Doctor Who Experience!!

Doctor Who Experience

By Abigail Cakebread

Hello everybody! So Mom has spread the word about the DW experience we went on while in Wales, where some of Doctor Who is filmed. It was awesome! We started the day with Stonehenge, and Mom and Dad constantly (painfully) reminded us that we were going to see the 'Wales Castle' next. We zoned out in the car on the way to the unknown castle. When we pulled up to a bluish building, I figured we were lost and Mom and Dad were going to argue a bit and then yell at Mom's phone and then finally figure it all out and then be on our merry way. When Dad killed the engine, though, I took a good look around and figured out that in fact, we were at the Doctor Who experience! There was no 'Wales Castle', but the 'rents had booked tickets to this fantasmagical place of fangirling. The first room was a cafe and a waiting room. They had Dalek replicas and a bunch of other things on display first. When it was finally 10:00, we all lined up for the adventure. When the guide finally showed up dressed in his fancy costume, we went on a pretty cool (and fairly cheesy) adventure around the museum. Peter Capaldi (the current Doctor) even did a special video special just for this museum. Honestly, it was a lot better than the other 'adventures' we've gone on before (but it was still a little cheesy). After, we ended up at a gallery full of costumes and props authentic from the T.V. show, and obviously still in use because one of them was “gone on an adventure”. The Face of Boe was there, along with Daleks, Weeping Angels, Sontarans, and so many costumes (and feels). There was a fun little do-dad with the DW choreographer teaching you how to walk like a Cyberman and other aliens. After perusing the gallery, there was a gift shop underneath. I got a t-shirt and a poster, while Colleen got a poster. It was really awesome! I really hope we can go there again if we make it back to Wales.  

This is Abby Cakebread, signing off. 

Valentines Day and Stonehenge

Written by:  Amy cooking pulled pork.

Our time is fast closing here in Ireland and we still haven’t seen Stonehenge.  That is something we need to rectify immediately.  So, instead of the boring traditional Valentine’s Day fare of dinner and schmaltsie cards, I say we head over to Bristol and pay homage to the ones that have come before.   I brought the schmaltsie cards with me. 

Our plane did not leave until 10 pm, so Ker and I took the kids clothes shopping (I can’t believe how fast these two are growing out of clothes!!) and to an early sushi dinner.  On the way, we found some amazing shops.  The girls posed for some photos intended as Valentine’s Day cards for those at home. 

Colleen and I enjoying a coffee and pastry in Drogheda before heading to Dublin.

Abby's Valentine's Day card to those at home.

It was fun!  We even hit the Ha’Penny Bridge which was decorated for the holiday.

The Ha'Penny Bridge all decked out.

After dinner, we headed to the airport to lift off.  It was an easy 45 minute flight. 

This is how we do airplanes.

We picked up our rental car from Europcar and we were off to find our hotel in downtown Bristol, England.  For some reason, our GPS app on our phones did not properly work.  So, we were winging it a little this weekend.  Funny enough, the rental car company did not have any maps of the area.  Instead, they prefer to rent you the in-dash GPS.  Had I known ours were not working, I would have gone back and rented one.  I like having something that takes the guesswork out of navigating.  But, we managed without one.  It was with a little frustration that we decided to only pay for one driver for the car.  I find this practice of charging a per day fee for another driver really a giant rip off.  I mean, what in the world is it to the rental company if I drive the freaking car I rented?  Bah!

Anyway, our hotel was nice and cheap-ish.  I would totally recommend it.  But, really, it was a place to sleep and eat because the main event was Stonehenge. We got up, had our breakfast and hit the road to Wiltshire and Amesbury.  It took us a little over an hour to get there. I enjoyed seeing the small towns go by.  They look a little like Ireland, but there is a very distinct English countryside atmosphere. 

We purchased our tickets for Stonehenge online earlier in the week.  So, when we got there, it was easy to park, get tickets and get ready.  I ran back to the car to put on my hiking pants so I would be warmer.  Totally worth it—wind proof, water proof, cold proof.  I love those pants!  We poked around the interpretive center and played around with the exhibits.  

Huts that the ancients likely lived in.

Heading toward the busses.

But, I wasn’t going to wait another second.

I’m joining the throngs of people awed and amazed by Stonehenge.  Those imposing stones render you silent and thoughtful like any religious monument worth its hype should.  You and 500 of your closest (I hope you don’t have any space bubble issues…) tourists will board the bus that takes you to the site.  We were directed on to these rock sidewalks that border the standing stones. 

I see people...lots and lots of people.

