Wicked London

Our last full day was spent in London.  There is no way to see it all in one day, but we did our best.  I have also included our Wicked pictures in this blog even though we did this on our first day.

Before we went to Wicked we found a Pub across the street from the Apollo Victoria Theater.  It was perfect, we ate traditional food and because we had a window seat we could watch all the Londoners going about their business.  I must say, Bailey and I commented a couple of times on the blasts of color that scream from some of the clothing styles there.  They are bold and secure in their boldness!  Our traditional meal consisted of "bangers and mash" which is sausages and mashed potatoes.  I read that the sausages got their name bangers from war time.  They were filled with water to make the meat go longer and therefore would explode when they were fried.

I went for the fish and chips.  I'm glad I did, I have always wanted to try British fish and chips.  My stomach loved it, then reminded me how much it loved it all night long.  Felt like a brick but totally worth it.

Wicked was even better than we imagined.  Such a great twist on the Wizard of Oz and I love how they took the "underdog/bad witch" and gave perspective of why they act (or pretend to act) the way they do.  For the rest of their lives, whenever Bailey and McKenna think of Wicked, they will think "toss, toss" and sing the song Popular. 

Before the show we bought the kids show treats.  Um, you can buy a bucket of candy . . . literally.  The Frandsen's now have included in their tight circle of favorite treats: fizzy cherries.  Mark is going back to the UK in July and these are on his list.  We scrambled the night before we flew out to find some, but by the time we got to our hotel the groceries were closed.  The gas station let us down, no fizzy cherries to be had.

Bailey, eating out of her candy bucket.  Don't think for a minute that my wardrobe choice was by chance.  It was totally on purpose!!

Whispering to Elphaba, probably telling her that she really likes her monkeys and that she would be her friend even if no one else would.  Also, pretty pretty please sing Defying Gravity until the day you die, it is that good, even if Glee did cheapen it.

So onto our day in London.  We decided the best way to see London is from the traditional red open top bus.  Good in theory, but big red buses do not get the right of way, they have to wait in line with everyone else.  It worked for us, McKenna took a big long nap, we were rewarded with a happy 7 year old for the rest of the day.

Look kids, It's Big Ben.  Look kids, "It's Big Ben again".  We drove that traffic circle from Chevy Chase's scene in "European Vacation" but our bus driver knew how to get out.  On the first try!

Here is the back of Westminister Abby.  One thing that surprised me about London is that they charge admission for EVERYTHING.  And not a respectful 2-3 euro for cathedral update and such.  Try a whopping 12-16 POUNDS per site.  Dear London, I'm not impressed by that or by your obscene dollar to pound exchange rate.  I will forgive you because Westminister is lovely and I'm enamored with your royalty.

The girls and I in front of the statue dedicated to Queen Victoria.  This is right outside of Buckingham Palace where the changing of the guard takes place.  No, we didn't see that.  Frandsens are no longer fond of European crowds.

Buckingham Palace, waiting for our names to be called to visit the Queen.  Someone didn't get that memo.

We took a side tour into Harrod's.  That place is a whole different shopping experience on a whole different level.  The bottom level is groceries, but like famous groceries.  You are lucky to be buying their famous groceries and you better honor that luck.  Beautiful displays though.  Bailey and I got a kick out of the Barbie section (the whole toy section is just like going to kid heaven, only the largest kid heaven that you can think of).  Here is Prince Edward and his new bride and luckily they were put on a higher shelf than Bride Bella and Groom Edward.  At least they have their priorities right in the Barbie section.  And a shout out to Harrod's for putting the Hannah Montana barbie on the lowest shelf, right'o!

 

I loved the reminder all over the city of where traffic was coming from.  Look left, look left, look right. Or was it that I just loved that the reminder was in English . . . 

Harry Potter Studio Tours

Now that the Harry Potter movie series is complete, the studio where all 7 movies were filmed over a 10 year period, has opened it's door to let you really have a true HP experience.  The studio, located northwest of London, barely opened its doors in March.  So as soon as I found out about it, I knew we had to add it to our London itinerary. So glad I did, it was so SO much fun!

Here is where it all started, #4 Privet Drive.  This was on the back lot along with the Knight's Bus, Hogwart's bridge to the school, Tom Riddles's headstone, Haggrid's motorcycle, the chess figures, and the Weasley's car.

We also tried Butter Beer on the back lot.  It tastes a lot like cream soda would if you added butterscotch, then they add this thick creamy foam to the top.  It was a flavor bomb in your mouth!

