A Month of Mayhem

Posted on June 4, 2023 by katese11

In the dying hours of half term, I’m sure we’re all decompressing and being glad that June is now with us. But May was a pretty crazy month for me, even before half term and I’ve got some stuff to share with you that might not even be child-related (shh! don’t tell anyone!).

So, what *did* I get up to May, aside from trying to say intelligent things on conference calls while tween girls scream at “A Hat in Time” next to me? Well, early on I took an epic road trip with C’s Mum and met up with some of the other BLWers. We were all heading for Devon and a beautiful wedding at Ilfracombe’s Tunnel Beaches:

The next day, I spent several hours on rural trains to somehow wind up in Bournemouth with Auntie Savage. We were staying in the same hotel as I’d visited with the kids last Easter but this time we paid £12 each and got to use the spa facilities in the basement. If you’re looking for the kind of things that I like, then a swim in the sea on a gorgeous sandy beach followed by a long soak in the jacuzzi to warm up again is pretty perfect.

I almost forgot what we did on the first day of May, which was a swift visit to the Black Park Country Park near Slough. We were doing a hostage handover with CousinZ so were only there long enough to play in the playground for a bit and then get a coffee. It was very pretty though:

More recently, I had a wild day out in Central London with Holly, Weasel’sMum and Kim. Our initial plans fell through but we had poke bowls and bubble tea and lounged around St James Park, almost getting clobbered by flying objects from charming Italian men. We scored last minute tickets to “Bleak Expectations” which had Robert Lindsay narrating – who I thought of as the guy from “My Family” until I got home and Nathan reminded me that he was also Wolfie “Citizen” Smith. What a legend! It was a very entertaining show which I may review properly at some point but then again, I may not. Do enjoy these pictures of the contrasting entertainment in Leicester Square though – giant transformers and big-screen opera, together at last.

So apart from that, May was pretty quiet, right? Yeah, except for the usual work and church stuff. Oh, and being involved in a complicated choir concert:

Which I followed up the next day by doing a maypole dancing display (I mean, what else do you do at the time of year?):

And along the way, blessing the English Class with some proper LWAT knowledge on London parks and landmarks:

Oh, and one of my kids had a birthday. Did I forget to mention that? It was a really busy month. Roll on June!

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“Science Fiction: to the Edge of Imagination” at the Science Museum – 29/05/23

Posted on May 29, 2023 by katese11

I’m actually kinda reviewing not one but two exhibitions today. But I only physically went to one of them, which was the one in the title of this post – “Science Fiction: to the Edge of Imagination” . I mean, that’s long enough as blog post titles go so if I’d tried to fit in “The Fans Strike Back®: A Star Wars Fan Exhibition” then I think the URL would have been so long that I might have broken the internet. And no one wants that at the start of half term, do they?

I’ll explain a bit – it was the Star Wars thing that first caught my eye as a possible family outing for Bank Holiday Monday. Nathan and I are both working over half term so I really wanted to get some forced family bonding in while we could. But Eva isn’t a Star Wars fan and so wasn’t up for it. That’s why I started looking for alternatives nearby. I considered Dopamine Land but that was closed on Mondays. What I eventually landed on was the new immersive space travel exhibition for me and Eva while the boys went to see Star Wars. Of course, the space travel would have been ideal for the boys as well but maybe they’ll go back another day.

I’ve had something of a transport curse all weekend so I made the family leave Highams Park a full hour before we needed to, *just in case*. Not only did it all work smoothly but we were also treated to a top-quality dog-sighting in the form of a corgi in a backpack. I never normally take photos of strangers or strangers’ dogs but given that this is mostly Reuben’s shoulder and all you can see is a pair of dog ears sticking out, I think that’s OK.

Of course, all this luck meant that we were hanging around South Kensington with time to spare before our time slots. So we went to buy ice creams at Snowflake and perched on the pedestrianised bit of Exhibition Road to eat them.

At least, I thought it was pedestrianised until two cars passed by close enough to have taken our flakes out should we have had them. Turns out that bit of road is a road, even though it looks for all the world like a lovely plaza. The other side has cafe tables out and bollards at the end but the bit outside Oriental Canteen is a through road, according to Google Maps. Well luckily I was having raspberry sorbet and I would never put a flake in that, so we were OK. Also, didn’t lose our legs in the process.

From there, we split into our two groups and Eva and I headed to the Science Museum. We booked free tickets for entry between 15:30 and 16:00, with our exhibition tickets at 16:15. Again, I’d built in time for delays (queues, bag checks etc) and again there were none so we had a bit of time to fill in.

The exhibition was on the first floor, near the stairs at the front of the building – just follow the orange and yellow lines:

Next to it was something that hadn’t been there last time we’d visited  – I think it’s called “Technicians”. So we hung around there for a bit, as well as visiting the sci-fi gift shop so that Eva could buy Reuben a birthday present.

There was actually much in the way of fun to be had. Eva did the quiz on the screens which selected some technical careers that might be suitable for her – she got “Games Designer”, which made her very happy:

She also got to try her hand at CAD for wind turbine blades, which did not go well, and lighting design, which did. This the set that you can design the lighting for:

I didn’t see where it was from but, given that the post-production activities in the same room were from Black Panther, I’m guessing it might have been Shuri’s lab? It was fun choosing the right colours and levels and “Ed”, the virtual lighting director commended Eva on her choices.

Then it was time to go to the thing we’d actually planned to go to. We had to wait outside a large pair of ominous-looking grey doors until we were called forward and taken on a flight to an alien spaceship:

We then walked through several different decks, which were all full of memorabilia from sci-fi movies and TV shows. There was a solid plot device reason for why an alien civilisation had a costume from Star Trek in a glass box but I can’t quite remember what that plot device was.

You’ll see what I mean when I say the boys should have come with us. The first thing I saw was a suit from “Sunshine”, which Nathan rewatched just two days ago. But Eva is quite space-savvy too and only bemoaned the fact that there was no travel poster for her “favourite planet”, Kepler-186f. I think this is what she’s referring to but there were some very close substitutes, such as the one for Kepler-16b:

I don’t want to include too many spoilers as it’s something that should be explored first-hand really. But it was a slightly odd mix of movie museum and space-LARP. It worked though. There were bits of narration from the ship’s computer (not Norman Lovett…boo!) as we went through and some interactive screens which told us stuff like Eva was pretty much a cyborg already so might as well get some bionic legs. They would have come in handy if those cars really had come much closer earlier on.

Both of us thought the best bit was exploring ice caves on an alien planet, which was pretty much safe. Eva claimed the atmosphere made her cough but I think she might have been method acting.

The whole thing probably took us around 40 minutes to get through. It might have been longer if we’d looked at everything more carefully and also, there were some activities that were occupied and Eva didn’t want to wait for them to come free. So we may well have spent longer in there in different circumstances.

It was good timing though, cause the boys had just finished at Star Wars and had walked up to meet us, booking their free entry tickets on the way. We spotted them from above and thoroughly confused them before by calling down to them. It was Roo who figured it out first.