We listened to the audioguide along with many others.  It was very informative, but lacked something.  I can’t tell you what, but I listened for 30 minutes and didn’t get all my questions answered.  I wanted to know more about the mystical part of the site and the audioguide focused on the types of stones on the site.

I was totally bummed to find out that you cannot go into the center of the standing stones anymore.  Instead, you can go ¾ around the circle about 20 feet from the stones. 

They look so far away!

I was so annoyed at the scores of selfie takers blocking the views of the circle that I approached one of the two docents placed there to make sure we all play by the rules.  She told me that if I had come before opening time, me and 26 other would have been allowed into the center.  Which, would have been good to know before we left our hotel, yes?  Also, if I wanted to come back during the solstices and equinoxes, I could join 30,000 people at the site.  No thanks.  The reason she gave for the site not being open anymore is that there are archeological artifacts just below the surface that have not been excavated and are fragile.  So, until they are fully excavated, visitors must be 20 feet away at all times. 

That's as close as we could come. Does that look like a person in there?

However, it is good to remember that on that sidewalk you are in the original stone circle.  But, there’s only a couple of these stones left.

After our audiotour and my heckling the docents, Ker and I walked back to the interpretive center.  The girls wimped out and took the bus—they had not dressed for the weather.  But, the walk was awesome.  We went through and saw many satellite tombs and even saw the Greater Cursus and a couple of Barrows.  This Stonehenge site which includes the stone circle and all the other megalithic discoveries is truly amazing and worth a looksee.  If you don't think you're going to make it, the next best thing is to play around with THIS website.  

Once we were done with Stonehenge, we popped back in the car, resumed our audioCD of The Da Vinci Code, and headed off to our next destination:  Cardiff, Wales.  On the way, I had one of the best lunches I’ve ever had.  We stopped in this tiny village in the middle of nowhere   They call it a carvery, but really, it’s heaven.  You get the choice of 3 roasted meats (or if you’re me, you just ask for a bit of all 3) and then there’s 4 different sides of veg, 4 potato sides, homemade Yorkshire pudding and GRAVY.  Everything was absolutely delicious and I completely stuffed myself. 

I don't even know the name of this village.  What is here is the extent of it though.

and ate at this great pub.

One of the nice things about our hotel in Cardiff is that it had a swimming pool and was more child centered than some of the other places we have stayed.  I like that.  It give the girls the feeling that they are welcome there.  So, they played in the indoor swimming pool right after we arrived in Cardiff.

We told the kids that we were going to do some more castle hunting and that Valentine’s Day weekend was the perfect weekend to do it.  My kids are amazing sports about most things, but they are heartily tired of being hauled to what they term “old rocks” (thanks, Dev). We’ve told them for weeks that Cardiff has one of the most brilliant castles of all time and that I can’t wait to spend all Sunday exploring it and other medieval architecture (including many churches) in the surrounding countryside.  They have expressed about as much excitement about this as they would to going to the dentist.  Just so you know, Cardiff actually does have one of the most amazingly preserved castles.

Cardiff Castle.

 But, what it also has going for it?  Well other than being in Wales (which is cool enough by itself!), it’s only minutes from the Doctor Who Experience.  We neglected to tell them that, of course.  So, it was a complete surprise to them when we got them out the door to “castle hunt” and arrived at the Dr. Who Experience….but, that is not my story to tell.

Paris in a pretty little bow.

Written by:  The girls in various places throughout the house.

The bigger picture gets a little lost when you are only hearing about what we are seeing and doing everyday.  So, here is an attempt of putting a nice pretty bow on Paris.

Amy:

Paris is definitely impressive.  Everything from its architecture, crowd control, security measures, tourist offerings, food options, and transportation options are over the top awesome.  I used to scoff when I heard people refer to Paris as the capital of the world.  Now, I am convinced it actually is.  It has everything you would hope in a capital—beauty, hospitality and grace.  When the aliens land, I’m all for them seeing the best visually pleasing place—Paris—first.  So, in that way, it goes on my list as the frontrunner for capital of Earth. 

Surprisingly, there were not as many tourists as I expected.  But, that might have been because it was SO cold.  I had not expected it to be as chilly as it was.  The cold just took your breath away and chilled you down to your bones.   Also, it just tuckered all of us out.  But, not having to push and shove our way to see everything kinda balances everything out.

Contrary to my general opinion of French people, I found the average person to be generally nice.  They seem glad to see tourists after the the threat of ebola has now past and the terrorists attacks a couple of weeks ago.  On that subject, we did see plenty of examples of the city’s heightened awareness.  There were armed police officers and other military personal.  And, they are not kidding when they arm their protectors—they give them AK47’s. 

