $19 per person.   In two days, we fly London to Paris on EasyJet for $42 per person.

We have been using mostly AirBNBs for our stays because they have kitchens in which we have cooked our meals instead of spending money on going out.  Michael has mentioned earlier that we are living like locals and not as tourists so that we can maintain our budget.   That means using local public transportation, shopping at grocery stores, and staying away from pricey tourist activities.  I try to keep our lodging price around $60-$80 per night if I can find it.  In the cheaper countries I look for $30-$40 per night.

In August we had 21 days in relatively expensive countries, Ireland and England, and our spend per day for four people was $145.   London is notoriously expensive for lodging, but our price per night worked out to $53.  This rate is only possible because I applied for a Barclay Arrival Plus Card that gives $400 cash back applicable to travel-related expenses after opening the card and meeting the minimum spend.  Our price per night was lowered by applying this cash back bonus from $82 to $53.  We shopped for groceries daily ($20  for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for all four of us)  or we hit Subway ($15 for breakfast and lunch for all four of us)  Occasionally, we went out to eat, but that always costs more then cooking at home.  

Transportation is mostly by London Underground (the tube).  We pay $3.38 per trip including transfers.  If we use the bus it costs half as much.  We were initially intimidated by the bus system but did manage to figure out a few routes and lowered our transportation cost occasionally.

We have very little in the entertainment budget for London as most of the attractions are free.  We did, however, get to take two excursions out in the country, Stonehenge and Bath and a trip to Canterbury—all within our budget.

Next month we travel to Paris, Normandy, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Berlin and Prague.  Stay tuned...

One of our splurge pub dinners.  The Shakespeare—serving London for over 300 years!

London - Lighthouse Baptist Church

Lighthouse Baptist Church

Deena and I spent some time Saturday night on the internet looking for a place to worship on Sunday, and we found several churches within five kilometers of our headquarters in Stepney Green.  We read through several well-constructed websites before choosing the 10:30 service at the Lighthouse Baptist Church located deeper into the East End of London.  Problem was, there was no underground station nearby, and we didn’t relish the thought of walking a 5K  in the forecasted English drizzle; so we knew it was finally time to face the mystery and intrigue of the London bus map.  To this point, we’ve used the tube as our main method of transportation—it’s easy to figure out how to get somewhere on the train, and the fare is reasonable.  The bus is tempting, however, because the fare is half that of the tube, and I’m sure the street views of London from the bus are more engaging than the dark walls of the underground.  Other than our tax return, with cups of coffee and tea and a couple of hours, Deena and I can figure out just about anything…except the London bus map.  The logistical plan for a nuclear power plant would be easier to decipher than this document that weaves numbers and symbols through the twisting and turning streets of London.  In order to get to church on time, we could tell that the bus was a must for guys like us, so we had our motivation to tackle the map.  Surprisingly, a simple Google search was our Rosetta Stone, and before long, the ancient secrets of the London bus map unraveled before our eyes.  A whole new world of transportation was at our fingertips.  

Sunday morning breakfast was toast with butter and jam, raspberry yogurt, and cheese, and we had plenty of time to get ready for worship.  Our housemates were late-sleepers, so they were all coming down for breakfast as we were walking out the door.  The hour of reckoning had come as we made the short walk to the bus stop and stood waiting to see if a bus would show up and validate our map research.  We started getting worried as we saw two buses come by in the opposite direction, since several pedestrians gave us curious glances as they walked past, we began to think that maybe the route we chose wasn’t in operation on Sunday, and our deciphering had been in vain.  Suddenly, over the hill in a cloud of glory, a bright red bus appeared.  It was coming in our direction with the number 309 flashing on top in brilliant gold—we felt as if we had found the Holy Grail.  Fifteen minutes later we hopped off the bus and walked the last few blocks to the church.  

We were early, and through the front doors, we could see that the sanctuary was small and empty except for two ladies standing in a corner.  They introduced themselves and were curious to know all about the family of Americans who had just popped up at the door.  They told us that Monday was a bank holiday and that church attendance would be light since many members of the congregation were traveling during the long weekend.  Pastor Erik Pattison walked in a few minutes later, and he was delighted that we were visiting and could “fill up a row” that morning.  He was gregarious and nattily dressed and reminded me of a slightly heavier Greg Popovich, coach of the San Antonio Spurs.  He told us that Lighthouse Baptist Church began as a home gathering in 1850 and moved into its first building ten years later.  The current building was added on in the mid 1970s.  The sanctuary was bright with light from long windows, and the parquet floor was well-worn with heel marks from many worship services over the years.  There were all types of instruments placed around the altar, but the pastor said there wouldn’t be much musical accompaniment due to the low attendance expected.

We took our seats in the second row of bright blue chairs as several other people came through the doors.  While we sat there making small talk before the service began, Pastor Erik approached me with a quizzical look on his face.  He asked me, “I hope you don’t think I’m cheeky, but would you pray with me before the service starts?”  Oh my goodness, I couldn’t get out of my chair fast enough as I readily agreed, and we walked back to one of the Sunday school rooms behind the sanctuary.  He told me that his usual prayer partner was in Malaysia doing mission work, and he was grateful to me for joining him.  I’ll never forget sitting knee-to-knee with Pastor Erik and praying for him and his flock as we all prepared to meet the Lord in worship.