 We started the tour watching a video interviewing the actors that played Harry, Ron and Hermiony.  They talked about their experience on the set and made us aware of all the different shops such as costume, make-up, creature creation, architecture etc.  After the movie, we entered Hogwarts through the main doors straight into the Great Hall.  Here are the girls in front of Dumbledore's costume.

 After the Great Hall we were released to explore on our own, so we used our eyes and listened with our ears to experience the Harry Potter story on a whole new level.

The Mirror of Erised:

 

Snape's Potions Classroom:

 

The entrance to the Chamber of Secrets:

 Dumbeldore's Army Wand Collection:

 Chocolate Creation from a banquet in the Great Hall:

 Dumbledore's Office:

 Collection of wand props:

 All three of Harry's brooms:

  Shopping on Diagon Alley!

 The replica of Hogwart's took 3 months to build inside it's own sound stage.  All the outside shots of Hogwarts were taken using this replica, then the flying owls and the wizards and witches on broomsticks were digitally added.  It was super impressive and pictures alone cannot describe how detailed it is.

 McKenna in the wand room. A wand box (not sure if an actual wand was inside each one) was made for every person that worked on the movie series.  It. was. a. large. room!

 

 The next day while touring London, we made sure one of our stops on the tube was at King's Cross station.  There we were able to "try" to go to Hogwart's!

 

 

 

Visitors!

Clark, Kelly and Gage came to visit us for 2 weeks in April.  While we were still working and in school we sent them on a few trips by themselves.  They went to Holland to see the tulips, Paris and took a Rhine River cruise.  During the week of our spring break we drove to Bavaria and spent the week there.

The kids getting eis at our favorite cafe in Oberammergau.  We cannot go down to Garmisch without stopping here for a cone . . . or two.

One afternoon we went to the Linderhoff Palace to see what King Ludwig's vision of Versailles.

One of the things we did that the four of us have not done before was the Ettal Monastery.  It is really beautiful inside, mostly white walls and all the decor is in gold and pastel colors.

Kelly was interested in going to the Swarovski museum and shop in Innsbruck Austria.  While Clark, Kelly and Bailey toured the museum, Mark and I stayed outside with McKenna and Gage and let them play on the climbing playground and zip line.

In Garmisch, lunch for Bailey consisted of schnitzel the size and shape of Africa.  We called it the "African schnitzel".

View of the alps from our restaurant in Garmisch.

McKenna was thrilled to find a drindle that I hope fits here for a long time so she can wear it when we move stateside.

It was a great visit.  We loved renewing our relationships with family.  We especially love being able to help Gage celebrate his 5th birthday while they were here!

Dachau Memorial

We ended our weekend at the Dauchau Concentration Camp Memorial. This is something I have wanted to do for the past couple of years, but we just didn't know how to do it with the kids.  They discourage entrance to any child under the age of 12 but they won't turn you away.  There is a museum that presents the timeline of the creation of the camp until it's liberation. Outside the museum you are able to walk around the complex which includes a reconstructed barrack, role call area, partially reconstructed guard towers and outer walls and the crematorium.

The entrance, called the Jourhaus includes the saying "Work sets you free".

 

We chose to split up, Mark and McKenna walked the complex outside, while Bailey and I went into the museum.  After we finished, Mark went in alone.  I thought Bailey would decline the museum but she went with me and even watched the documentary film.  It is heart wrenching and I found myself feeling nauseated through the whole museum.  But when all is said and done, I feel strongly that younger generations know what happened here, how else do we prevent history from repeating itself?  I do understand that human suffering is ongoing and we have examples of it all over the world now.  But as a mother, I feel obligated to teach my girls the truth of the world which includes compassionate accomplishments and horrible acts of inhumanity, I want to teach them history.

This picture of Bailey and McKenna is looking down camp road.  The poplar trees are the actual trees planted by the prisoners during their imprisonment.

I still find it hard to reconcile the things that happened in this country during WWII.  Germany has taken back their country and made it their own again.  The German people are kind, hard working and like to have fun.  They are very social, they do not sit in their houses, they are out in the walkplatz, out to dinner and mingling with each other.  It is good to experience this while we have lived here, it shows resilience in their hearts.  Germany has so many treasures, not only in their landscape but in the traditional trades that they have saved and passed down from generation to generation.  I'm so blessed to have had the opportunity to live here and experience German life!