I think they had a good time at their exhibition. Again, it had taken less time than the website had suggested and I think they walked through twice. But then they didn’t go for the added extras like the VR experience. They did get some good photos though, which I’m going to share with you without much context cause…yknow…I wasn’t there.

Once we were reunited, we wandered through the very familiar ground-floor Space room and up to “Who Am I?” on the first floor. There, Reuben made sure to leave his mark:

Eva and I hung out at Pattern Pod for a bit, which she is definitely too old for but it was gone 5PM by this point and there weren’t too many toddlers for her to step on. Besides, this disco cave never gets old:

Then it was time for some Five Guys fries (where else?) and a long tube journey home. But it was a fun afternoon out. As Eva said of the exhibition – “Cool. 10/10. Would visit again”

Can’t ask for more than that, right?

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“The Wolves in the Walls” at Little Angel Theatre – 20/05/23

Posted on May 21, 2023 by katese11

We have a bit of history with this particular production. When I received the invite, I had a weird feeling of deja vu and when I checked back, my suspicions were confirmed – we were due to go and see this at Little Angel in March 2020.

Reader, we did not. We did pick up a copy of the book at Little Angel when we went to see The Paper Dolls in February 2020 and, as I was dithering over Eva really would be brave enough for it as a very sensitive 7-year-old, lockdown fell. Now, there was no question – as a just-11-year-old she’s not much braver than she was before but she does think that all canids are adorable and that includes wolves.

First though, we had work to do. It’s the 6-monthly cleaning day at church and if we left home early, we could squeeze in some token leaf-sweeping before the show. However, Essex Road was closed and so we had to walk the last bit which meant we that our leaf-sweeping was very token indeed. We then walked the next bit to Little Angel as there were no buses but it’s only half a mile and it was a lovely day for a walk. Especially cutting through the very scenic Asteys Row rock garden:

So the show had a three year build up and that’s a lot of expectation. Did it meet those expectations? I’d say so. The description warns that “there is a slightly menacing atmosphere which builds up throughout the show” and it is definitely one of the darker shows I’ve seen at Little Angel. Whether your child is troubled by this will be influenced by whether they consider the wolves to be beautiful doggos or not and Eva certainly did. As soon as the wolf puppets burst out of the walls, she burst out into coos of adoration even though they were toothy and evil-looking.

I’m getting ahead of myself tho. The story starts by establishing Lucy and her family – her jam-making mother, tuba-playing father and obsessive video-gaming brother.  Each of these characters has a song to introduce themselves and their motivations, none of which involve believing Lucy about the wolves living in the walls. All of them give her the same cryptic warning tho – “if the wolves come out of the walls, it’s all over”. Helpful parenting at its best.

I liked the use of the screens as the walls, with yellow wolf eyes projecting through as Lucy slept. There was also some use of silhouettes to create the feeling of being watched. It was creepy but not terrifying although younger kids might find it tricky (the age recommendation is 6 plus)

The Wolves in the Walls at Little Angel Theatre 2023 cast – Photography by Dan Tsantilis

 

In some Little Angel productions, the humans interact with the puppet character but in this show, the puppeteers took more of a background role, allowing the puppets to really take centre stage. As ever, the ensemble worked smoothly to change scenes and make the puppets move around the set but the story was all told through the puppets rather than the humans behind them.

The first half of the show was a slow build of suspense but then it took a turn towards comedy when the wolves burst out. Eva was laughing hysterically as the wolves donned tutus and did ballet and acrobatics.  She wasn’t so happy when the humans fought back and biffed the wolves on the nose…but she will always support the canids over the humans. She also thought the wolves were better tuba players than the humans.

The Wolves in the Walls at Little Angel Theatre 2023 cast – Photography by Dan Tsantilis

There was plenty of tension – like when Lucy was trying to rescue her precious pig puppet from beneath a sleeping wolf – but lots of lighter moments too. I liked the use of antique maps and graphics as the family discussed where to move to (tho I’m pretty sure there are wolves in the Arctic Circle). It was a really visually pleasing show and there always seemed to be something to catch the eye. Eva had to reassure me that the music score would be OK after the wolves go to it tho (spoiler: it wasn’t)

The Wolves in the Walls at Little Angel Theatre 2023 cast – Photography by Dan Tsantilis

So, a fun show that combines dark tension and slapstick comedy which will entertain your mid-aged kids  – I would agree with the age recommendation. And watch out for a twist in the last few minutes….

“The Wolves in the Walls” is on until 23rd July. Click here for more info and tickets.

Disclaimer: I received free tickets in exchange for a review. All opinions remain honest and my own. 

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The Most Matilda Weekend

Posted on May 1, 2023 by katese11

Ever since the movie version of “Matilda: The Musical” came out earlier this year, Eva has been kind of obsessed with it. So for her birthday, I promised to take her and CousinZ to the theatre show. It was only after I’d booked the tickets that I got a well-targeted sponsored ad on Facebook for a singalong version at the Prince Charles cinema which was the same weekend. I dithered a bit about whether we could do both and then i asked Eva, who assured me that there was no such thing as “too much Matilda”. So with CousinZ in tow, we headed to Leicester Square on Saturday lunchtime and did some sensible things.

Ah wait, no we didn’t. We spent a ridiculous amount of money on M&Ms instead. My bad.

But then we went to the cinema, after very excitingly bumping into a friend from HP in the queue.

As with most singalong events, there were certain cues we were meant to follow and a bag of tricks to go with them. Our host rattled through them all, as well as getting us to practise our lines for “Revolting Children” and our dance moves for “The School Song”. Not that Eva needed to practise her lines because she’s been running them for months already.

I don’t remember all the props and cues but we certainly had to boo and hiss for the villains of the piece and cheer and “Aww” for Matilda and Miss Honey. A slowly deflating balloon was used for Bruce’s extended belch and a little clapper toy was used for…pretty much everything really. We sang along with gusto but didn’t get up and dance like we were meant to because no one else was. I think we were a bit confused about what to do when. We remembered the actions though.

After the film, we had a wander around Trafalgar Square and down to Victoria Embankment Gardens with a little stop on the way to pick up some fries from the Five Guys in Villiers Street.

I haven’t been in these gardens for ages, except for a brief walk past on my way to a conference in December when they looked….Decembery:

From our days of going to church on the Strand, I remembered them as being quite nondescript but they were in beautiful full bloom yesterday, with the kind of flowers that attract influencers like honey bees:

We sat and ate our fries in the glorious sunshine for a bit before heading home to prepare for the second part of our weekend. We were treated to a rowdy version of “Bohemian Rhapsody” on the Circle Line by a stag party but, as we told CousinZ, this was pretty standard for London.

Sunday dawned and the girls were up and raring to go, despite a late night filming fashion videos. For Matilda Part 2, Eva was in costume as Hortensia:

A church service and very quick picnic in Highbury Fields later and we were back in Leicester Square, heading for the Cambridge Theatre.

We were running a little late so no time to take photos of the giant flowers and corgi murals along the way but we made it to our seats just in time even with a loo trip that involved a very long queue (who knew there would be so many small children at a kids’ theatre show?)