For the next hour and a half, we sang hymns, prayed, and listened to Pastor Erik as he preached about the Church in Europe and how Christians should place their hope in God, and not in politics and government.  The singing was a cappella with the exception of a few percussion instruments, and Pastor Erik played the conga drums on one song.  The voices were robust from the congregation of about twenty-five people, and even though I’m used to hearing a full praise band back home, I was thankful this day for something I’ve missed for a long time.  As we sang those wonderful old hymns, I could hear my bride’s sweet alto voice blending in perfect harmony with all the people singing praises to God.  The service closed with the entire congregation reading the same benediction that we’ve heard at the end of every service we’ve attended on this trip and the one our beloved Pastor Alex gives back home:  

The Lord bless you and keep you;

The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;

The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

We stayed for a while after the service and everyone introduced themselves to us over tea and biscuits.  They offered many suggestions on places to visit during the remainder of our stay in London.   When he found out that we had visited Stonehenge, Pastor Erik asked if we found it “a bit of a let down.”  We told him how much we enjoyed it and that it had been a highlight of our trip to England so far.  He said that he must be jaded since he grew up twenty miles from the site and used to have picnics with his mates on the stones.  They also used the stones as gaming stumps and played cricket matches there on sunny afternoons.  I could hear the collective rumble from hundreds of neolithic men rolling over in their barrows as he described these atrocities with a twinkle in his eye.  We bid everyone goodbye and thanked them for their hospitality before walking to our bus stop after this fine morning of worship at the Lighthouse Baptist Church.

Deena and I enjoy a Sunday afternoon nap when we can get one, and we took a long one today while the kids rested as well.  We took an early evening walk around the neighborhood and shared a lasagne supper before our housemates returned from their adventures.  The day was restful and refreshing, and we’re ready for our last week in London.

Saturday in London

The Fab Four Crossing Abbey Road

After a full week in London stalking the halls of vaunted museums, doing school work, and criss-crossing this grand old city, we decided that a more laid-back day was in order.  How would we spend our Saturday if we were back home and not rambling the lower UK?  Let’s see, I’m an early riser, so I would be up, showered, and drinking coffee before anyone else in the crew even considered changing position in bed.  Deena would be up eventually due to my making some racket under the pretense of moving our household in a positive direction but in reality just making noise to wake someone up to relieve my loneliness.  Joseph would sleep late, but like the Sirens in the Odyssey, the call of ESPN would become too strong and he could not resist.  Deveny would sleep all day and curse those that would pull her from her chamber into the light.  Deena and I would eventually wind up sitting on the couch drinking tea and coffee, talking about all the yard work and other chores that need doing, then eventually running out of time to do them and just going out to eat—perfect Saturday!

I got up early and showered, soon followed by Deena—pleased that we’re getting the hang of the temperamental hand-held shower tool, and resigned to the fact we’re sharing it with eight other people.  Our flat in Stepney Green was originally a three-bedroom, one-bath apartment, but through the auspices of AirBnB, the owner has converted the space into a four-bedroom hostel.  The owner manages a bunch of other properties through AirBnB in the same way and seems to have a pretty good setup going for himself.  So, we share the bathroom and kitchen with whoever else might be staying here at the time, and it’s working out pretty well.  We’re here for two weeks, while most guests just stay for a few days—we feel a bit like the RA's for the building.  Everyone we’ve encountered here has been cordial and respectful of others’ space, but they’ve kept to themselves for the most part.  We haven’t been able to strike up any conversations beyond the the state of the weather.

We managed to be up, dressed, and fed by twelve or so, and we were off to see what kind of fun we could scare up on a Saturday afternoon in London.  Joseph finally consented to let his mother cut his hair in the current style of hip London men, but it needed touching up a bit; so one of our goals for the day was to find a tattoo parlor to get Deveny’s nose pierced because she talked us into it, but it looks really cool, sorry Grandma Leah and Grandma Shirley salon or barbershop where we could get him trimmed up.  We had a few other goals for later in the day, so we planned a progression of stops on the tube to accomplish our agenda.  

We ended up on Portobello Road in the Nottting Hill section of London right smack in the middle of a huge, bustling street market.  Talk about serendipity, we hit the jackpot on this trip.  I’m guesstimating that the market stretched out for about a mile along Portobello Road, which was closed off for the event; and the street was packed with vendors, performers, and Londoners enjoying their Saturday.  We found a place to sit for a while and ate the turkey and avocado sandwiches we had packed for lunch.  Dessert was a sumptuous banana and nutella crepe prepared right in front of us by a street vendor.  As he laced the steaming crepe with chocolate sauce and dusted it with powdered sugar, he told us we were his second group of customers from North Carolina that day—small world I guess.

We wandered into a t-shirt shop dedicated to Banksy, a mysterious British-born graffiti artist whose work has gained worldwide acclaim due to its satirical and political nature—plus the dude is really talented.  Deveny has been a big fan of Banksy for a while, so when the proprietor of the shop told us there was a Banksy piece still located on a red brick building at the top of the market, I determined that my new mission for the day was to get my daughter in front of that sucker.  We got a reference for a barbershop nearby, and while Deena stayed with Joseph for his haircut, Deveny and I hit the streets in search of Banksy.  Thanks to chump directions from the t-shirt lady, we walked about half a mile in the wrong direction until being corrected by an art-gallery owner who pointed us the other way.  On a positive note, we got to see all the vendors along the whole length of the market during our trek.  We needed to find the corner of Portobello Road and Ackel Road, and while trying to figure out the crazy route Google was providing, we looked up, and the junction was right in front of us, good grief.  We walked past the corner and there on the building right behind a bunch of junk a vendor had piled up, was the Banksy piece in all its glory.  Deveny was thrilled to have found it, and we snapped a bunch of pics before heading back to meet Deena and Joseph with his fresh London buzz.  We may have stumbled upon The Portobello Market, but our next stop was completely planned.

