London: Kid Style with Gaga

Ever since we moved to Italy I've been wanting to take Georgie to London for the weekend to see a show.  When she became obsessed with theatre around age 9 my motivation to make it happen doubled.  But then I saw her 10th birthday on the horizon and knew I wanted to celebrate it in a BIG way, so I waited another year.

When I thought about a girls trip to London it just felt right to have my Mom with us.  But she couldn't fly all that way from home for only a weekend!  And if she was coming Isaac and Juliet couldn't miss seeing her...?!  ( Can you see how the trip keeps getting bigger and bigger?)  So we all flew to London...for 5 days.  And loved every minute of it!   From Wicked to a bus tour to Warwick Castle we covered every kid worthy thing near the big British city!  Here's a tour of our trip!

No, this is not London.  This is Joeys birthday that we celebrated with the Joneses over a mustache cake just a few days before.  Take note.  Okay onward and onward.

Gaga arrives!!  There was a countdown going on for days before!

And just a few days later she boarded another plane with us headed for London!

No trip to London is complete without a red phone booth shot!

We were lucky enough to make it to platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross train station on the first day.  Isaac bought Harry Potters wand there.  We ate fish and chips after Kings Cross and then caught an Uber to see:

Wicked!  

It was FANTASTIC!!  And a million dreams coming true!!

We all LOVED it!

The next day wasn't any less busy.  We boarded a tour bus that took us to Warwick Castle, Oxford, and Stratford-Upon-Avon all in one 11 hour day.  

Our tour guide claimed to have an original envelope used in the filming of Harry Potter.

Isaac and G were pretty excited about that!

Here's Juliet in front of Shakespeares house.  Did you know that Shakespeare brought over 1600 words into the English Language?  My Mom and I were both motivated to read/understand/learn a little more about Shakespeare after visiting his home town and museum.  

We ate Cornish Pasties...yummmm....

Tied with Wicked as our favorite "London for kids" experience was Harry Potter!!  

This Studio tour was a lot better than I expected it to be.  The kids were in Heaven.  Georgie picked up Harry Potter after Christmas this past year.  Within 4 months she had read all 7 of them.  Like millions of other kids, she became obsessed.  Joey and I jumped on the bandwagon and brought Juliet along.  JOey and Juliet are currently reading them together.  They're currently on #5.  Isaac begrudgingly loved the movies.  I've been listening to them on Audible since about the time I realized G was loving them so much and I wanted to be able to talk to her about them.  We've been giving Isaac a hard time about not joining the cool kids club.    

While you wait in line to enter the studio you get to see the bedroom under the stairs.

Pretending not to like it "toooo" much.

And then you watch a short film about what you're about to experience.  The front doors of Hogwarts in the short film quickly become the real front doors of Hogwarts...and then you walk through them into the great hall.  It really was magical.

Juliet loves Dumbledore.

This interaction made G and Juliet feel like real witches.  

Juliets body language says it all.  There were so many "round the corner" surprises on this tour.  You round the corner and BOOM!  There's the Hogwarts express, and you can climb aboard and see the real train cars used in the movie.

He's not pretending so much anymore.

Gaga on the bridge!

Hi G!  Romantic magical bridges look good on you!

The flying car.

Juliet was REALLY excited to see Buckbeak!

This was the biggest "round the corner wow factor" of all.  It sounds cheesy to say this about a movie set but it literally took my breath away.  The whole thing was so well done.  I couldn't help but think while we were there how cool this whole thing must be for J.K. Rowling.  To have your wildest most vivid, dearest dreams brought to life.  How absolutely remarkable.

The Griffindor Common Room...excellent!

Riding the Metro is fun!

Farewell Hogwarts!

Hello London Bridge!

We ate dinner here, The Victoria Pub, a classic pub restaurant that entertained customers such as Charles Dickens and just happened to have Fish and Chips and Toffee Pudding to write home to your mother about, unless your mother is with you.  In which case you take a picture to memorialize the occasion before you walk away.  Magical Evening!

This one is out of order but it's a picture of the lovely lawns of Christ Church college in Oxford.

Farewell London!  Memories were made here!  

Blair, Sue, Bob, and Laurie

In May we had a visit from Uncle Blair, Aunt Sue, Uncle Bob, and Aunt Laurie. They were our last visitors before Papa comes to take the kids home. Which also meant that it was the last time that we would visit Venice or the Dolomites.

Here we are getting ready for a gondola ride. It was Sue and Laurie got the comfortable seats, while Blair and I got stools and Bob a chair.

This house immediately caught my eye and our gondolier told us that it was Marco Polo's house.

The view from the "good side" of Rialto, since the other side is covered with scaffolding and a Diesel shoe advert.

Had never see this view before on my many trips to Venice!

Nor this! Very cool. Thanks Bob & Blair!

On Saturday we lazily made our way to the farm stay in the Dolomites. We at lunch in a glacial valley and stopped to tour Vittorio Veneto on the way, where many sweets were purchased. The barn is on the right and the two apartment building are on the left.

We drove up the Costalunga Pass and parked at the base of the ski lifts, which we were told would be open. Negative, Ghostrider. Still, we had fun on a small hike up the mountain.

The view from both directions was stunning.

We shed Laurie and Sue at the edge of the pond in the lower right corner where they found a bench to relax. Actually, that was a water hazard that was part of the golf course at the base of the ski lift. What an epic place for a round of 18.

A candid shot of the kiddos. What a childhood!

I love this shot of Ashley and Blair contemplating the beauty around them. Really sums up the whole day well.

I made them turn around for a more classic shot.

This trip was a dream come true for me. When I was younger, Blair and Bob did a lot of things for me to make my childhood magical. The cabin in Tahoe, the trip back east, the many water and snow skiing adventures, etc. It was great to be able to pay them back in some small way.

We decided to revive our handstand competition from the beaches of Naxos, Greece to the mountain meadows of the Dolomites. Again, Ashley's form is better than mine, but again, I outlasted her.

Next stop was Lago di Carezza, a beautiful spring-fed mountain lake with a legend about a fairy who lived under the water. This tree was on the hike around the lake and we loved the exposed roots. This picture is also a game of "Where's Georgie?" Can you find her?

Juliet at the lake. Absolutely stunning.

In the left lower corner you can see a sculpture of the fairy. The level of the lake varies significantly and sometimes she is completely submerged.

This was my favorite part of the day. We drove up the Fassa pass and found this little plateau along the rode. We walked out onto it and revealed in the 360 degree views of the Dolomites.

Juliet with the Sasso Lungo group at the top of the Fassa pass.

We found a place for dinner in the valley and walked to the restaurant from a small park. I could not resist taking pictures of Juliet holding my Uncle Bob's hand.

Although it had been four years, she knew who Uncle Bob was because we refer to "Puff the
Magic Dragon" as the "Uncle Bob song".

The next generation.

The next day we slowed packed up and headed back home, making a quick stop on Prosecco Road along the way. I love the Osteria Senza Oste as you can just enjoy nature without having to worry about buying anything.

Thinking about asking my Dad to paint this one for me. I am still waiting for the paintings I ordered from him last year...

We ate entirely too much cheese and gelato, but what else is new? They had a great time and we thoroughly enjoyed being with them again. It was like no time had passed. It was also great for my family to get the chance to spend quality time with Blair, Sue, Bob, and Laurie individually, since usually when we are together there is a huge mass of people. I am glad that we are moving back to the US where we will be closer to family. Only about 7 hours to New York from Dayton!