The stage version of Matilda is kind of a halfway house between the book version and the new film version. There are some elements that are in the book but left out of the film – like Matilda’s brother Michael – and some elements that are neither in the book nor the film – like the appearance of the Bulgarian mafia and the emphasis on Mrs Wormwood’s salsa competitions. There were also some songs that didn’t make it into the film, like “Telly”and “Loud”. One thing that the film missed out was the reprise of “Miracle” as the children are walking through the gates of Crunchem Hall, which makes the first line of “School Song” make a lot more sense as it references the line “I am a princess, I am a prince”.

Talking of “School Song” – this was one that I didn’t see working on stage as well as it did on film but the choreography around the gate was so sharp that it worked brilliantly. The letters were on blocks pushed through the gate and spotlit as they were sung. I think all three kids said it was their favourite bit.

In fact, all the sets were really clever. The desks rose out of the floor and the bookshelves swished together to form different scenes. The swings that come down during “When I Grow Up” were used almost as a dance and it was beautifully done, even if it did make me feel anxious. I mean, what parent doesn’t feel anxious at seeing kids standing right behind a moving swing?

The kids all knew what they were doing though. They were brilliant actors, singers and dancers – so much so that Eva leaned over to me and said “They must have really dance lessons at Crunchem Hall”. I’m not entirely sure which Matilda we saw but I think it might have been Victoria Alsina. She had a very strong and pure singing voice and sounded just like you’d imagine Matilda to be. We were a little too high in the Gods to see all her facial expressions but, as far as we could see, she looked like Matilda too.

I’m not going to do a full review of this show as, for once, I was there for leisure rather than on a review ticket but it really was a very special afternoon out and I would definitely recommend it if you have a child who’s as obsessed with the songs as Eva is. CousinZ was not as obsessed before the weekend but I think she might be now.

Afterwards, it was time for yet more Five Guys fries – we do eat at other places, I promise, but Eva was in the decision-making seat. And then we wandered through Chinatown, to show CousinZ the sights:

Then up through Soho, neatly dodging some of the dodgier shops, and through Greens Court where there is now a terrifying fancy-dress shop where you can buy dolphin heads:

Lastly through Carnaby Street, where Reuben tried to pose his Five Guys cup as the gold at the end of the rainbow:

(If I’m not sponsored by Five Guys already, I reallllly should be by now)

And past the back door of the London Palladium where Roo made a joke about watching the ET trailer:

Before collapsing onto the Victoria Line at Oxford Circus to get home.

So, two full-on Central London days with a clutch of children….it was exhausting but I think everyone enjoyed it. I’m glad we did the singalong first as I’d warned Eva not to sing along at the theatre or she might get ejected, Bodyguard-style.  That’s why it was good to get it all out of our systems the day before. I don’t know if the Prince Charles is planning on making this a regular event but they definitely should  – it was so much fun. Just remember not to go *too* mad in M&M’s world or you might not be able to pay the mortgage next month….

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Musical Theatre Rave – 02/04/23

Posted on April 7, 2023 by katese11

OK, I’m finally ready to blog about Sunday night. It’s been a busy old week with the Globe on Monday, office and an overnight visitor on Tuesday, Twist Museum on Wednesday and trying to catch up on work on Thursday. So today, when all I’ve had to do is sit in a reclining seat and watch heroic types beating up monsters, I finally have a bit of brainspace to tell you all about the Musical Theatre Rave.

I know – digest that for a minute. It’s not a concept I was familiar either but it’s what it sounds like  – a clubnight where the only tunes played are from musicals. This is definitely my kind of thing so when Bob’s sister invited me, I was more than up for it. As long as I booked the Monday off work, of course.

The rave is hosted by G-A-Y at Heaven, which confused me slightly as back in the day G-A-Y and Heaven were two separate clubs. But I’ve been off the scene for quite a long time so apparently I’ve missed some things. Heaven has not changed much since I last visited in the early 2000s though and thankfully, it was still as welcoming as it ever was…even for a party of straight girls. The only major change is that you don’t get a physical cloakroom ticket anymore and have to take a photo of your number. Now, that’s technology.

Technology had changed a few things actually. When we first got there, the dancefloor was packed but no one seemed to be dancing – just standing around chatting and taking selfies. I wasn’t sure what kind of age range a musical theatre rave would attract but it was packed with trendy young theatre kids. I guess shows like “Hamilton” have made musicals cool again and let’s not forget that this is a generation that grew up on “Glee”. I definitely remember it being uncool to like musicals a few years ago (not that it stopped me) so I’m glad the carousel has turned again.

We found a dark space at the back to limber up a bit to the theme from “Fame” but decided to join the main crowd when our host for the evening – Benjaminge – appeared on the stage. Benjaminge was there to tell us not to rain on her parade but also to introduce two West End stars who’d be performing for us. They were both super-adorable and tiny, especially when compared to the towering heights of our host.

First up was Grace Mouat:

Who performed “Hit Me Baby One More Time”, in “&Juliet” style. She then sang one of Katherine of Aragorn’s songs from “Six”, which was immensely popular with the crowd. In fact, anytime that musical was mentioned, the kids went wild. There was a bit of a generation gap because it’s not a show I’m at all familiar with and the songs are a bit too pop for my taste. But don’t worry – we found plenty of common ground.

Next up was Blake Patrick Anderson, who sang “From Now On” from “The Greatest Showman” and had the first proper crowd singalong of the night as we all hollered “And we will come back home!” back at him. He also sang a really sweet song called “Michael in the Bathroom” about being too shy to talk to people at a party.

Shortly after that, our group  decided to move to the side of the dancefloor that was closer to the bar  and a bit cooler. As I was off in the loos when they decided to move and they waited for mt to come back, it involved performing a tricky manoeuvre where I needed to push through people to get back to our group and then push back past the same people again. Luckily it was while they were playing “You’re Welcome” from “Moana” so as I went, I kept up a manic grin, made eye contact with people and shouted about killing eels and burying their guts. It seemed to defuse the tension.

Ah yes, Disney was indeed an area of common ground between us oldies and the younger folk. There was a lot of Disney played, most of which doesn’t exactly qualify as musical theatre because not every Disney film has been on Broadway (although it sometimes feels like it). So as well as Disney-based show songs (“Lion King”, “Beauty and the Beast”, “Frozen”) there were several which were really just Disney songs (“Encanto”, “Little Mermaid”, aforementioned “Moana”). But of course I sang along with them all anyway. Sadly we were at the bar for “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” but we had a good singalong with everyone else who was there at the same time.

Weirdly, Eva looked at me like she didn’t believe any of this when I told her the next day. She was a bit sceptical that I’d been up half the night dancing to Disney songs in a gay club. I took a few videos to show her though, as I suspected she wouldn’t think it was real. I also think she’d love to go to one of these if there’s ever an under 18s version, especially when the whole dancefloor was shouting about being revolting children as one voice.