Banksy Wall

I love the Beatles, and I never tire of their timeless music.  Abbey Road is my favorite Beatles album, and it is included in my top-ten favorite albums list…in the world…of all time…amen.  The cover of the Abbey Road album is a photo of the lads crossing the road in front of the Abbey Road Studios where they recorded all their albums.  While not the most creative idea for an album cover, the photo has become one of the most iconic images in rock and roll, and even my fourteen year old daughter has a poster of it in her room back home.  One of my major goals while in England, right up there with visiting Stonehenge, was to get a photograph of my family strolling this legendary crosswalk.  We took the tube up to north London near Primrose Hill and made our way to Abbey Road.  I equated my excitement level with that of the children as they waited to be photographed at platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross Station.  There are no traffic signals at the crosswalk, and Beatles fans take pictures at their own risk and peril as the local drivers show no mercy—I’m sure they must get tried of avoiding goofy tourists posing in the middle of the street.  Because it was Saturday, the traffic volume was not very heavy, and thanks to a friendly Chinese lady who accepted my request to be our photographer, I got a KILLER picture of my family crossing Abbey Road, proudly displayed at the top of the page.  The order in which we crossed was not random, and Deveny went barefoot in honor of Sir Paul.  There is also a webcam geocache located on this hallowed ground, and with webcam caches being a rarity in the geocaching world, I just had to score that find as well.  I went to Abbey Road with my family, and all my wildest dreams came true.

Back in Stepney Green, we located a takeout fish-and-chip establishment and placed an order for dinner.  The guy behind the counter was a real character who made assembling suppers an art form.  He started by placing a golden brown, steaming cod filet at the center of a large piece of heavy butcher paper.  He then covered the cod with three huge scoops of crispy hot chips and doused the whole glorious pile with malt vinegar and finished with a shower of salt.  To preserve the heat, he wrapped everything up tightly into a square package of English-culinary-guilty pleasure.  I made a mental note to double up on my cholesterol medication later that evening.  We initially placed four orders, and I quickly realized two would suffice, but I got a third one just so I could watch this fish-and-chip artist perform his act one more time.  While stuffing our temporary British faces with the local fodder back at the flat, we enjoyed talking about our Saturday in London, and we didn’t even have to do yard work when we got home.  

Field Trip - Stonehenge and Bath

Our budget is tight on this journey, and we make it a point to be mindful of every aspect.  We have to remind ourselves that we’re living more as residents of the areas in which we’re staying and less as tourists.  With that thought in mind, we’re constantly seeking fun, educational activities that are low-cost or free, and it’s surprising how many major attractions fall into these categories.  Deena will be writing about the budget portion of our trip in later chapters, and I mention this now only to say that we decided to blow the budget by visiting Stonehenge and Bath.  We felt that we owed the two students of the Southern Cross Academy (that’s our homeschool) and their headmasters a field trip to these two icons of England.  Through her researching prowess, and the awesomeness of the internet, Deena was able to book an all-day excursion to Stonehenge and Bath which included travel in a double-decker coach, a tour guide, and discounted tickets to the attractions.  We left our flat bright and early at 6:45 AM in order to make it down to the Victoria Coach Station by 8:00.  We grabbed a quick breakfast sandwich at our beloved neighborhood Subway, and off we went.  At this time of morning, the tube was packed with people going to work, and we shoved ourselves right in there among them.  

Victoria Station was buzzing with activity by the time we arrived, and we had a bit of a freak-out moment when I thought my wallet had been nicked on the train.  Turns out I had absentmindedly placed it in another pocket, and after suffering major eye rolls from my crew, we ventured on.  We found our coach platform, met our guide, and had a few minutes to spare, so I figured I had better visit the loo before boarding the bus.  Turns out it costs 30 pence to visit the loo, and I had to buy a cup of coffee to get change, and of course the coffee consumption eventually results in another trip to the loo—I hope others can see the diabolical nature of the mini-racket going on here.  We boarded our coach and chose seats on the upper deck at the back where all the cool kids go.  Our guide’s name was Sinead, an energetic Irish lass who quickly and efficiently set the tone for the day and informed us of the schedule.  Travel time was about an hour and a half between stops, and we would have two hours at Stonehenge and three hours in Bath—perfect.  After several weeks of problem-solving and figuring out travel issues, it was sooo nice to sit back in a comfy seat and have others work out all the details.

Sinead gave us a great history lesson about Stonehenge about thirty minutes out, and she was very thorough explaining the procedures at the visitor center.  She also told us about the Druid priestess who sits in the visitor center every day to answer questions about her ancient form of religion.  She’s not allowed to approach visitors, but tourists are free to engage her in conversation.  Sinead said the priestess was easy to spot by just looking for the lady wearing goat horns.

After spending millions of dollars on hundreds of archeological expeditions and speculation resulting in thousands of doctoral theses, scholars can agree that Stonehenge is old and made of stone.  The mystery surrounding this place is profound and draws close to 1.4 million visitors to the plains of Salisbury every year.  The suspense was building as our coach pulled into the visitor centre which is a large, thoughtfully constructed building; its design is subtle, and it blends into the landscape very well.  After receiving instructions from Sinead, we split into groups, received our audio guide devices, and boarded trams for the mile-long ride to the site.  We eagerly strained for views from the windows of the tram, and as the landscape flattened in front of us, the much-anticipated profile of Stonehenge rose into view.  The path around the site is well designed and allows for optimum viewing with the closest points located about thirty feet away from the mammoth stones.  

