Richard was on sabbatical leave2000-01 school year and spent it in London. We thought it would be too disruptive for the kids to go the whole year, so we joined Richard at Christmas, and stayed through summer until September.
Christmas in London has never been my favorite. Everyone leaves the city to spend the holiday with their families. So the entire city closes down for Christmas and the following day, Boxing Day. We must endure two days of desolate isolation.
 Merry Christmas with our stocking on the mantle |
I hoped that since the immediate family would finally be together after being separated all fall, maybe it wouldn't be so bad. But, unfortunately, the heater in our flat broke the day before Christmas. So we were without heat for 4 days. Even though its not as cold in London as in Boston, by the fourth day, it was quite chilly in the flat. We were wearing two sets of sweats and the whole family was sleeping together in one bed to keep warm at night. The highlight of the day was when I cooked because it heated up the kitchen. |
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The highlight of Christmas was seeing the play the Snowman, which is an adaptation of Raymond Brigg's book. We all enjoyed it very much
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 For Valentine's day we helped
a friend who was working for Drop the Debt, an organization trying to relieve
third world debt, by sending a Valentine to Prime Minister Tony Blair and
Finance Minister Gordon Brown. |
 We even go to deliver our valentine in person at 10 Downing Street, home of the Prime Minister. The security opened the gates and the photographers took pictures. It was fun. |
 This valentine was delivered to the Treasury for Gordon Brown |
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Since we were in London the whole spring, Morgan had to attend school. We found a nice state school about a mile away that was very open and inclusive. Academically it was not very demanding but Morgan got a chance to make local friends. Spikey attended preschool there also and made her own friends. There were kids there from all over the world. They had classmates from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Kosovo, Portugal, Africa, Australia, Canada. It seemed like British were the minority. It was great for the kids to be in this environment. The main negative of the school was that since it was in the middle of London, it did not have a field. They built a playground on the roof where they had recess. |
 Morgan learned
quite a bit of British history. They studied the Victorians and went on
a field trip to the Ragged School Museum. The Museum . is a re-created
classroom of the period, where they experience how Victorian children
were taught. There was also a display on local history, industry and life
in the East End |
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 View of London Eye on the Thames |
A big thrill, was a ride on the London Eye, the worlds largest Ferris wheel.. It is 140 meters tall, taller than Big Ben. There are 32 pods which hold 25-30 people. It takes half an hour to do a complete revolution. It was an awesome view |
 In the London Eye pod |
 View from below the spindle |
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 When friends came to visit during the summer we went to Down House, the home of Charles Darwin. |
 Richard was quite excited about visiting Down House and protested outside, that Wallace was the real mastermind behind evolution. |
 He protested inside also, but luckily we didn't get thrown out. |
 Not everyone agreed with Richard's protest |
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Overall we had a wonderful time during Richard's sabbatical. We took
advantage of our nearness to Europe and took a trip nearly every month.
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 Morgan's
Wild London Experience |
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 Spikey's
ballet recital at the Bloomsbury Theater |
 Morgan's
class wrote and performed a song at the Portrait Gallery |
 February
trip: Torino, Italy |
 March
trip: Paris with Abi |
 May
trip: Bergamo, Italy |
 June
trip: Lisbon, Portugal |
 July
trip: Glasgow, Scotland |
 August
trip : Berlin, Germany |
 Summer
time in London |
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last updated 5/2003
