This Article Describes The Tips For Taking A Teen To Europe, London Trip And Also Tells About Airport Heathrow. Alnwick Garden Of Northern England And Historical Mask Of England Are Very Tempting.

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Tips on taking a teen to Europe
[By Roger M. Showley]
Taking a toddler to Europe can add extra stress on top of unfamiliar money, new languages and exotic foods - what with
strollers, car seats, diapers and sleep schedules to juggle.
But going with teenagers can be even more and swings, but it did mean finding parks to exhibit, “London Before London,” covers
challenging, unless you let them set the pace walk in, lakes and fountains to stop by and the prehistoric period, illustrated in part
and tone. changes in schedule when something fun by a computerized time-lapse film showing
popped up unexpectedly. how the geology of the region changed over
In 1992, my wife Carol and I took our son, thousands of years. Like many museums in
Charlie, then 18 months old, to Europe for For instance, we might have taken in a West the city, this one was free to all.
three weeks. On Travels With Charlie: The End play when we were wandering around
Toddler Years, we visited the Louvre and Covent Garden one evening, but instead
Versailles, to be sure, but he was happiest at we stopped to enjoy a street magician, who
the playgrounds and sandboxes we found in entertained a growing crowd with tricks and
every town. banter.
Last summer, he and I went alone on a To prepare for our trip, I spent untold hours
15-day trip to Great Britain. The question researching in travel books and on the Outside London: We took two day-trips
was whether both of us could have a good Internet for places to go and things to do. by train from London, one to Henry VIII’s
time together, now that he had a say in what Charlie’s only demands were two: Go easy on Hampton Court Palace and the other to
we were going to do. Travels With Charlie: the art museums and visit the five-year-old Warwick Castle and Oxford University.
The Teen Years required less equipment - a National Space Centre in Leicester. Self-guided tours, costumed figures and
Game Boy. (Charlie: Yeah, that’s pretty much taped commentaries brought each space to
it. You don’t need much else on long plane/ Here’s what rang a bell with Charlie and life. At Warwick, the highlight was watching
train rides if you’ve got “Advance Wars.”) what didn’t: a demonstration of a trebuchet catapult a
flaming cannon ball several hundred yards to
This time, at the age of 15 1/2, he carried his London: The Tower of London with its its target.
own luggage and made few food demands dungeons and weapons fascinated him, St.
(the occasional ice cream and Starbucks Paul’s Cathedral didn’t. We spent hours Stonehenge and Bath: On the way to Wales,
Frappuccino). But there was still that late- at the underground Cabinet War Rooms we joined a London Walks tour to Salisbury
to-bed, late-to-rise teenage sleep schedule and Churchill Museum. The high-tech and Stonehenge. (See details at
to consider, even after he had adjusted to the presentation of the World War II prime www.walks.com.) The crowds were not so
eight-hour time difference. minister’s public and private life was well big that we didn’t get a good feel for the
worth the $22 admission (free for students). majesty and mystery around us. (Besides, it’s
When we arrived in London late at night, The Museum of Science and Industry was a Stonehenge! How could you not like it?) At
we took the tube from Heathrow Airport to hit, while the British Museum was only so-so. Bath, the highlight for Charlie was “Bizarre
South Kensington and stayed with friends We breezed through the Victoria & Albert Bath,” a hysterical evening walkabout led
from San Diego. But the next morning, it Museum in 10 minutes, skipped the National by Noel Britten, who mixed magic tricks
took Charlie until noon to wake up - after 12 Gallery and Tate but spent some quality time with satirical stories about the city’s history.
hours of sleep. Playtime didn’t require slides at the Museum of London. A permanent (Correction: “History” is an overstatement;
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2. LIFESTYLE TRAVEL www.lawcrossing.com 1. 800.973.1177
the only “historical” information he told us where he purchased a pair of samurai sai Hostels and bed-and-breakfast inns are the
was stuff he read posted on various walls of blades. (The number of weapons in Scotland most economical, as little as $20 per person
buildings.) (See www.bizarrebath.co.uk.) in general was ridiculous. Even drug stores per night. The Lonely Planet “Great Britain”
had a small collection of claymores and long guide offered great suggestions, especially
Wales: While guests of my wife’s Welsh swords behind the counter.) the lively Castle Rock Hostel around the
cousins, Charlie bonded with their corner from the Edinburgh Castle in the
grandchildren who were his age, but his Charlie’s return to Europe introduced him Scottish capital ($26 per person per night,
great discovery was Waterstone’s bookstore to beer (for all the people that love it, it sure www.scotlandstophostels.com).
chain and the last volume in the “Darren tastes pretty lame), World Cup competition
Shan” vampire book series, not yet published on TV in the pubs (they sure swore a lot when Charlie quickly took to Cornish pasties,
in the U.S. He stayed up way past midnight the opposing team did something good), a filled buttery croissant, and bought
reading it. (Wow, Britain sure is lucky. Book changing dollars to pounds sterling, and a sandwiches from groceries. Pub food hit
12 of “Cirque du Freak” doesn’t come out whole new world of new friends and places the spot, as did an all-you-can-eat Chinese
here for another few months, but it’s been to explore. buffet in Nottingham. Our big splurge was
out there for more than two years.) at the 16th-century Witchery restaurant in
The trip represented perhaps our last Edinburgh. (Charlie surprised me when he
opportunity to bond as father and son before ordered steak tartare served with fries and
Charlie gets wrapped up in jobs, college, fried quails, $40, www.thewitchery.com.)
girls and life on his own. Happily, there was
no generation gap but a lot of yucking it up Besides the many free museums available,
and silliness. By remaining flexible, we both admission to some 500 historic sites are
had a good time - and only lost our way a included with the Great British Heritage
few times. (All in all, the trip was a success. Pass. We bought the 15-day pass for $96, but
Having the same interests as my dad - like it would have been cheaper to buy only one
castles and technology - made the trip less for me, since Charlie could get the half-price
Northern England: We went out of our of an argument and a lot more fun.) student or child rate. Join guided tours,
way to visit the National Space Centre in whose leaders often exhibit a great sense of
Leicester but arrived near closing time humor, and take advantage of wireless audio
and had to race through the exhibits and tours.
hands-on demonstrations of space travel.
(I feel gypped that we spent so little time Shopping: I gave Charlie $100 for spending
there, but had we been there longer it would money, which he splurged on books and
have been awesome. As it was, my favorite swords. Good thing Harrods wasn’t on his
exhibits were on the planets, aliens and the must-see list.
universe.) IF YOU GO
Useful Web sites: www.visitbritain.com for
Scotland: With only two days available, we Get a BritRail FlexiPass that lets a person general tourist information and
spent the first exploring Edinburgh Castle, under 16 ride free with a paying adult. Our www.visitbritaindirect.com to buy tickets and
shrouded in fog in the morning, and shopping eight-day, second-class pass cost $405 ( passes online.
for souvenirs on Princes Street in the www.britrail.com).
afternoon. Charlie’s great find: a sword shop
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