By the time we arrived at the site, it was mid-morning and the sun was bright in a cloudless, deep blue sky.  A soft breeze ruffled the thick green grass all around, and even though there were many visitors present, there was a quiet calm about the place.  Stonehenge sits on a small hill surrounded by farmers' fields filled with hay rolls.  There’s a highway nearby, and a long queue of cars is visible, all slowing down to view the stones.  Life goes on in the world as Stonehenge sits silently and mysteriously as it has for five thousand years.  There are many theories about who built it and for what purpose—is it a clock, a calendar, a place of worship, a place of sacrifice?  Maybe all, maybe just one or two.  How was it built?  How were those huge stones fit into place?  How did they move the huge bluestones to this place from 150 miles away?  It obviously took a lot of people who were skilled with stone masonry and physics to put Stonehenge together, perhaps with the help from aliens as some speculate.  We’ll never know the full story.  The lichen-covered stones themselves don’t give any answers as they stand silently, birds nesting between the lintels.  Stonehenge is completely captivating, and we couldn’t take our eyes off it the whole hour we walked around it.  The audio guide was helpful in describing the basic construction of the site, and we enjoyed taking pictures from the different viewpoints.  We finally had to let go of Stonehenge, but we stared at it from the tram windows until it disappeared from view.  We toured the visitor center for a while, and there in a corner dressed in a green-and-white hooded robe, crowned with goat horns, sat the Druid priestess.  We watched for a few minutes as she discussed mysticism with a young boy who enjoyed holding her goat-head adorned wooden staff.  The scene was completely unsettling to me, and I moved my crew onward to the coffee shop.  After cokes and chocolate, we boarded the bus and bid Stonehenge goodbye—the children enjoyed it immensely to our delight, and now I can say that I took my family to England to see the Stones.

With the Stones

After another hour riding in our coach, we watched the honey-colored limestone buildings of Bath break the horizon.  This beautiful Georgian city is the site of the only hot springs in Britain, and they just happen to collect at the 2000-year-old Roman Baths.  We had three hours to lose ourselves in this city, and we spent the first hour with Sinead as she offered an optional overview tour.  Curiously, only eight of the seventy-four people on our coach opted to walk around with Sinead.  She explained the design of the town and told stories of the opulent Georgian lifestyle in Bath and how people would use strategies like boarding up windows to avoid the window tax.  They also installed false chimneys on their rooftops to show that their homes were filled with fireplaces and thus give the impression of possessing more wealth.  I guess humans will always be concerned with acquiring stuff and showing it off.  

Sinead’s tour concluded just in time for our appointment at the Roman Baths, and we began our tour anticipating some great history—we got way more than we expected.  There is an interactive museum built all around the baths, and it incorporates every aspect of the ancient building.  The front of the temple that once stood in front of the baths has been reconstructed, and it includes the majority of its original elements.  We went traipsing over clear plexiglass catwalks that allowed views of the inner workings of the baths and steam rooms, and we could see the ancient walkways that the Romans used way back in the day.  All this great stuff before we even made it to the terrace to get our first views of the baths.  As we arrived on the terrace we could look over our shoulders and see the Bath Abbey towering above us in the cerulean sky and the jade green water of the bath below us—a striking sight.  We made our way down to the level of the water and slowly walked around the pool on the worn-smooth, ancient pavers trod upon by the Romans themselves.  We found a place to sit in the shade and take in all the layers of history visible in this one incredible place.  We could have sat there for hours, but Bath is famous for its fudge and ice cream so the sweets eventually trumped the history lesson.  

Deveny admiring the baths

Layers of history:  the Abbey and the Baths

The Abbey Reflected in the Baths

We aimlessly wandered the streets of Bath for a while and picked up some delicious cornish pasties for the coach ride back to London.  Two hours later we bid goodbye to Sinead and boarded the tube for the ride back to our flat in east London.  I mentioned blowing the budget on this trip earlier in the post, but thanks to primarily eating in and being generally thrifty, we added everything up and discovered that our day trip was covered, and we were still under budget overall—huzzah!  The Southern Cross Academy declared its first major field trip a smashing success.

London - The British Museum Part II

Our second trip to the British Museum took place today, and we agreed to temper our time there with a bit of whimsy later in the afternoon.  The civilizations we tackled on this day were ancient Egypt and Europe with a a few top-ten exhibits thrown in for interest.  We went for the Elgin Marbles first, a top-ten exhibit from ancient Greece that is steeped in controversy. All of the statues and friezework in this cavernous room were taken from the Parthenon in Athens, and Greece wants them back.  There are compelling arguments on both sides for where they should belong which I won’t get into here, but we enjoyed debating the issue over lunch later in the day. 

The second floor of the museum houses the Egyptian mummies along with many artifacts associated with daily life along the Nile, and we had just completed this area a couple days ago when symptoms of museumititus started to appear.  Today we went straight for ancient Egypt on the first floor where all the giant granite statues are displayed with huge slabs of hieroglyph-laden stone, some still bearing the bright colors with which they were painted thousands of years ago.  All these objects are located down a long hallway with arched, cased openings pointing up to thirty foot ceilings.  The walls are painted with soft off-whites to provide a neutral backdrop for the massive statues on display.  We spent a lot of time studying the hieroglyphics depicting the cartouches of the great pharaohs, mostly Rameses, Amenhotep, and Thutmose.  We learned that it was common practice for these great kings to usurp the statutes and artwork of their predecessors and carve their likenesses on works dedicated to the guy that just vacated the throne.  I never get tired of looking at hieroglyphic writing, and there were many examples in the exhibit with both concave and convex styles.  Each character is a work of art in itself, and I can’t imagine the time it took to create these massive walls full of writing.  My favorite hieroglyph is the owl for some reason.  The Assyrian lion-hunt reliefs were located nearby, and they were so mesmerizing to me on our first visit that I had to run back through them again.  We had studied a little more about this sport of kings, and the scenes took on much more meaning this time around.

