Category: European Trip Blog, 2017

June 11, 2017. Sunday. Somehow two week have slipped by since we first arrived. It’s been a really nice two weeks of finding routines, exploring the local neighborhood, visiting some familiar sites in Central London, and taking a day trip to the countryside. I’m sitting here this evening sorting through pictures and listening to London Grammar, a UK band that is a mix of Florence and the Machine and Adele, if that is possible. Our weeks have fallen into a pretty good routine. Jo has to put in her hours (remotely) with the Population Studies and Training Center at Brown, which is mostly done in 2-3 evenings to coincide with the Center’s hours in the US (given the time difference). I spend four days each week in the archives and split kid duties on Monday with Jo.

That means Jo and the kids get to explore various sites in and around London most week days, if they want, while I luxuriate in the archives. So far they’ve been to The Globe to see Romeo and Juliet, the British Museum, the Charles Dickens House, Kensington Gardens, the Science Museum, local skateparks and and other parks, and the local library, in addition to some other fun outings, like to see a friend from high school and her kids in Islington.

Our first full weekend here we headed downtown to revisit some of the more familiar spots that we were at in 2012 (five years ago, and only for a week, but the kids still remember much of it): Westminster Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Bridge, a stroll along the south side of the Thames (past the London Eye, which we will go on later, eye-sore that it is!), and Trafalgar Square. On Sunday of that weekend, we went to a London Fair — which disappointingly felt like any other carnival in the US. Still, fun in its own way.

The second weekend was fun but full. On Saturday, four of us (Harrison, Helena, Eden, and Lin) ran the Enormous Elephant Run (5k) in lovely Clapham Common. Harrison is dearly in love with elephants (he even sponsors one in Kenya!), and so it was super fun to don elephant outfits to run in (and keep afterwards–although, what to do?). On Sunday we packed in a full day trip in the English countryside, taking the train out to Salisbury and visiting Stonehenge, Old Sarum (ruins of William the Conqueror’s castle from the 12th century), and Salisbury Cathedral (also from the 13. c., the highest spire in the UK, and host to one of four original copies of the Magna Carta, from 1215 CE). All in all, a good history day! And the kids had fun, too.

Lin also had fun hanging out at The Lexington pub with a few historian friends on election night, June 8, into the wee hours of the morning as the election returns came in.

The kids seem to be making the transition well. Elliot misses RI the most, perhaps, or at least is the most vocal. We lucked out on our street, however: Harrison and Helena have made friends with 4-5 kids, and every night they come knocking at our door, wanting to play. All of them are international — Romania, etc. That kind of built-in playmates for the youngers goes a long way. Harrison said the other day that he sometimes forgets that we are in London. That cracked us up, since basically everything about our lives is different from the usual summer routine in RI! Adaptable kid, that one.

This week, in addition to our usual routines of archives and work, we look forward to hosting Jo’s sister Heidi and Lin’s sister Mart, who are here separately on visits. And on Saturday we head to continental Europe for a spell! More on that anon.

Thanks for reading! We miss you all.

(Note: click on pics for larger versions.)

Monday, May 29, 2017. London. I’m currently sitting here in the absolute stillness of a holiday morning in north London, sipping my take-away Americano and eyeing up the toasted baguette I brought back for the kids. It’s almost 10 am, and everyone else in our little flat (and neighborhood, it would seem!) is zonked out, trying to get over jet lag and a painfully short sleep the night before.

As many of you know, we have packed up (and rented) our house and moved to the UK for the summer for my (Lin’s) research. We flew out late Saturday evening (well, early Sunday morning after the cancellation and additional delay!) and arrived bleary-eyed around noon on Sunday, May 28th. I had pre-ordered a private 8 passenger van to take us from the airport to our flat because the thought of hauling 12 suitcases (6 large, 6 carry-on) and two violins/violas plus backpacks on the tube with four kids while half asleep seemed like an especially unpleasant start to our time here. Money well spent, to be sure.

We arrived mid-afternoon at our little 3-bedroom 2nd floor (1st floor by English definition) flat in north London — south Tottenham neighborhood, on the Seven Sisters tube stop of the Victoria line. The flat is on a dead end street in a cute little neighborhood — ever so slightly less well kept than other wealthier parts of London, but in a nicely international/immigrant area of the city (which begs the question if there are any non-immigrant/international parts of London, but this is even more so, I’m told). Little bodegas, cafes, shops, and other mom and pop places line one of the main streets at the end of our block. That street leads to the town center, which is 5-7 minutes away on foot and has many more shops and a large grocery store. As with most of London, parks of varying sizes are close by. Seems like it will be a good place to hang out for three months.

I’ll spend most of my time at the National Archives in Kew, which is an hour away on the overground rail. The British Library is much closer — 20 minutes.

We won’t be blogging daily (much to your relief, I’m sure), but we will post pictures from our various travels. You can also follow @thosecrazyfishers on Instagram for more frequent pics, etc.

Thanks for reading! Peace.

Gearing up for our trip this summer, but wanting to test out the blog..