This is what greets you at the airport.

Those are some mean looking automatic weapons!

It was a little nerve wracking to see one of the major streets just jam packed with police, but when I went up and asked, I was told that this was nothing important.  I gathered that there was an important personage that they were closing the street for.  Who, you might ask?  I have no idea. 

I wasn’t super fond of having to pay to get into museums.  I have gotten really used to London, New York, Dublin, and Washington DC’s free museum policies.  That is super awesome.  So, having to pay in Paris was a turn off.  That, and the general expensiveness that is Paris will just put you under.  I can’t imagine how people live there with the expense of food, transport and everything else.

The language was a unexpected barrier.  While most service related people speak English, you can tell their first language is French.  Fortunately, I am okay at reading French since it is not too far away from Spanish.  However, I can not conceive of how to pronounce it.  Also, the rapid way Parisians speak really makes use all of your listening skills.  But, you can listen all you like because hearing French is completely different than reading it.  I was completely screwed.  Consequently, I just gave up and became the American tourist complete with the I’m-not-even-going-to-try attitude.  It’s the only time that coming from the most entitled country in the world has come in handy.

I’m not done with Paris, though.  There is just so much more I want to see and do.  Next time, I might just come with adults only—that way I can drag more people through castles, palaces, and churches.  Also, the girls emphatically did NOT want to go to EuroDisney.  So, I  guess I’ll have to go back and do that on my own time. 

Colleen:

My thoughts about Paris

I have really mixed emotions about Paris. It’s kinda still in the Renaissance. With all it’s cas-... sorry, palaces, and churches, Paris doesn’t hide that it’s old and has a lot of history. Just the opposite, really, it emphasizes that point. Paris wants to have people recognize that ‘Hey, this place is really old!’.

And, these people must have stomachs of steel. I mean, I ordered a Croque Monsieur with no cheese, and, by now, you must know that I had no idea what a Croque Monsieur was. The description said it was a ham and cheese sandwich. I hate cheese, and so I ordered the sandwich without cheese. When the waiter said that he couldn’t do that, I figured that they pre-made the sandwiches and the cheese was already melted on. When it arrived, I was intrigued, disgusted, and confused. It was supposed to be a ham sandwich, right? This was a ham sandwich… WITH AN ENTIRE INCH OF CHEESE ON TOP!!! Gross!!

Signing off, Colleen

Abigail:

Hello, hello! So Paris was a few weeks ago, but it still fresh(ish) in my mind. Paris was really, honestly, cool. In Portland everything is modern. There's nothing built from the past, there's nothing past the 1900s because the European settlers completely obliterated everything believing in the Manifest Destiny cough cough it's literally all their fault we have like nothing from the past there cough. In Paris, however, almost each and every building's foundations were built in the 1700's! There were apartments in the 18^th century style and people were living there just like “whatevs”! It was pretty stressful, however, to try and sit down at a restaurant and have the waiter speak in rapid French and order off a menu you can't understand. What are you going to end up ordering? Who knows. It could be fish, it could be a ham sandwich, it could be the French version of a hot dog (which is covered in cheese). Speaking of food, the first day we ate in Paris I ordered a pizza. Guess what? It so wasn't pizza. It was cheese atop bread. That was it. No red sauce, no pizza crust. Cheesy bread. Word from the wise: don't order pizza in Paris. It's a letdown.

            Anyway, food aside (the crepes were awesome), Paris was really a cool place. The Louvre was a pretty cool place, too. A bit overwhelming, but awesome nonetheless. It was stuffed full of paintings, huge and small, on the ceilings and the walls. There were sculptures all over. To give you a quick idea of the layout, the Louvre has three stories. It also has two underground stories. It's perimeter is three miles. No joke. Honestly, the place looks clustered full of paintings and stuff. We saw the Mona Lisa, the Last Supper, David and the Goliath, and a bunch others until eventually we all got burned out. We checked out the Grand Palace and the Petite Palace, the Chocolate Museum, and just so much more stuff. Even though it was bitterly cold, we had a great time. I look forward to going there again, just not for the pizza.

It's gotta be worth missing out on crepes.

Written by: Amy sitting in yet another corralling (mooooooo) area in Beauvais.

Breakfast was great at the hotel again, but we were on our last day in Paris and were jones-ing for some crepes.  But, our research said we couldn’t leave Paris without seeing the Musee d’Orsay.   So, that is where today’s adventure begins.  We packed and dumped our luggage at the front desk so we could be hands free today.

