Travel Archives - Page 5 of 7 - Conversations through the middle

Legoland, Windsor – review

August 17, 2012

My days of stepping on Lego are long gone now Dot has reached the grand old age of 11. She’s into her computer, DS, phone and ipod, and the Lego alas, like the dollies, cot and pram have been relegated to the cupboard, I suspect never to be played with again.

So I was a tiny bit apprehensive about our trip to Legoland – would she like it or would she find it too babyish? Well, she loved it.

From the moment we arrived – Dot and her friend, who we took with us, never stopped running around, exclaiming at the different rides, chatting excitedly and frankly leaving the OH and me trailing behind wondering why we no longer have that wonderful childhood oomph that propels you through hours of play without needing a rest.

The girls drove lego cars around the driving school, earning their Lego licences in the process; they took a battery powered boat around the Boating School lake; zapped baddies in the new Laser Raiders ride and braved the rapids of Viking River Splash. Like me, Dot is not into scary or fast rides so OH went on the Jolly Rocker and Pirate Falls Dynamic Drench with Dot’s friend – this was too much like Splash Mountain at Disneyland for me; I went on that once and screamed the entire time, never again.

I was also allowed to accompany the kids on Spinning Spider, which is like spinning teacups. (Why do children go through a stage of being embarrassed by their parents?) What a laugh – we turned the wheel so fast we whirled round continually and I found it difficult to stand straight afterwards, my head still spinning.

The girls of course were fine and strolled off to find the next ride.

Just one thing – the queues! It was a lovely day and it is the summer holidays so it’s no surprise the park was busy, but oh the time we spent waiting in line. One hour here, 1.5 hours there, and so on. We didn’t get to see everything because of the queues – though we could have rented a Q-bot to book a time on the rides for £15 per person. And that was just to avoid standing in line, even with a Q-bot you still have to wait the same amount of time as other people, just not in the line. Unless you pay £40 each, which cuts waiting time by 75%, or £70 each, which cuts waiting time by 95%. That’s each!

We waited in the queues.

Be prepared to spend money when you’re there because though most of the activities are included in the ticket price, some are not; then there’s face painting and hair braiding, fairground games and of course souvenir shops.

I noticed lots of people had picnics with them, which was a great idea I didn’t think of. We were going to eat dinner in one of the restaurants (at the moment you receive a free children’s meal with every adult meal bought after 4pm) but in the end the girls decided to spend what time there was left before the park closed queuing for another ride.

Best bargain of the day? If you buy a Lego cup of soda for £6 (cola, orange or lemon/lime) you get free refills for as long as you can drink them – which with our two was all the time we were there. They drank constantly. It’s a wonder they weren’t running around the ceiling when we got home.

London monuments – Edward VII statue

July 18, 2012

I love this statue in London, so regal. It’s located in Waterloo Place where everybody can see it – but who the hell put a parking sign in front it? Does the local council have no soul?

Olympic torch comes to Colchester

July 6, 2012

We had a bit of a historic moment in Colchester today – the Olympic torch passed through the town on the way to London. We braved the rain at 7am this morning to travel down to see it – and we weren’t disappointed. The route was packed but from our vantage point on Ipswich Road we had a brilliant view. More by luck than by judgement and in spite of the fact there must have been thousands of people there, we ended up right at the spot where the relay handover happens! One torchbearer ended her run and the next one took up the challenge – my friend described the moment as the kissing (not sure if that’s what it’s called or just something she thought of).

To be honest, I hadn’t been that fussed about going to see the torch, but Dot wanted to see it. I changed my mind when we arrived though – the atmosphere was fantastic. Everybody was in a great mood and even the police motorcycle convoy joined in, chatting to the kids, shaking hands and tooting their horns. The cheers when the torch arrived were massive and there honestly was a party vibe going on – even though it was only breakfast time.

The entire country is getting in the mood for the Olympics now. We were very lucky in the ticket draw and have tickets to the eventing at Greenwich at the end of July, however, we only have two of them, so it’s just me and Dot going. Obviously I’m overjoyed about that but Dot, who actually wanted to watch the swimming and volleyball, is not so impressed.


Here she comes… arriving at the changeover point on Ipswich Road

Meeting for the handover

And the flame is lit – the journey continues

Going home for a well-deserved cup of tea

And off he goes!

The Hadleigh Show 2012

May 20, 2012

As the powerful grey cantered around the show ring I couldn’t help but smile. This was turning into a great day. Yesterday I went to the Hadleigh show. It was a day of two firsts, first time at the show and first time visiting the Suffolk village of Hadleigh. I had no idea what to expect before we arrived but as we drove through the narrow main street I thought the show itself wouldn’t be too big.

Wrong. It was much bigger than the size of the village would indicate and there was loads to do. I hadn’t brought Dot with me as I thought she would be bored watching horses, show jumping and in hand classes all day – but she would have loved it. There was a funfair for a start (not that my friend or I had any inclination to try it out), craft tents, sheep shearing demos, face painting, games, art exhibition, and a huge marquee full of wonderful-looking food from Suffolk producers. Cheeses, pickles, wines, and the most amazing cakes, all homemade and looking so much better than the stuff you see in the supermarket. I can vouch for the cakes – I ate the most enormous rock cake and it just melted in the mouth. I bought another on leaving at the end of the day and just finished it this morning.

I wasn’t so keen on the livestock section, I found it sad knowing that the magnificent cattle on show would end their days as food, and some of them had their babies with them. We didn’t hang around there long.

The donkey class was good – the winner was a stallion who spent the entire time trying to get to the mares and shouted about it constantly. One mare had her foal with her and what a cutie it was.

Another foal stayed with mum for her class – both were Suffolk Punches so mum was massive and baby was well, big, but gorgeous. As mum paraded round the ring in her finery, baby followed – and gave her handler a hard time, bucking, rearing, jumping around “I don’t want to do this, I want to be with my mum,” you could just hear her protesting.

The Suffolk Punches are the most magnificent horses, massive and with such presence. There are not many of them left sadly, as they were used for heavy work and ploughing on farms and fell out of favour when machinery became the norm. Their numbers are listed as critical, but thankfully there are organisations that are committed to keeping the breed going, so numbers are gradually rising once more.

I definitely recommend a visit to Hadleigh and the annual show if you happen to be in East Anglia this time next year. It’s a taste of England as it used to be – the stewards wear suits and bowler hats, the judges (women) long skirts and jackets, some of the competitors even ride side saddle. It’s a chance to sample delicious country foods and it’s a day of fresh air and exercise (all that walking around), ideal for getting the kids away from the TV.