I don’t remember exactly what happened when. Not because I was drinking – I only had two drinks all night, to minimise loo trips  – but because it all seemed like such a surreal fever dream that, like Eva, I’m not sure any of it really happened. I do remember the crowd going absolutely wild to “One More Day” to the extent that the DJ turned off the track for the last 30 seconds and we just belted it out. “Let it Go” also got a great reaction, and there were people up on each other’s shoulders for “Defying Gravity”.

Some of the older songs did seem to get a muted reaction. Barely anyone was dancing to “Spoonful of Sugar”, which is practically an insult to the divine Julie. And “Sweet Transvestite” also didn’t hit in the way I’d imagined it would in a gay club. I assume it’s because the terms used are kinda outdated and the younger people felt uncomfortable singing them. But there’s no denying that “Rocky” was hugely influential so I was surprised it wasn’t more popular . I am definitely an old fogie though.

For the most part though, everyone was dancing to pretty much every song except maybe the full-length version of “Bat Out of Hell”. The biggest cheers were definitely for the newer shows like “Heathers” which I haven’t seen because I think I’d miss Christian Slater too much. And of course “Six”, which provided the soundtrack to one of the night’s biggest moments – the lipsync battle between Emma and Harvey:

It was a tough decision for the judges as both contestants were superb but #sorrynotsorry, I was Team Emma all the way. Her lipsynch was just perfect although Harvey’s high kicks were hard to overlook. I think the track was “Don’t Lose Your Head” but I might be wrong.

It might sound chaotic and surreal but it really was an excellent night out. I left at 2, an hour before the end, and got to bed at about half 3 before jumping out and taking the kids to Harvester brunch. No wonder I’m still tired four days later….

Tickets for the next raves are already on sale! Click here for more info.

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Twist Museum – 05/04/23

Posted on April 5, 2023 by katese11

I realise I still haven’t told you what I did on Sunday night – and I will tell you because it’s not often that I do anything remotely hip – but I have something else to tell you about. The Easter holidays are in full flow and I was off work today so wanted to take the kids on an adventure.

All adventures need fuel and we started out at the Mood Lift Cafe near Highams Park station. We had Yorkshire Aunty staying so had to stoke her with red meat before dispatching her back to Leeds. Reuben and I also ordered breakfast baps and Eva had her customary Eva-brunch of scrambled egg, toast, halloumi and hash browns. All the yellow things. Plus some bubble tea, which we’d be carrying around for the next few hours.

Then we took Yorkshire Aunty to Kings Cross and hung out a bit by the canal because the Harry Potter shop had a queue outside and we didn’t fancy that, especially as I wasn’t planning on spending any money in the Harry Potter shop. Still, it was a pleasant day for sitting outside on the fake grass even if Reuben spent most of the time trying to use the fake grass to generate static electricity and shock us. And he was successful. Ouch.

We also spotted this family waiting area which looks a fun place to hang out if we ever need to actually catch a train from Kings Cross. There’s a slide, comfy seats, a model railway and little waiting huts:

After we dropped the spare at Platform 6 and no quarters, we hopped back on the tube and got to Oxford Circus with an hour and a half to kill before our timed entry to the Twist museum. So we wandered around Kingdom of Sweets, again with no intention of spending any money.

And the Disney Store, with a similar lack of intentions. But it was a great place to entertain the kids for a while, especially with the Marvel/Star Wars/Lego “fan zone” upstairs, which was more to Reuben’s taste than the Disney Princess sections:

Then we went to Pret on Vere Street and actually did spend some money on snacks and drinks although of course I got my prepaid coffee. And Eva was still clutching the bubble tea from brunch, so it was an economical trip. It’s a decent sized Pret as well, with lots of seating downstairs and a customer toilet, albeit one where you have to track a staff member down and get the code before you’re allowed in.

By the time we’d finished caffeinating and energising ourselves, it was almost 2pm and our tickets for the Twist museum were for 2:15 entry, with the advice being to arrive 15 minutes early. I think we timed it pretty perfectly. Just to manage expectations after a friend misheard our destination – this is the *Twist* museum, not the Crisp museum. There were no ancient packets of Walkers on display.

The Twist museum is a few doors down from where I used to work, which probably won’t help you find it, but it’s also a couple of minutes’ walk from Oxford Circus, on the same side of the road as H&M. You can spot it pretty easily from the outside:

It looks tiny but the museum is all downstairs. Before you go in, there are lockers and a place to hang coats – the FAQ suggests that all food and drink is left in the lockers but this wasn’t particularly enforced. Probably a good idea to leave as much as possible in the lockers tho, as there are things you’ll need to climb into and you do not want to be dragging a picnic around when you do that. The lockers also seemed to have an issue with the unlocking codes but the staff were very helpful and unlocked it for me when it was time to leave….so don’t worry if you put a code in and it doesn’t unlock. Just be prepared to describe what’s inside the locker and be able to prove that it’s yours.

Anyway, enough of the admin – onto the exhibits! The gateway to the museum is this jaunty corridor:

And the first room makes everyone look like they should be in the Simpsons:

I won’t go through every exhibit as I don’t want to give too many spoilers for anyone else who wants to visit but here were some of the highlights.

The human-size kaleidoscope:

The infinity boxes:

The illusion rooms:

And the seat illusion, where you could have one giant child and one tiny one (I mean, I have those already but you could choose which is which):

These were the big ticket items but there were so many other things to look at as we went through – classic “which square is darker?” and “which line is longer?” illusions, along with a sound lab with some auditory illusions and even a sensory exhibit with hot and cold pads to touch (although the warning about “feeling painful” might put you off this one)

It was fairly crowded and a lot of the exhibits involve being a certain distance away to make them work. So there was quite a lot of people walking backwards into people to try and get a good photo or to see a magic-eye type picture come to life. But everyone was terribly polite about it and seemed to be very understanding. The illusion rooms had short queues to get into but again, everyone was very ordered and polite about it. Thinking about it now, I don’t remember seeing any staff members within the exhibition rooms so visitors did have to self-organise to an extent but it all worked fine. It took us an hour to go through, almost exactly, and it is fairly expensive for the amount of time you spend there but everything in London is getting more expensive all the time so that’s to be expected.

There isn’t a cafe but there is a vending machine and a small gift shop. Eva had asked this decision maker whether we should go and find food after we left and it said “yes”:

So where else but Five Guys Argyll Street for a pile of fries the size of our heads?

And then back home before the tubes got too rush-houry. This annual leave mlarkey is exhausting isn’t it? Lucky I’m back at work tomorrow!

For tickets and more information, click here.

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“The Tempest” at the Globe – 03/04/23

Posted on April 3, 2023 by katese11

Photography by Manuel Harlan, taken during an integrated BSL performance

 

I’ll start this post by saying that I am very, very tired today. I’ll explain the reason in a separate post because it definitely deserves a separate post but needless to say, it was a very tiring reason. But nothing bad, don’t worry.

Still, I needed a lively kind of show to keep me awake this afternoon and luckily this production of The Tempest promised punchiness. It’s a kid-friendly version (Year 5 and up) which comes in at a pleasingly economical 90 minutes. I’m not super familiar with the original text  – I certainly don’t know it off by heart like I do with Midsummer Night’s Dream – but I assume it was abridged and some of the extra nobles and sailors cut out of the plot altogether.