We tackled European civilization from Stonehenge up to the Victorian Era, and we stayed mostly in the areas of British history.  The majority of the displays were fashioned from treasure hoards discovered by unsuspecting farmers or by archeologists during digs on known historical areas.  The exhibits are breath-taking because of their beauty, size, and state of preservation.  We loved the thought of a farmer plowing the back forty hectares and unearthing a cache of 2000 year-old swords and enough gold coins to fill a beer barrel—wow.  Our favorite exhibit in this area was the Sutton Hoo treasure, which was discovered in Suffolk, England and is a top ten exhibit to boot.  Between the years 600 and 700, AD, an ancient Anglo-Saxon king was buried in his thirty meter ship along with priceless treasure and, it was discovered in the 1930's when a landowner requested an investigation of a burial mound on her property.  The most famous item in the hoard is the burial helmet which has become a symbol of the British museum and the history of England—stunning.  In the Dingle Peninsula post from Ireland, I mentioned a collision of history and beauty, and we were able to witness another such event here while staring in awe at the Sutton Hoo treasure.

Sutton Hoo Burial Helmet

We finished our touring at the museum by viewing Victorian dainties and the last top-ten exhibit of the day, the Lewis Chess Set, a complete set of 12th century gaming pieces carved in great detail from walrus ivory.  Lunch was sandwiches from Subway spread out on a long metal table in the Family Learning Center.  Classes at the Southern Cross Academy were in session again as the kids broke out the laptops and worked on their lessons inspired by the things we had just witnessed on our second visit to the British Museum.  We’ve determined that one more trip is in order at some point next week.

The Southern Cross Academy in session at the British Museum

The kids’ reward for completing their studies with enthusiasm on this day was a trip to the legendary Kings Cross station and a visit to platform 9 3/4, the starting point for every journey to Hogwarts at the beginning of the school year.  It didn’t take very long for the children to make their way through the queue, and we took some fun, memorable pictures of the two of them running with the trolley, scarves flying—very cool.  Deena and I took our rewards from the kids’ joy with cokes and lattes in the nearby cafe.

London - First Day of School

Many of our friends back home had their first day of school today, and we hope everything went smoothly.  We wish everyone a great year of successful study.  In honor of this important day, we thought we would share a couple pics of Joseph and Deveny heading off to Hogwarts.  Cheers!

London - The Tate Modern

An American Tribute to the British People by Louise Nevelson 1960-4 

The visit to the Tate Modern Museum of Modern Art produced many reactions in my family, mostly positive and all in a spirit of good fun.  The piece pictured above was my favorite for some reason that I can’t exactly explain.  The artist worked on it for four years, altering the design and placement of objects as she found them.  The work is described as cathedral-like in its construction, and its royal bearing won favor in the country to which the tribute was intended.  The piece is approximately 14 feet long and ten feet high, and I stood staring at it for quite a while until I realized that I was enjoying myself.  Deveny is our creative, free-spirited child, and she was looking forward to this visit especially after suffering the stuffiness of the National Gallery the day before.  We determined that this day was hers and that she could tour the Tate any way she liked.  

We decided that we needed a more relaxed pace for the day, so we started with a simple breakfast of bread with butter and jam and yogurt and used the carbs to walk the half mile to the community library where we were granted yet another library card—we never get tired of this.  The wifi was good and strong, so the kids got out the laptops and started school while Deena and I spent some time in the desktop area where we checked into our next flight and printed boarding passes.  This is usually not an easy process since most library computers are several years behind the latest Google updates, and the airline websites can be tricky to navigate.  With the help of the friendly librarian, we got it done and spent the rest of the morning reading and writing while the kids finished up their lessons for the day.  A quick stop at the neighborhood market yielded lunch, and we enjoyed homemade pita sandwiches stuffed with chicken, hummus, and lettuce at the flat before striking out for the Tate Modern.  

The local news scene is buzzing with the current London Heat Wave, and for the past two days it’s been fairly warm as in upper 80s warm, not upper 90s and swampy warm like we’re used to in North Carolina.  Still, the heat makes for sweaty walking, and we’ve determined that our daily walking totals are between three and five miles.  Through a combination of walking and tube travel, we arrived on the banks of the muddy Thames river and beheld the dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral looking over the Millennium Bridge.  This pedestrian bridge celebrates all the achievements of mankind during the last century, and it was our gateway to the Tate Modern, a vast, austere building housing some of the funkiest forms of expression known to mankind.

Joseph on the Thames

When I think of modern art, the image of purple painted cat toys strung on a pole comes to mind, but I was pleasantly surprised with the variety and beauty of the pieces we saw during our two-hour visit.  Deveny led the way as we traversed the many levels of the museum, and the look of sheer delight on her face was a joy to see as she was clearly in her element.  While there were many um…interesting pieces by artists I’ve never heard of, there were also works by Monet, Picasso, Dali, Degas, Warhol, and many more.  Modern art encompasses a wide range of mediums, techniques, and expressions, and we had an incredibly enjoyable visit talking about everything we saw.  Of course we had a bit of fun too, taking pictures of each other contemplating the water fountain and the toilet signs, laughing hysterically all the while.  While I love the classic expressions of painting and sculpture like we saw at the National Gallery, our visit to the Tate Modern opened my eyes to the fact a that painting need not have been crafted by a 16th century Italian dude or include a big nekkid renaissance butt draped with tulle to make it valid as art.

Deveny in her element

Hey, I could be the resident painter here!

Deena contemplating a grocery store receipt (actual exhibit)

Joseph overcome with emotion

London - The National Gallery

Portrait of Aechje Claesdr

Of all the many masterpieces on display in the National Gallery, this is the one that I could have stared at all day.  It was painted by Rembrandt Van Rijn in 1634 during a period in his career when he focused mainly on portraiture.  Art speaks to people in many different ways, so I won’t try to make any bold interpretation based on the subject of the painting and who commissioned it and all that.  Look at the ruffles on her collar, and her hairline, and the texture of her face comprised of more colors than you think, and the light on her forehead.  My goodness.  To quote Forrest Gump, “I’m not a smart man Jenny, but I know what good painting is.”  