The Orsay was amazing. 

They do not allow photography in the Orsay, but I got this one shot before I knew.

If we hadn’t already been museum-ed out, it would have been the best one we’d seen so far.  Since the Orsay is significantly smaller than the Louvre, you automatically feel more comfortable in it.  That is, until you get snagged by security because you are wearing a backpack.  No, I’m not kidding.  Some big security dude grabbed me by my backpack and ordered me to do something in French with his serious face on.  I’m clueless at this point, but I’m not arguing with what looks to be a pissed off French guerilla.  While it did occur to me that this would be the PERFECT time to cross “Smack a French person” off my bucket list, I figured that smacking this guy might result in some serious type consequences as I would be squished like a bug. 

Once I cleared the smacking thoughts from my brain, I realized quickly what was going on.   You see, some other pissed off French person with a giant backpack was trying to get into the museum and being denied access because of his backpack.  So, in a spate of douchebaggery, he points out to the security guerilla that he let me in with a backpack and how unfair that was.  As a result of this guys whining, I get picked up by backpack (which feels an a lot like being dragged around by the scruff of you neck if you were wondering) and marched to the coat check area where someone finally explained what was going on in English.  It turns out that the coat check woman thought my backpack was small enough to be able to go through the museum, but I was not taking any chances.  Your outlook changes when there are police officers outside every place you visit with machine guns.  It makes you less likely to piss anyone off.  Sends the signal that these are not guidelines.

There were more amazing art by the masters.  Although, this museum had way more Impressionists than the other places.  Monet, Van Gogh, Manet, Cezanne, Renoir and many others adorned the walls.  There were sculptures too.  Again, amazing overload.  We got one of the audio tour devices, but rarely used it as not all of us could listen at one time.  So, it frustrated those who could not hear the spiel.  It was easier to just not use it. 

After all that art, we needed to walk.  Since we were close to the Seine, we walked over it to the Tulleries Gardens,  Concord, and to the Champs Elysees and all the way up to the Arc de Triomphe.  Instead of paying to go to the top, the kids decided that hunting for crepes seemed more fun.  So, we started our crepe hunt on the way to the Pantheon. 

Concord Circle.

Arc de Triomphe.  I'm in the middle of the street for this shot.

Yep, those are people walking on the Champs Elysees!

We had no luck finding a place on the Champs Elysees.  Since it’s Sunday, most of Paris was closed—including all the creperies.  We even struck out after our Metro ride to the “Latin Quarter” where the Pantheon lives.  Instead, we found a great little café named Le Descartes! 

So awesome!

For those that are as cool as me, you know that Descartes was another mathematical giant. He is responsible for the Cartesian (x, y) plane.  It turns out that on our way to the Pantheon, we found the place where he lived the short time he was in Paris.  Cool, cool, cool!!! 

Front side of the Pantheon.

Lunch was great, but no crepes in sight.  But, we consoled ourselves that the Pantheon would be worth missing crepes. 

Back side of the Pantheon.

After we paid our entry fee, we discovered that the Pantheon was not really worth giving up crepes.  I am absolutely sure that if you were French or even spoke French, you might get something out of it.  But, since that is not me, I didn’t get much from it.  There’s a lot of historically significant stuff in there, it’s just not that accessible for non-natives. There were even tours about the Pantheon’s significance in relation to the history of France…in French.  What I got out of it was the Pantheon used to be a church dedicated to the patron saint of Paris—Saint Genevieve.  But, the building has changed over and over and now it is a place to put stuff that has some historical significance.  Also, the crypts now hold the remains of many important French people.  I was stoked to find my kind represented by finding the resting places of Lagrange and Marie Curie.   I was a little creeped out to learn that many of the people who now are inside the necropolis have been moved here from other cemeteries.  Others only have their hearts placed in urns and left in the Pantheon.  Things that make you go hmmmm.

Overall, we were disappointed by our Pantheonic experience and bailed in favor of finding a creperie open.  I remembered that there were several of these places close to our hotel, so we trudged back through the Metro (trading our bad Metro tickets for good ones so Colleen didn’t have to squeeze herself under the barricade anymore) and found an open creperie a block a way from the hotel.  We all ordered a different type of crepe. 

We found one!

We shared bites with each other.  Delicious!

By then, we were done with our Paris experience.  Instead of trying to fit one more thing in, we gathered our luggage and popped back on the Metro to Port Maillot where we got loaded on our bus back to Beauvais airport.

Au Revoir Paris!