London Attractions and Friends in Norfolk

After our stay in Manchester, we went down to London for what would have been the Labour Day long weekend, had we still been in Canada. We decided to see the town! Over three days, we went to Madame Toussaud’s Wax Museum, the British Museum (my son had wanted to check out their Egyptology section for years, and he wasn’t disappointed!), the Tower of London, the Sea Life aquarium, and took rides on the London Eye and a river boat on the Thames! We also had a great evening out at a West End musical show: We Will Rock You showcasing the greatest hits of the rock supergroup, Queen.

We had an unexpected adventure in Greenwich. We had decided to try to fit in a side trip out to the Fan Museum there at the end of the day. Unfortunately, the map in our guidebook was nowhere near a useful scale, and we ended up hiking up hill and down dale all over the town of Greenwich! We took so long, that by the time we finally stumbled on the museum by chance on what seemed a little side road, it had closed five minutes prior! There was nothing to be done but find a spot for dinner. We did end up at the Café Rouge, where we both had a super meal before we got back on the train and returned to our hotel on the other side of London.

We left London on the Tuesday morning and headed north again, this time to Norfolk, to visit my wonderful friend from high school and meet her family for the first time.  They made us warmly welcome in their house in the countryside, introducing us to their lifestyle and friends, as well as taking us on side trips to the seaside, proper English pubs, a fabulous garden, and the Out There festival of circus and street performing arts.

 The coastline shown in this picture is rapidly eroding--sometimes as much as ten metres can slide into the sea in a single night.

As you can imagine, this is a grave concern, not only to local authorities, but to the poor homeowners who have had to abandon their property.

These clever stilt performers were among the fascinating acts we saw at the festival. In the afternoon, there were also workshops for any who wanted to take part, so my friend's husband took the   kids to learn how to clown around with minimal props--they had a great time!