Another day and another museum—this time the National Gallery was our destination, and we were a little smarter about touring today.  After a late breakfast of French bread, butter, and raspberry jam, we arrived in Trafalgar Square with enough time to walk around a bit before walking into the gallery for FREE, and just in time for the FREE hour-long highlights tour.  Our budget is enjoying the lack of strain caused by these incredible free attractions, and it's helping us save up for the attractions later in the week that are not so free.  The docent conducting the tour was very friendly and knowledgeable, but she spoke in conversational tones, and I heard maybe twenty percent of what she said since my hearing is not so good in crowded rooms.  We kept shoving the children toward the front of the group, so I think they caught most of her rap.  She showed us four masterpieces painted during different periods covering a variety of subject matter and techniques, and we were able to go back later in the day and view them in more detail—turns out the ones she showed us are some of the most beloved paintings in the entire gallery.  

We employed our museum strategy outlined in the British Museum post, and it worked very well here.  We knew that one visit would be sufficient at the National Gallery even though a serious art buff could spend weeks in the place.  Joseph liked Whistlejack, a portrait of a rearing horse with a minimal background.  We all liked the Monet paintings, especially The Thames under Westminster.  There was another Monet work of his wife and her friend painted on the beach that still has bits of shell and sand visible in the paint.  A surprise Klimt pleased Deena and me very much.  Deveny liked the Van Gogh collection, which includes the eye-opening Sunflowers, but she preferred Wheatfields.   Modern art is more her thing, especially Picasso, so we’ll indulge her at the Tate Modern later in the week.

We took a break when we started feeling hunger pangs and decided to walk next door to the Church of St. Martin of the Fields for luncheon at cafe in the crypt.  There were street performers all over Trafalgar Square where we got sidetracked by a talented group of young men doing break dancing and all kinds of gymnastic feats.  While the family enjoyed the show, especially the drunk guy undressing in the front row, I wandered off to find a geocache which turned out to be a creative hide with some of the best urban camouflage I’ve seen.  Deena and I had lunch in the cafe in the crypt twenty years ago, and it was one of our favorite memories, so we wanted to take the children there on this trip.  The cafe is located literally in the crypt below the church of St. Martin, and the ambience is warm and medieval.  We bought cokes and cookies to go along with the chicken and hummus sandwiches we had packed and had a simple, energizing lunch.  

The other quirky thing about St. Martins is the opportunity to do a brass rubbing.  No, not rubbing the brass head of a saint’s bust for metaphysical bestowment of good fortune, but a clever form of art practiced for centuries, primarily in Britain.  The idea is to place a heavy paper over a commemorative brass plaque found on monuments or grave markers and rub over it with wax-based metallic crayons to produce an image on the paper.  The result is quite striking, and we thought Deveny would enjoy the process—she did.  There is a room off the crypt devoted to the artwork, and there are hundreds of recreated brass designs from which to choose.  Deveny selected a Celtic design inspired by the Book of Kells and the cheerful attendants got us set up with supplies.  Joseph logged onto the free wifi and did some schoolwork while Deveny got lost in the brass rubbing—what a fun, relaxing activity.  She was pleased with her results after an hour or so, and we headed back to the National Gallery for our self-guided hourlong masterpiece wrap-up tour.
  

Brass Rubbing

We saw works by Rubens, Degas, Cezanne, Botticelli, Michelangelo, and many more.  We finished our day at the National Gallery in the espresso bar on the ground floor where patrons can spread out on comfy couches and take advantage of the free wifi and plug-in strips for electronic devices.  The kids fired up the laptops again for more schoolwork, and Deena and I propped our feet up on the hassocks and worked on the blog.  I think art appreciation is one of the best forms of education that combines creativity, history, religion, politics and other society shaping themes, and we’ve certainly appreciated our share today.

Who Wants to Fly to Ireland For $40?????

Hi everyone, this is a guest chapter from Deena.  I will be popping in from time to time to explain the details of how we are able to take this trip.   We did NOT win the lottery; in fact our last two attempts at powerball failed miserably.   We did not receive an inheritance, and we are not independently wealthy.   Two years ago, I happened upon a book at Barnes and Noble about travel hacking, and it piqued my interest.  It showed how many people are traveling and seeing the world on very little money.  I determined we would try this strategy as a family.  I started collecting points and miles through credit card sign-up bonuses and in two years accumulated quite a stash of over one million points.

The first leg of the trip started in Charlotte, NC.  We flew to Boston, MA, redeeming  6,537 Southwest  points each and paying $5.60 per person in taxes and fees.  Our total cost for the family was $22.40.

The second leg from Boston to Dublin, Ireland was booked on the British Air partner, Aer Lingus.  British Air has a distance-based chart, and the distance between Boston and Dublin is right under the limit for a flight for 12.500 points.   If you sign up for ONE British Air card by Chase you can fly four people one way for free or two people round trip.  Now these are British Air points (also called Avios)  booked on partner Aer Lingus—they do not charge exorbitant fuel charges on their flights.  You have to call British Air to book the flight on Aer Lingus as it is not bookable online.  Our charge was $ 34.17 per person.   

Our total for both flights was $39.77 per person.   That’s  $159.08 for a family of four to travel from Charlotte to Ireland.

 IMPORTANT TIP:  Do NOT apply for the British Air card and expect to fly to London - British Air charges ridiculous fees on their own flights.

