4,000 holes to fill the Albert Hall

Tuesday, we packed up and took the Chunnel up to London.  With all the travel we didn't really have time to do much else this day.  We checked out a super cute coffee shop in Colliers Wood and got our first taste of fish 'n chips but otherwise got to the hotel and unloaded and stretched out after a long day of train travel.

Wednesday was our only day in London when things would be open, so we had to make our choices carefully.  In the end we chose to do the British Museum before going to Royal Albert Hall for a Christmas Sing-a-long.

We hopped the Underground from Colliers Wood to Tottenham Court Road, just a block or two from the museum.  We were all set to get there right as it opened!  Outside the gates were a couple of those iconic red telephone booths, so we just had to grab some pics of the kids in 'em - so fun!

There was no line as yet so we just walked right in.  There was a special exhibit right at the front and we zipped in to see a mummified crocodile.  Yup.  Sounds gross, you say?  Well, it kinda was.  The kids thought it was cool though!  There was an adult, Sobek, as well as mummified hatchlings on its back... yup!  The xray scans of it were quite interesting.

British Museum

Moving into the permanent displays we were face to face with The Rosetta Stone.  This was actually cooler than I thought it would be, and a bit smaller.  Here we started the conversation with the boys about hieroglyphics.  In the next few rooms we'd see lots of them and the three of them were fascinated!  All these little pictures meant something... that is different than what it is?!  Crazy!  Josh showed them how to spot a cartouche (hieroglyphs inscribed in an oval) and they were hooked.  I played a bit of a "Find Em" game with them on one of the larger sarcophagi, which was fun, too.

As we moved through the rooms the years passed and we moved from Egypt to other Middle East countries.  Their artifacts were majestic and beautiful, but I did wonder how one visiting from those areas now would feel about seeing their heritage here in England.  Grateful they was preserved so well for all this time given the turmoil in their homelands?  Yeah... let's go with that.

British Museum

Lunch in their cafe was delightful.  Josh and I got chicken pies and curried cauliflower salad - yum!  The boys had super cute boxed lunches they devoured - just butter and cheese on baguette, but they scarfed 'em down.  (Noted for a new lunch at home)

After lunch we moved to the other floors of the museum seeing so many super cool things!  At no point were we bored or uninterested - any of us!  We saw the infamous Cleopatra, cat mummies, pirate "pieces of eight" and other antique coins, Native American artifacts as well as those from all over Asia and Africa, Greece and Rome.  After finding the Easter Island figure (the boys were all pretty siked to find him) we hit the gift shops and called it a day.  The line coming into the museum had grown to a staggeringly long que - so glad we got in when we did... but now we had a show to get to!

We finally got to ride one of the much-awaited red, double-decker buses.  Oh, the boys were just too excited.  They went immediately to the top level, picked seats and then could barely contain themselves.  We got off at the Royal Albert Hall just in time for our Christmas Sing-a-long.  This was something I'd been particularly excited about.  I love singing, carols and thought this would be a great way to find that Christmas spirit with the family.

Royal Albert Hall

The Hall was absolutely stunning!!  Everyone there was all decked out in light up necklaces, funny Christmas hats or "ugly" sweaters.  The conductor was really the MC for the evening and I thought he did a great job.  We started off with Deck the Halls and through the evening there was a good balance of reverent and fun.  Wesley's favorite was a toss up between Rudolph and Jingle Bells, Van said his favorite was Rudolph but when we sang The Twelve Days of Christmas he was all smiles (it got fast and silly - he loved it).  A few of the songs had different tunes from what we Americans knew - It Came Upon a Midnight Clear and Away in a Manger were two that stand out as throwing me a little.  It was a long show, longer than I thought.  We all had just a fantastic time though and I'm so glad we went!  It was one of those unique, "not in the guide books" things that will stand out in my memories of this trip.
We made it back to Colliers Wood absolutely spent but hungry.  The front desk manager at the hotel suggest a place right across the street for good Indian, Spice of Raj.  The food was fantastic and the service was great!  Van learned he really likes Chicken Tikka - something new, awesome!!  Wesley says he does, too, but wasn't as enthusiastic as his big brother.  Naan, saag paneer, and lots of other food I can't remember the name of but makes my mouth water remembering.

Spice of Raj