The other thing that was going to keep me awake was coffee. I made an offhand remark to Eva about how there would be around 10 branches of Pret on our walk from Liverpool Street to the Globe and from this offhand remark, we ended up using a random number generator to decide which of these 10 we would get coffee from. The randomly generated number was indeed the number 10. Which sounded like there would be a lot of walking and not a lot of caffeine to fuel it. We cracked around Pret#6 and stopped at this one just north of Southwark Bridge, with lovely views of St Pauls.

Feeling suitable re-energised, we headed over Southwark Bridge and then along the South Bank to the Globe. We had seats in the Lower Gallery, including cushions which we picked up just outside Door 2.

It took us a little while to figure out where we were supposed to be sitting. Turns out that each section of the gallery has a letter  – Bay A, Bay B etc – but every row also has a letter. So I was convinced we were in Bay E but no, we were in Row E in Bay H. It’s a little complicated to get around because there were so many people in the standing area but I guess that’s a positive reflection of how popular the show. And on another positive note, we had great seats – directly in front of the stage, shaded from the sun and with a wall behind us to lean on. Perfect!

It was a beautiful day for outdoor theatre as well. The Globe performances carry on in rain and shine – presumably they would carry on in an actual tempest – but the lack of rain made for a very pleasant experience. For those who were finding the sun a bit much, there were stewards handing around caps made out of cardboard that acted as a sun shade. They really think of everything.

Photography by Manuel Harlan, taken during an integrated BSL performance

My knowledge of The Tempest is mainly from the chapter in “Curtain Up” (I refuse to call it “Theatre Shoes”) where Sorrel plays Ariel. But it’s enough to know what I think the characters should be like – Prospero domineering and stubborn, Caliban comical and pitiful, Ariel strange and ethereal. And I would say that all these characteristics were on show today, with David Hartley’s Prospero looking a bit like The Dude but an irritable and all-powerful version. Caliban was pretty spot on too – it’s a hard balance to pull off pitiful without being whiney but Archie Rush manages it. Charlie Cameron’s Ariel was certainly strange and ethereal even if her voice did remind me of Miranda Richardson. Her costume was gorgeous, especially the wings  – when pressed, Eva decided that Ariel was her favourite character and I can see why. After all, Eva quite strongly identifies with the fae folk and may actually be part-fairy. She was wearing her own version of Ariel’s wings  – a long, shimmering piece of material that once acted as a curtain in my student house and now makes a credible cloak:

Of course, she isn’t basing her knowledge of the play off a 1940s novel…being a bit of a Shakespeare nut, she has read the original and was scornful of me for not doing so.

Photography by Manuel Harlan, taken during an integrated BSL performance

The costume design throughout was bold and striking. The sun made everything look brighter and combinations like bright orange and hot pink were almost blinding at times. But I said I wanted to be kept awake, right?  The occupants of the ship were all in fairly conventional clothing – bright but not outlandish – which contrasted with the more unstructured look of the island folk. Caliban and Ariel both wore tight fitting sparkly caps, which linked them together as Prospero’s slaves and Miranda (Bea Svistunenko) wore a dress and ripped jeans that were sparkly and a bit otherwordly. The nobles, on the other hand, had a much sharper look especially Gonzalo (David Ijiti) who sported tailoring that even Tan France would approve of. He also had some very sharp dance moves.

Photography by Manuel Harlan, taken during an integrated BSL performance

As well as being a bright and colourful production, it was also a very physical one. Right from the start, the actors grapple with one another as they portray the ship being wrecked. It almost looked like they were about to fall off the stage but I assume it was all very carefully choreographed. It throws the audience right into the story and gives a real sense of jeopardy, even in the bright sunshine.

I won’t go through the whole play scene by scene because I am many things but I am not Wikipedia. Instead, I’ll tell you what the highlights were – the tender romance between Miranda and Ferdinand (Azan Ahmed), especially the look on Miranda’s face after their first kiss. The comedy scenes with Caliban, Stephano (Aoife Gaston) and Trinculo (apparently also Bea Svistunenko although I failed to notice that it was a dual role). The “not a fish” and “kissing feet” sequences got proper belly laughs from Eva. The gymnastic skills of Ferdinand and Ariel were also impressive. and we loved the bit where Ariel descended from the roof with those glorious wings again. There were a few tweaks to the script where words seemed to be modernised slightly or added in to create moments of comedy. it may have all been done through a switch of intonation but I think there was a bit of reshaping going on, to help the text appeal to a young adult audience. It wasn’t in any way intrusive or detrimental to the original text though.

Photography by Manuel Harlan, taken during an integrated BSL performance

There was also a bit of gender swapping worked into the script, with a Queen of Naples instead of a King – this switch was only noticeable when there was a line about a “queendom” which didn’t sound quite right. But Emma Manton was so imperious as the ruler that I probably wouldn’t dare to question her. On the nobles side, I also enjoyed Antonio (Zheng Xi Yong) making only the half-heartedest of efforts to look for Ferdinand and the interaction between him and Sebastian (Lloyd McDonagh) as they consider a bit of light regicide.

The production skips past pretty nimbly. At 75 minutes in, Eva asked me what the time was and was astonished that the time had gone so quickly. I was a bit confused because I thought there was an interval and wasn’t sure how much plot could possibly be left. But it runs straight through and certainly my child found that runtime more than manageable. A couple of preschool aged kids in the audience seemed restless towards the end but there were probably just that bit too young.

The venue does add a sense of magic to any Shakespeare production. It was the first time I’d watched a show in the main theatre but we saw Midsummer Mechanicals in the Sam Wanamaker last year and Eva had been to the main theatre before with her BFF.  But it definitely creates an authentic atmosphere, even when the actors are in 90s neons. There can be some logistical issues with a round arena and occasionally the actors were speaking away from us but the acoustics were good and we could hear everything clearly. Playing in the round also allowed the actors to come in through the audience and clamber onto the stage (or not, in Stephano’s case) and there were quite a few moments where the standing audience were able to interact directly with the cast.

We were super lucky to be able to have a poke around backstage after the show. We have a friend in the production crew and she let us have a look at the costumes and props up close as well as stand on the actual stage. I think it was somewhat of a dream come true for the little Shakespeare fan. We went right up to the top of the building and saw the mechanism that allowed Ariel to fly and the musicians’ gallery. It was really cool and totally made Eva’s day. I was amazed by the attention to detail  – even backstage, all the doors are made of heavy oak and the thunder machine is a suitably rustic sheet of metal. We did have a go on the thunder machine and it was so much fun. We also met Azan Ahmed, who played Ferdinand, and he was just so lovely to Eva even though I’m sure he wasn’t expecting to find a 10-year-old fan lurking backstage in her Shakespeare dress.  I’m trying not to make you all jealous as I’m sure my Inside Woman doesn’t want to be swamped with backstage requests but it really was an awesome end to the day.

All that was left was to wander back through Borough and somehow spend a fortune on fruit powder, vanilla sugar and vegan cola bottles. And then a crowded rushhour bus with a tiny dog in a bag but we don’t need to think about that. I’m a bit too tired.