If you use this trick to fly to Dublin or Shannon, then you can hop over to London like we did for an additional $19.

Once overseas, there are several low-budget airlines that make it  sometimes cheaper to fly than using trains or buses.

Ryan Air had a flight for $19, and we hopped on that to London after eleven days in Ireland.

Stay tuned—many more travel and budget tips to come!

London - The British Museum

The faint rumbling of an underground train can be heard every half hour in our flat, and it caused my eyes to open early on Monday morning.  The sun had just come up, and I immediately thought about our main destination for the day, the British Museum.  This behemoth of a building houses an embarrassment of historical riches collected over the centuries by an empire that took pretty much whatever it wanted from all parts of the globe.  A visit there can be intimidating just because there is so much to see, and to miss a one-of-a-kind artifact would be a tragedy.  We devised and employed a strategy that will hopefully benefit the childrens’ education and ease any pangs of regret over surely missing important items.

We went for another cheap, delicious Subway breakfast and ordered sandwiches for lunch at the museum; we’re hoping to avoid paying high prices at attraction cafes by packing our own meals for the day.  Since there is no tube stop within 600 meters of the museum,  we picked a route that would get us fairly close and figured out the transfers involved with the journey.  After forty-five minutes, we were standing on the steps of the British Museum.  Part of our strategy for taking on the museum was allowing for at least two visits with the possibility of a third, and multiple visits are an option for us because they are FREE.  Hourlong eye-opener tours are scheduled throughout the day, and we selected one for the morning and one for the afternoon, and they are FREE.  Another part of our strategy was to scan several top ten museum highlights lists and choose which exhibits interested us the most.  While there are two or three items that make every list like this, the rest of the choices vary widely.  The museum has the collection divided into a logical, easy to understand system based on civilizations.  The sections we chose to visit were the ones that involve the childrens' curriculum, our travel destinations, and the coolness factor.

The British Museum

The crowd was not large as I expected, and as we walked into the first chamber right off the main corridor, there sat in all its important historical splendor, the Rosetta Stone.  I was glad to see that the children were duly impressed without prompting from mom and dad—I still think it’s exciting when an item is lifted from the pages of textbooks and placed in the path of life, and it was fun to see this same reaction from our kids.  Our first eye-opener tour took us around the ancient Greek civilization through the exhibits focused on sculpture and ceramic vases painted with intricate scenes depicting the gods in action.  The subject of most Greek art is the gods, so we got a good dose of mythology as well as the development of artistic technique over the centuries.  

After munching on some cookies, we decided to visit another top-ten exhibit before finding a place for the children to work on school stuff.  The Assyrian empire was our choice, specifically the lion-hunt reliefs dating from 700 BC and taken from a palace in Nineveh.  This huge display, to use an educational term, blew my mind.  In ancient Assyria, lion hunting was the sport of kings, and it was depicted graphically on these reliefs.  The composition is almost child-like—think of a six year old’s drawing of a soccer match, but the technique is masterful and captures what must have been an awe-inspiring event in the lives of the Assyrians.

Assyrian Lion Hunt Reliefs

While trying to locate a place for the children to do some schoolwork, we stumbled upon the family area, a labyrinth of rooms which resembled a repurposed factory or mill with exposed brick and ductwork.  The attendant told us to pick any area we desired, and we chose a room with a long metal table and comfortable benches.  Turns out these spaces are used for school groups and families as a headquarters while they tackle the museum, and there are lockers and other amenities nearby.  We felt like we were getting away with something as we logged on to the free wifi, did some research and schoolwork, and ate our lunch…in a private room….in the British Museum…we’re not worthy!!!

After lunch we took another eye-opener tour focused this time on the origins of ancient Egypt and the period of rule by Nubian kings.  This tour was interesting as well, but I noticed the 1000-meter stare starting to take hold of the children.  This stare is one of the early symptoms of museumitis, and it not treated early, the disease will cause eye rolls, disinterest, and general whiny behavior every time a museum is mentioned in the future—not a good thing this early in our journey.  We did a run-through of the mummy areas and called it a day.  A cold coke at the outdoor cafe was refreshing and gave us the energy to take a quick tube ride down to Buckingham palace where we stood in a throng of people peering into the gates at a big limestone building with two dudes in fuzzy hats walking back and forth…meh.  

We did enjoy walking along the sycamore-lined mall back to the Westminster Abbey area and our tube station for the ride back to our flat.  Because it was 5:30 PM, and everyone in London was going home from work, we had to cram ourselves into the train and just barely fit.  Since I get freaky in confined spaces, I had to close my eyes and go to my happy place until the crowd thinned out a bit.  We stopped by the local grocery store on the walk from the tube stop and purchased some groceries for the next few meals.  Over pizza at the kitchen table, we discussed our day and talked about how we should plan our days a little better so we don’t get burned out too early.  I think we’re still in vacation mode somewhat and feel like we need to rush around and see everything.  Even so, London has us under its spell.

London - Stepney Green

The pastoral hills and lazy sheep of Ireland have been exchanged for the dingy streets and nervous pigeons of London, England.  The last time Deena and I were here I had just started to feel the constricting pain of a completely blocked lower anterior descending coronary artery—the widowmaker as it’s known in the heart trade.  I didn’t know what was causing the pain at the time, and I came close to death as we were running to catch a train back to London from Canterbury.  The rest is a long story, but here I am twenty years later with two great kids and my bride who is committed to making every day count for the Lord and our family.  We’ve lived that way for many years, and it’s one of the main reasons we’re on this journey. 

