We returned to the park in the afternoon. It was a sunny day so it was a very easy place to be.
In the evening, Ryan and I left to go to dinner at pan-asian restaurant nearby called E and O. Then we went to the Victoria and Albert museum. We saw a special exhibit called British Design: Innovation in the Modern Age 1948-2012. England has a population of 50 million people and it is roughly the size of Louisiana. It's pretty incredible how much talent and innovation has emerged from this small island. We saw samples of their mid-century modern architecture, an IMac from head of design at apple, Jonathon Ives, samples of work from Damien Hirst and Alexander McQueen, lots of costumes and pictures from famous musicians like Brian Eno, Mick Jagger, the Beatles.. We then wandered around the regular exhibits a bit.
Courtyard of V & A:
Front of museum:
Inside the main entrance hangs a large glass sculpture by Dale Chihuly. This surprised me. First because I didn't know Dale Chihuly was so famous that his work would be displayed in such an esteemed museum. Second because there is nothing about the grand Greek classical design of the entrance that matches with the funky multi-colored sculpture. I wonder how they decided on that piece.
It was 10 when we left. We caught a bus home and stopped for gelato. One of the things I love most about this trip is that we walk everywhere or take public transportation. We get to see and experience so much this way. Jack has become a pro on the scooter and we walk many miles a day.
Saturday, all 9 of us took a high-speed train to Dover. Dover is a small town on the southeastern coast of England. It was a cold, sunny day. We took a boat cruise so we could see the famous White Cliffs then we hung out on the beach for the day. Kate and I took the kids to much less expensive tea around 4. The kids were freaking out from hunger and probably fatigue and Stephen and Ryan couldn't handle the chaos and left. Once the food and tea arrived, they calmed down. A British woman, who had just walked in, complimented us on how well-behaved our children were. I thought she was joking... but she wasn't!
Kate's oldest driving the boat
Our hotel was an old, historic hotel on the water and we had a lovely view of the water. We ate a simple dinner of bread, cheese, and fruit together in our room.. reminding me of my college days.
The next day we toured the very old and stunning Dover castle. We started the day with a tour of the secret war tunnels that had been instrumental in planning a successful evacuation of trapped British and French troops at the Battle of Dunkirk on the French coast which is only 21 miles away. The Germans had pushed the troops to the coast. The British navy evacuated around 300,000 troops over a week. There are miles of tunnels under the castle. The tour guide explained to us that until WWII, Dover had many buildings from medieval times but those buildings were all destroyed by the German bombing. The Germans did not bomb the castle and no one really knows why. It is assumed that Hitler planned to use the castle as a base.
In front of a tunnel
actors at the castle re-enacting the medieval era
We toured the castle which was built in 1100 by King Henry II. We climbed to the roof and had a great view of Dover and a faint view of the French coast. We then returned to our hotel and hopped on the high-speed train and went home.
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