But not too tired to heartily recommend a trip to see The Tempest with your older-primary-aged kids and teens. It’s a great mix of the very traditional setting but a modernised production with plenty of moments that will chime with 21st century kids. It’s onlu on till 15th April but it’s the Easter holidays – what else do you have to do with your time?

The Tempest is playing at the Globe Theatre now – for tickets and more info, click here. 

Disclaimer: I received free tickets in exchange for a review. All opinions remain honest and my own.

Photography by Manuel Harlan, taken during an integrated BSL performance

Posted in Reviewing the Situation | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

The LWAT Plan for London’s Future

Posted on March 24, 2023 by katese11

That sounds grand, doesn’t it? Well, I should clarify that I have not been asked to contribute to the future of London and that’s probably for the best. I seem to be managing several projects at the moment and none of them are going well. If I can’t plan a bathroom, how can I plan a city?

Still, that doesn’t stop me from sticking my oar in. You may well have seen the announcement today that TfL are planning to detangle the London Overground ball of string and name each of its six component lines a proper tube line name. What are the six, you may wonder? Well, I wondered that too and am extremely grateful to Twitter user Jasper Walker for sharing this 2015 proto-tube map which gives us a good idea of what TfL are planning.

Source: Twitter user @JaJaWa

So essentially the Barking line, which runs from Barking to Gospel Oak. The  East London line which takes in the old East London line from Shoreditch to New Cross but also the sprawling bits at the ends, to West Croydon, Clapham Junction and Highbury and Islington. The Emerson Park line, which took me ages to find but it’s that stubby one between Romford and Upminster, linking up the District line and TfL Rail. The Lea Valley line, which is actually three lines out of Liverpool Street – our branch to Chingford but also the bits to Cheshunt and Enfield Town. The North London line which takes in a fair bit of North London but also Stratford in the East and Clapham Junction and Richmond in the South. And finally, the Watford local line which goes….to Watford.

But I have my own ideas.

Let’s take that list in reverse order. I don’t have a beef with the Watford line. I mean, if you want to go anywhere on that line that’s not Basically Watford, then you’d take the Bakerloo line wouldn’t you? So it really is for people who love to go to Watford. I’m not one of those people cause yknow, traumatic memories but there are probably people who have never vomited at a Singalong Sound of Music in those parts. And that’s not even the trauma I’m talking about.

(I was pregnant with Reuben at the time. There weren’t many places I didn’t vomit)

The North London line I’m not so keen on. There are so many stations along that line that are not, by any stretch of the imagination, in North London. Hackney? Kew Gardens? Acton? So I’ve gone with the mildly fanciful Lavenderfield line. It’s named after Lavender Hill at one end – which is the road that Clapham Junction station is on – and Westfield at Stratford at the other.  Along the way, it passes by another Westfield at Shepherd’s Bush and the Richmond branch sweeps past the aforementioned Kew Gardens, which makes the plants references quite appropriate. If only it stopped at London Fields, it would be perfect but it goes pretty darn close. And of course Hampstead Heath takes up a chunk of the line in the middle and that’s basically one big field, right?

Almost as fanciful is my choice for our part of the world – Liverpool Street to Chingford, Cheshunt and Enfield Town. We have the Waterloo & City and the Hammersmith & City so why not the Forest & City? It’s the perfect name for the Chingford branch because when you get off at Chingford, you can be in Epping Forest in five minutes. And at the other end, you step out into the heart of the City of London. Admittedly, it’s not so perfect when you think about alighting in Enfield Town, which I haven’t been to but Streetview suggests the station surrounds are mainly betting shops and Chubby Burgers. Or Cheshunt, which might be pleasant but is a bit of a trek from Epping Forest. So yeah, I entirely named it after the Chingford branch. So sue me.

The Emerson Park line is a funny little line which deserves one of those funny little names that tourists love so much. It goes from Romford to Upminster so how about the Rompup line? It trips off the tongue like Pimlico does and makes the whole RM postcode area sound much more whimsical than it actually is.

As for the East London line – again that needs a little geographical realigning. Peckham isn’t East London and neither is Dalston really – despite its E postcode, it’s right on the cusp of Ns 1 and 16. But what *do* these areas have in common? That’s right! I present to you the Hipster line. When you think about it, it makes total sense for a line that links Shoreditch and Hackney to Peckham and New Cross. I mean, Peckham was never hipster when we lived near there but apparently times have changed. Even when we were there a few years back, times did indeed seem to be changing….it was all toddler indie discos and flat whites instead of stabbing and suspicious pic n mix.

That leaves just one, which in some ways is the easiest. Why would you mess with perfection? The Gospel Oak to Barking Line has forever been the Goblin line and has always proved itself worthy of the name as it does indeed seem to be run by very angry goblins who love 2-carriage trains. Even if it does get renamed, no one will ever call it anything else.

So there we go….TfL, my consulting services come at a very reasonable price….I look forward to my complimentary Oyster card arriving in the post anytime now…

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A Day in Sweden – 17/02/23

Posted on February 22, 2023 by katese11

OK, here’s the misleading second post I promised you. We didn’t actually spend a day in Sweden – it was pretty much just a morning in Sweden. But it matched the last post so there’s that consistency you’re looking for.

One of the reasons we went to Copenhagen was the prospect of being able to shoehorn an extra country into a very short trip. Reuben has a scratch-off map of Europe that gathered dust during the lockdown years and we’re determined to try and get it filled in. So a holiday where we could just nip over to Sweden for the morning seemed ideal.

Besides, it was raining in Denmark. It would be better in Sweden, right?

Wrong.

We’d started the day at the sumptuous breakfast buffet at Hotel Scandia where we ate plentiful Danish pastries and (for the carnivores among us) some very good Danish bacon as well. Then we set off on the short walk to the station in what was a considerable downpour.

Buying tickets to Sweden is pretty easy – there’s a machine inside the station with a Swedish flag on it and the instructions can be put into English. I should have mentioned that you can pay by card at all these machines and, in fact, everywhere in Copenhagen. We didn’t use cash once and ended up having to try and spend it at the airport.

There is some kind of subtlety around the type of ticket you get tho, as on the way back we tried to get on an SJ train from Malmö to Copenhagen and were told that we needed an SJ ticket for that. We assumed we’d just be travelling on the same Øresundståg trains that we got from the airport and that did seem to work for the way there. Just make sure you don’t try and get on the wrong train on the way back.

Another thing to note is that dogs are only allowed on certain carriages. Which is worth knowing because Hans and Crumble had come with us for the trip:

As you might guess, the stunning views from the Øresund Bridge were slightly less impressive than normal in the mist and rain. Still, it was exciting to cross over the artificial island of Peberholm and then the vast, choppy waters of the Sound. Less exciting was a long wait at Hyllie station but then we got moving and soon arrived at Malmö C.

When I was researching this trip, I saw some advice that said to alight one stop before Malmö Central, at a station called Triangeln. It apparently opened straight into a shopping mall and had a funky glass roof. When I read that, I wasn’t overly inspired but turns out it would have been a very smart move because my actual plan – wander round Malmö and see what we find – was not entirely waterproof.