 Ok, enough of that heavy stuff!  We spent Saturday, August 20 traveling from Ireland to England, and I won’t bore you with the details.  We did catch a break once we got to London as the train ticket purveyor put us on the fast train from Gatwick airport to London at the slow train price.  We figured the underground transportation (tube) out fairly quickly and  made it to our flat about 10:00 Saturday night after leaving our last house in Ireland at 8:00 AM.  We’re staying in the Stepney Green area which is east London, and it’s a working-class neighborhood with many ethnic groups represented.  Our flat is on the first floor in a large apartment building that takes up most of a city block.  The four of us are in one room with a double bed and a futon, and we share a kitchen and bathroom with whoever happens to be staying in the three other one-room flats upstairs.  The girls have the double bed, and Joseph and I are on the futon.  Yes, it’s tight, but we’re spending the majority of our time here sleeping.  Besides, it’s how most of the people in London live, and we’re right in there with ‘em.  London is one of the more expensive places we’re visiting on this trip, and the budget has to be trimmed in many areas such as food and transportation.  Deena will be doing some guest posts from time to time to let you know how we’re pulling all this off.

Our main goal for Sunday was to get to church, and boy did we ever.  We had no food in the flat, and we struck out early to hunt and gather.  Luckily, there was a Subway nearby serving breakfast, and we bought a huge breakfast sandwich that the four of us split and two drinks for less than five pounds.  The drinks were refillable too, and we took full advantage of that privilege.  We were heading for the Emmanuel Evangelical Church located just down the street from Westminster Abbey, and the tube from Stepney took us within easy walking distance.  I smiled as I noticed the kids already looking up and around at the grandeur of London in the bright morning sunshine.  We found the entrance to the church and were greeted by a pleasant young man with a walkie-talkie who had obviously spent a lot of time at the gym, and I noted that while he was cordial, he also looked every one of us in the eye and gave us the complete once-over as we entered.  I was reminded that in London and other major world cities Christians have to be on their guard.

Foyer of the church

The church building was cavernous and bright, and the sanctuary was round with a large glass dome in the ceiling.  All of the wood trim, doors, and pews were made of quarter-sawn oak stained with a rich honey brown color that had mellowed with age.  We were greeted by many people, and the kids were immediately befriended by Madalin, a twenty-something Romanian lad who is studying criminology at a local university.

We were swept into a two-hour celebration of worship with singing, testimonies, and preaching, and we felt right at home with these sincere believers.  The worship team consisted of the leader, an Englishman playing a keyboard and two Chinese ladies singing backup—they were fantastic.  The Chinese senior pastor, Peter Loo, did not preach that day but greeted the congregation warmly.  His two associates were Jamaican and English, and they did a tremendous job teaching and preaching.  I would estimate there were 200 people in the congregation, and when the pastor asked for visitors to stand and be welcomed, they were on us like hummingbirds at a feeder.  Over half the congregation was Chinese, and the rest were a mix of other races.  After worship we were invited to a newcomers lunch where the ladies served us chicken, rice, and cucumbers with spicy chili sauce.  Madalin joined us for lunch and many people stopped to shake our hands and welcome us.  Peter Loo eventually sat down to eat with us and talked long about the history of his church and his personal story of salvation.  He talked many times about the bond that Christians have all over the world, and it was so evident to us at this gracious church.  I glanced at my watch and realized that we had been at church for over three hours, but if felt like thirty minutes—wow.

Fellowship with Pastor Loo and friends

Madalin accompanied us back up to Westminster Abbey, and we parted ways.  As it was Sunday, there were many services being conducted at the Abbey including a 4:00  PM evensong time of worship, and we decided to attend.  I confess that our motivation was to show the children the interior of the Abbey without paying the 20 pound per person tour fee—heaven help us.  We had an hour to spare so we walked all over the area around Westminster and went as far as Trafalgar Square before turning back for the evensong service.  Westminster Abbey is a grand gothic cathedral, and daily prayer has been offered there for over a thousand years.  While that statistic pales in the light of eternity, it’s still a pretty impressive streak.  

As we were escorted into this grand old building, we beheld the soaring gothic arches and ribbed ceiling all designed to bring the worshipper’s eyes up toward the heavens in preparation for time with God—it works.  With the stained glass rose windows, intricate sculptures, ornate tombs, and a truckload of history, Westminster Abbey assaults the senses.  The service was musical in nature, and the choir sounded like an angelic host.  Bible readings were given from Isaiah and I Corinthinans.  As the Reverend Doctor Richard Heskins stood to deliver the sermon, I rolled my eyes a bit.  The last time Deena and I were here, we sat through a real snoozefest of a sermon delivered by one of these intellectual types, but this sermon was completely different.  Dr. Heskins gave a sermon about the importance of relationships while striving to turn one’s focus away from material possessions and the pursuit of worldly status.  He was witty and charming, and his teaching was spot-on.  After the sermon, there was more singing and prayer, and our reverie was broken only by Joseph dozing off and dropping his bulletin, which hit the floor with a loud thwack that reverberated through the cathedral….sighhh.  We took our time leaving the Abbey pointing out all the important people entombed there—we may go back for another service next Sunday.  Curiously, I was one of just a couple people that shook the Reverend Heskin’s hand, and I thanked him for his teaching and told him our family is focusing on the very theme of his sermon right now.  He seemed very pleased by this, and we spoke for a few moments before he sent us on our way with a hearty “Cheerio!”

Westminster Abbey

We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering the streets in search of food and saline contact solution to replace the two bottles thrown away by Irish security at the airport.  We found the food but not the solution.  Back at the flat we talked for some time about the adventures we shared on our first full day in London.  We’ve taken the children to some cool cities over the years, but Joseph said that he enjoyed walking around London most of all.  We’re looking forward to exploring as much of this city as we can over the next two weeks.  Cheerio!

Deveny and Richard