London and Legoland

As overseas family travel destinations go, London is as close as one can get to staying home. For young children in particular this lack of foreignness can be a big advantage, as I was to discover during a summer trip to the Middle East, which began with three days in and around London.

Big Ben --True or false?

We divided our four day stay into two parts two days and one night in central London followed by two days and nights outside of the city near Windsor Castle and Legoland.

Whenever possible, I try to book accommodations at properties with an onsite swimming facility. My three kids ages 12, 8, and 3 seem to tire of everything after a while..except swimming pools.

For our fist and only night in London we stayed at the Berkeley. The hotel is in the heart of London's tony Knightsbridge, a few minutes walk from Harrods and a family restaurant that my kids still recall -- the Spaghetti House.

The Berkeley is a fine old place, a proper English tea time on overstuffed chairs which the kids enjoyed. Best of all the hotel has a wonderful rooftop swimming pool and solarium, which after our overnight flight from Washington,DC, and a long morning nap, was just the right way to start our day.

I travel to London frequently, and I have grown accustomed to spending a free hour or two just walking around the city. Each neighborhood has its idiosyncracies. I once saw John Cleese buying Friday night supper at a takeout deli just off the main Bayswater road, a neighborhood of white washed row houses and mews. My kids enjoyed shopping at some of the clothing stores on lower Kensington Church street, close to the intersection of the more commercial Kensington High Street. In return for perusing the latest London teen fashions, my wife and I won the right to check out some of the many antique shops -- featuring oriental as well as continental antiques, silver, and jewelry that run almost the entire length of the street.

Over the years we have developed "the law of museum attendance" -- an iron rule which states that my kids can enjoy only one museum outing per day. While planning our London visit we decided to attend the Sports section of the Museum of Science on Cromwell Road, nor far from the hotel by bus. The ride itself was part of the fun, particularly for my three year old, who is deep into his Thomas the Tank Engine and very-British-friends-stage.

My two girls spent hours running from one hands-on exhibit to another -- virtual snowboarding, a climbing wall, virtual volleyball, a wheelchair race, and others. The crowd was very tolerable and well behaved, composed almost exclusively of local parents and children. The Museum of natural History is just down the road, and it beckoned us with an archeological dig taking place under a tent in front. of the building entrance. I was leading the way to the entrance, past the dinosaur impressions strewn around the grounds, when everyone reminded me of the "museum rule."

Legoland

In all of my many visits to London I had never taken the tour on the ubiquitous open air, double decker buses. Each of my children, had however for various reasons decided that this was something they wanted to do while in the London. I was skeptical, but happily, they proved the better judge of a fun time than me.

I should note that London was in the middle of a glorious sunny but not too hot spell. The tour lasted almost two hours and took us across the breath of the modern and historical city. My toddler couldn't get over the fact that he was riding on "Bertie" to Big Ben and Parliament. My 12 year old daughter was snapping away at every monument we passed. The 8 year old exhausted from the museum, mostly slept.

Our visit did not offer the opportunity for an exhaustive exploration of the city. By selecting a few destinations of interest to everyone, supplemented by shopping for clothes and toys discovered in our spontaneous walks around Knightsbridge and Kensington, we managed to keep everyone both interested and happy.

Two days in any city can be plenty for young children. We had decided to move to the Runnymede Hotel and Spa, a fine spot by the Thames River just a few miles from Heathrow airport, for the remainder of our visit. It seems an English destination, with few tourists despite its proximity to the site of the battle of Runnymede where the Magna Carta was signed, Legoland, and Windsor Castle -- the three destinations on our agenda.

The wonderful walking path along the River offered me the opportunity to emulate the national English pastime, walking or biking for miles in either direction. On one early morning walk, the British zeal for gardening was in full bloom. No two of the gardens fronting the modest riverside homes were alike.

The kids liked getting out of the city, where London's pollution was particularly evident to them. The pool facilities came in handy after a busy day touring and the open air grounds and restaurant gave everyone plenty of space.

Windsor is an entirely forgettable English town, except of course for the Castle, which the kids insisted upon visiting. The staff kindly permitted us [because our son was still in a stroller] to jump to the head of the line [and out of the rain] waiting to see the Doll House and State Apartments.

Legoland

Both were grand and impressive in a suitable royal manner. The girls were particularly impressed with portraits of seventeenth century pre-adolescent princes dressed as girls, in a quaint attempt to keep them as healthy as their more robust sisters.

Legoland, I admit, was my idea. I thought that after a very English few days, the kids could use some amusement park-like fun. Legoland certainly fit the bill. I would not recommend it for older children although from the pictures, my older daughter [age 12] did manage to squeeze some fun out of the jungle rides and go carts on offer. My son and I were most impressed by "miniland"-- where millions of legos are used to construct various European urban and rural landscapes, including London and Amsterdam. And of course Harold the helicopter -- a must see for any three year old.