So we left the station and wandered around to see what we could find. And initially, not a lot. Malmö seems to be one of those towns  – like Calais – that exist as a transport hub rather than a destination in their own right. I might be judging it harshly by the few hours we spent there but there didn’t seem to be a lot of things open so it was hard to really get a flavour of the town. Where Copenhagen seems overflowing with hipster coffee shops, Malmö doesn’t seem to have quite gentrified yet, though we did spot one later in the day, in this old theatre:

There was also a Brewdog which seemed a bit innocuous next to its more traditional neighbours but is perhaps a sign that the hipsters are on their way. I’ll leave it up to you as to whether that’s a good thing or not.

At one point we noticed a church had its doors opened and nipped inside for a quick respite from the torrential rain but the priest looked surprised to see random people walking in and so we walked back out.

Eventually I took to Google Maps to see if there was somewhere we could go to for coffee and some entertainment. My phone was struggling with a new country’s mobile network and also a considerable amount of rain on its screen so it wasn’t being overly co-operative. The first suggestion I spotted  – the Disgusting Food Museum – seemed like a bad idea just before lunch. But the Moderna Museet was a better prospect and after a few wrong turns we found it. It’s quite distinctive as it’s bright orange and has these rotating poles just outside:

And inside there was cake and refillable coffee. Hooray!

We slowly thawed out and dried out and then put our wet coats in the cloakroom to have a look around the exhibitions. There are also free lockers (all named after artists) to stash any bags.

I don’t really understand modern art but I was grateful to be out of the rain and finally engaging with some Swedish culture. The exhibition was called “Skymningsland” – “Twilight Land” – and there were a number of video installations, as well as some outsize sculpture:

One of the videos took place in an entirely dark room where screens showed the artist portraying luminescent fish. It was oddly soothing. Then we watched a 16-minute film called “Climate Change Propaganda” which was in English but also quite accusatory towards the English. Which is an odd position to be in as a visitor to the country. Still, it featured both wolves and Thanos so the kids were happy.

Reuben also liked this picture, which he thought was impressive:

All in all we spent around an hour at the museum which was good as it wasn’t huge and it only cost us around 100 Swedish Kroner to get in. We hadn’t seen anywhere particular for lunch so at the kids’ insistence we lunched back at the station. Reuben wanted to try a Swedish meatball sub from Subway but they didn’t have meatballs so he just had the same chicken and bacon sub he has in Highams Park all the time. Travel really does broaden the mind, doesn’t it?

It’s worth noting that, if you’re looking for trains back to Denmark from Sweden, you won’t see “Copenhagen” or “København” on the boards. It’s something like “Köpenhamn” in Swedish, which seems obvious when you write it down but did raise some questions in my mind as we went to catch the train. Not as many questions as this sign did though:

I’ve already mentioned that you should not get the SJ train back but luckily the trains are very regular and while you wait, there’s a cool train-window video installation to look at:

We got back to Copenhagen speedily and it was only when we are the airport the next day that I found out we were just in time. The Øresund Bridge was closed due to the weather conditions mid-afternoon and other people with a similar plan to ours had found themselves stranded in the wrong country. So we were pretty lucky.

As we got back to the hotel, the weather was just breaking and we caught a glimpse of Copenhagen blue sky for the first time:

Just in time to go and hang out in darkened rooms for a few hours. A few seconds’ walk from our hotel was the Planetarium and we’d promised Eva that we’d find time to visit. She’s going through a bit of a space phase at the moment so I knew she’d like it. It’s relatively pricey – DKK800 including a refundable deposit of DKK200 for English-language headsets – but our time in Copenhagen was limited and it was something we knew we wanted to do. I think we were there for two hours including the film so got a fair bit of value for our money. If we’d gone earlier in the day, we could have taken part in the workshops but obviously when going from our hotel to something a few metres away, it is essential to take a diversion via another country.

The first thing you see as you walk into the exhibitions is a big dark room. This was becoming a theme. There are interactive screens where you can stand in a little circle of light and command the space dust:

And a similar exhibit in the next room where you can make stars follow in your footsteps and occasionally go supernova:

At one point, the whole room went dark and we witnessed the Big Bang:

Every ticket includes a film in the dome at the top of the building. There’s a lift up but it’s small and there was a bit of a queue so we took the stairs. There were quite a lot of them:

Our film was about a plucky hamster who builds a rocket out of a surprisingly well-equipped junkyard. The film was fine, even if Reuben objected to its attempts to educate him, and we had the English dialogue through our headsets. But it was the standard pre-film film “Journey to Space” which was really impressive. Eva genuinely thought the seats were moving as we flew through the solar system and even I was gripping our seat arms. It’s what you go to a planetarium for, really…and don’t tell Reuben but it was also educational.

Back downstairs there was another exhibition called “Saturn’s Rings”. The kids sped through this one as I was getting the deposit back for the headsets but there were different meteors on stands and an interactive bit where you could feel the weight of moonrock:

Then we went back through the first room we’d been in cause the kids enjoyed it so much:

And that is probably where I’ll leave our Scandinavian adventure, before I get bogged down with the horrors of trying to board a Ryanair flight. If you do fancy a 72-hour jaunt, I would recommend it. There was so much more we could have done and both Malmö and Copenhagen would probably be glorious in the summer when we could properly explore the parks and go to the beaches. So who knows? We may just be back…

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A Day in Denmark – 16/02/23

Posted on February 19, 2023 by katese11

I’ll admit that this blog post title is a bit misleading but don’t worry…the next blog post title will also be misleading so I’m being consistent. We didn’t actually go to Denmark for a day although Nathan and I have done that before. We learnt the hard way that a four-hour visit to Esbjerg Fish Museum does not make up for 24 hours on a very rough North Sea ferry. Doesn’t Nathan still look a bit green in this photo?

This time we flew and the whole enterprise took more like three days than one. But I thought it was a catchy title and I’ll explain as I go along.

The first few hours away from home were neither interesting nor in Denmark….but I’ll explain them anyway in case they’re useful to others. Our flight was at 6:40 on Thursday morning and so, after doing some maths, I decided to book a hotel at Stansted the night before to avoid Nathan having to drive in the ungodly hours. We only live 25 minutes from Stansted (as long as the M11 isn’t closed) but it was much more relaxed doing that drive on the Wednesday evening rather than in the morning. Plus, the price for hotel plus parking combined wasn’t much more than just booking longstay parking on its own.  We stayed at the Novotel, which is right next to M11, and the parking was all very straightforward once I looked at the documents for this year instead of the ones from 2019. Hey, even the best-laid plans can go awry, right?

It wasn’t an amazing night’s sleep as we were a bit cramped and one of us kept kicking another one of us but I was never going to sleep well knowing that we had to be up at 3 and out by 4. But we made it and were on the 4am shuttle bus to the terminal which got us there around 4:10 (for a sum of £4 per adult). Remarkably, Stansted was pretty much flawless – maybe it was because ours was one of the first flights of the day but we checked in our suitcase in less than 5 minutes, breezed through Security and were eating a Wetherspoons breakfast by 5am. I know, I should boycott Wetherspoons but sometimes it is a necessary evil. And it’s a necessary evil with a good breakfast.

