EUROPE Some London Fun for Everyone “So, what are your plans while you’re in London?” the Heathrow immigration agent genially asked my sister, my niece and me, while leafing through my passport. “We’re going on a tour of the East End, where our Grandma lived as a child,” I replied, excitedly, gesturing at my sister. “And then, we’re going to see Jennifer Saunders speak. You know, from Absolutely Fabulous.” The agent was not amused. “And you, young lady,” she continued, zeroing in on my niece with a look that conveyed both kindness and pity. “What are you going to do in London that’s fun for you?” Her pointed question had a point. We reviewed our plans as we rode the Piccadilly line into London from Heathrow, enjoying a punchy giggle each time the destination of “Cockfosters” was announced. We decided to stop in London for a few days on the way to my younger sister’s wedding in Paris (read more about our Paris trip) in order to acclimate to the time change without immediately assaulting my niece with another language. The one thing my sister and I wanted to do was explore the neighborhood in which my grandmother spent the first 12 years of her life. And the one thing I wanted to do was see my comedy hero. Indeed, our brief, busy stay did not include much kid-friendly fun.
5
Embed
Sulkis_Some London Fun for Everyone _ Roam Family Travel
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
7/8/2015 Some London Fun for Everyone | Roam Family Travel
“So, what are your plans while you’re in London?” the Heathrow immigration agent genially asked my sister, my niece and me,while leafing through my passport.
“We’re going on a tour of the East End, where our Grandma lived as a child,” I replied, excitedly, gesturing at my sister. “And then,we’re going to see Jennifer Saunders speak. You know, from Absolutely Fabulous.”
The agent was not amused.
“And you, young lady,” she continued, zeroing in on my niece with a look that conveyed both kindness and pity. “What are yougoing to do in London that’s fun for you?”
Her pointed question had a point.
We reviewed our plans as we rode the Piccadilly line into London from Heathrow, enjoying a punchy giggle each time thedestination of “Cockfosters” was announced. We decided to stop in London for a few days on the way to my younger sister’swedding in Paris (read more about our Paris trip) in order to acclimate to the time change without immediately assaulting myniece with another language. The one thing my sister and I wanted to do was explore the neighborhood in which my grandmotherspent the first 12 years of her life. And the one thing I wanted to do was see my comedy hero. Indeed, our brief, busy stay did notinclude much kid-friendly fun.
Luckily, the family history portion turned out to be interesting for everyone. We went into the last of the East End chicken shops. InGrandma’s time, people brought their home-cooped chickens into these places for slaughter for special meals. And what was oncethe best-attended synagogue in London is now an office building. The women working here knew about the history of the placeand could not have been lovelier to us.
The good people of London—and one bloke, in particular—conspired to show us all a great time. Getting to Kingston-on-Thamesto see Ms. Saunders required a 30-minute ride on the London Overground, the Tube’s less famous sibling, which afforded us acomfy place to take in the scenery after a morning of walking through family history. Once at the Rose Theatre, I prepped for thetalk appropriately with tea, vodka and Bonkers.
As if meeting Ms. Saunders and dining at adorable Jamie Oliver’s adorable Kingston restaurant (which Ariel somewhat magicallylocated on her phone!) weren’t enough, we also got a kid-friendly itinerary for the next day—one that would surely meet theborder agent’s standards—compliments of Kevin, a ’70s-punk-cum-middle-aged-filmmaker we met after we got on the wrong trainfor our return to central London.
Unboring Historical Tours – I would have been satisfied simply walking
the streets my grandmother knew as a child. But then my sister Googled
“Jewish East End” and found Phil. Not only did we get to know more
about Grandma’s past, but we got to know Phil, a warmhearted Tory with
a real feeling for the neighborhood and a passion for history. He
connected dots we didn’t even know to ask about, explained how so
The Not So Good
London Is Expensive! – Despite the longstanding jokes, food in London
is pretty delicious, but many Americans will have sticker shock, especially
if they’re used to feeding the family cheaply on fast food or farmers’
market fare. Transportation is unbelievably quick and convenient, but the
pounds can add up there, too. For instance, the return train trip to
Kingston-on-Thames from Waterloo Station was more than the cost of
“There is no wrong train” became our mantra for the rest of the trip. Even now, I find it comes in handy on a nearly daily basis.
The Roam Report – London
Travelers: The Sulkis Family – Karen, sister Paula and Paula’s 12-year-old daughter, Ariel
Date: April 2014
Itinerary: London (3 nights)
Budget: Under $1,000 for 3 nights accommodation in a lovely Hampstead apartment, meals, multiple rides on the LondonUnderground, 3 return tickets on the London Overground, 3 tickets to see Jennifer Saunders and a private walking tour of the EastEnd.
spot which guard would move next. I hope the Queen enjoyed her
bubbly laughter.
Good Family Trip?
Absolutely! I just wish we had more time. While we thoughtour family heritage adventure would only be interesting tomy sister and me, we were happy to see Ariel appreciatedit, too, especially when rummaging through cool shopstopped off the historical stops.
— Karen Sulkis, July 2015
Want more family trip ideas? Read more ROAM.Got feedback or more ideas on this story? Email ROAM.Want to write about your family trip? Contribute to ROAM.