From there, everything continued smoothly. We took off on time, landed ahead of time and found ourselves in a modern art corridor at Copenhagen airport around 9am local time.

Once we’d got our suitcase back, we followed signs for the “Tog” (train) and found a bank of ticket machines which could sell us a ticket to København H  – Copenhagen Central Station. The train line was the Øresundstag, which were grey trains with red writing, and it seemed to run every 15 minutes or so. It’s a few minutes walk from Arrivals to the station platform so allow for that – and for buying a ticket – but again, it was a pretty smooth process. I managed to get the ticket I needed without putting the machine into English but there’s a button to do that which probably would have helped.

Anyway, we arrived in central Copenhagen around 10 and walked to the Hotel Scandia to leave our luggage there, ahead of our 3pm check in time. The smiley man at the desk offered us an upgrade to a suite with immediate check in for a very reasonable price but I could feel the early start catching up with me and I knew that if we took his offer we’d all crash out and miss most of our day.

So we pressed on and went to a hipster coffee shop called Social Brew where we fuelled up on coffee, hot chocolate and pastries. I must confess at this point that I didn’t really attempt to speak any Danish the whole time we were there, apart from saying “tak” every so often. I usually try to use a few words but so many of the places we went to had the menus in English and the staff spoke English to other customers in front of us, even if neither party was actually English. So I gave into it and just used English wherever we went. I’ll have to go back to Austria sometime to make me feel like less of a monoglot.

Once we were caffeinated, we headed into what looked like the main part of town on the map. I didn’t have an aim in mind, just to wander and see what we could see. The weather wasn’t amazing – drizzly and misty – but, again, we knew we didn’t have time to waste. So we started walking in an north-easterly kind of direction to see what we found.

The first thing we found were these statues, which represented the planets of the solar system along with their respective gods:

I think the spacing was meant to be proportionate as the first four were clustered together on one plinth. We’ve seen similar ideas on the Isle of Wight and at Ruislip Lido but these looked like they had been there longer than either of those.

There were a few space-related things to see in Copenhagen but we’ll get on to those later.  At this point, we were skirting around the edges of Tivoli Gardens which is one of the main tourist attractions but isn’t open in February. The kids were delighted to spot the Kahoot! offices and were also amused to see an Irish pub next to and English pub (the Scottish pub was just around the corner) with a Burger King and McDonald’s facing each other across the street. We were truly in an international kind of city and one that felt reassuringly familiar.

Crossing Hans Christian Anderson Boulevard felt like we were moving into the older part of the city. The plaza outside the Rådhus was under construction so not quite the old-school elegance you might see in the brochures. It was still raining so I hoped we might stumble across somewhere of interest where we could shelter for a bit. The first place we saw that the kids *might* like was Warhammer and I think we’d looked around one of those in Windsor a few years when on a similarly rainy walk. It is a very specialist shop and although my kids are of the geeky persuasion, they are not yet painting tiny figurines. But it boded well for more geeky shops they might like and sure enough, we soon found a generic games shop with an impressive array of dice options. The little dice goblin was in her element.

Then we found the big hitter – Faraos Cigarer, which was a shop for live action role playing. They had weaponry and armour and a mocked up tavern with bottles of mead. “Everything is so cool” squealed Eva while I tried to persuade Reuben not to wield *all* the swords.

We didn’t buy anything because we were travelling light and an adult-size full-body shield is not travelling light. But it made the DnDers of the family very happy. The same brand also had a comic shop across the road but I had had enough geekery for now and was ushering the rest of them towards some culture.

And here it was  – the Rundetaarn or the Round Tower. See if you can figure out how it got that name.

For around 100DKK (about £10) the four of us could shelter from the rain and climb the spiral ramp to look out over all of Copenhagen. The climb is fairly steep but easier if you stick to the the bit near outside wall, which is more steps but a gentler gradient.

Along the way there are glimpses of the magnificent church that the tower is attached to:

And hidey holes just big enough for a skinny teen:

At the top of the ramp there’s a 360 degree viewing platform which would be spectacular in sunshine but was still pretty good in the drizzle:

It’s accessed by a short flight of spiral stairs which has a one-way system controlled by red and green lights. Reuben took this all a bit too literally and was counting down the seconds until the green light, regardless of whether there was anyone coming down the other way. From the viewing platform there was another tiny flight of steps up to a mini-planetarium which was closed on the day we were there but you could still get the idea.

On the way back down Eva wanted to have a look at the art exhibition that was off to one side. Unfortunately she doesn’t quite understand how glass works and walked straight into a glass wall. The exhibition was pretty tho:

All that climbing had given us an appetite so we headed to the nearest hipster burger place – Jagger, which was a couple of minutes’ walk away. Eva had the halloumi burger, which she rated delicious, and I had a very nice Katsu burger. It wasn’t super cheap but nothing in Copenhagen is…and it was very relaxed, which was what we needed after a long morning.

Revived by some food we decided to wander a little further and discovered the Kongens Have – the King’s Garden. It probably wasn’t the ideal day to visit but we admired the extremely rectangular trees:

And hung out in the sandy playground a bit:

The gardens are home to one of Copenhagen’s castles  – the Rosenborg Slot  –  and something intriguingly called “the Jazz Lawn” although it didn’t look overly jazzy.

There was also a statue of Hans Christian Anderson, which had a QR to hear him talk. I think the sound file might be slightly confused though, as the statue mentioned being on his own boulevard and pigeons pooping on his top hat. This statue was a long way from the boulevard we’d crossed earlier and definitely didn’t have a top hat. There is another statue which matches the description but we didn’t manage to swing by and check if it had the corresponding file.

Overthinking about HCA made me realise quite how tired I was and quite how far away from the hotel we were. We turned around and started walking back through town, with a stop at the Lego Store on the way. I mean, you have to do something Lego-related when you’re in Denmark, don’t you? Eva built some minifigs  – Lute Girl, Blue-Hair Guy and Karen – and we all got scanned by the minifig machine to see who we would be. Eva’s was a bit terrifying:

There was also a very cute rendering of Copenhagen in Lego:

As we wandered back to the hotel, I started wondering about finding a toilet. Near the courthouse, there was a pissoir which I rightly assumed was only for boys. Happily, the other side of the cubicle was a “Missoir” which was the equivalent for girls. Sadly, it was exactly like a pissoir for girls – a hole in the ground with instructions on how to squat. We moved on. Fortunately there was a much better equipped bathroom in the Metro station outside the Rådhus so I didn’t need to master the Copenhagen Squat. 

And on that delightful note, I will leave you for now. As predicted, as soon as we checked into the hotel we pretty much crashed out, only emerging to buy some food at the local store for a hotel room picnic. Eva, inventive as ever, had a crisp-and-homous pitta pizza:

We had another day and another country to tick off but that is another post…

 

 

 

Posted in Creating precious childhood memories or something (days out) | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments