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#1
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Traveling with a 14 yo grandson
I just came back from two weeks in the UK with my grandson (ds's son).
My mother had done this with her grandchildren and by trial and error we found that the best time for them to go was when they were 13 or 14 (7th or 8th grade). 6th grade is a little too young. We had a good time. We flew from EWR to Shannon via Heathrow and had a week long bus tour, after which we spent a couple of days in London. He was cheerful, even when waked up early. I had him do the wake-up calls for me. The hotels had some kind of automated way to do it which I didn't really understand. He was polite to other people on the tour. He had hoped that there would be kids his age, but there were not. There was a boy 9 and a girl 10, and a young couple that the male part of had a lot of tattoos that dgs thought were scary. He felt that the tour was boring for them and I'm sure he is right. He spent some time in the back of the bus with the little boy and a middle aged bachelor playing cards. There were no opportunities for him to meet others his age, which he regretted. The tour I originally wanted to book would have been a perfect family tour for him, but it was withdrawn by the tour company without explanation a day after I found it and wanted to book. He set me up with a MySpace page, and his parents and I and his little sister (age 10) were my 'friends'. He posted some of his digital photos on his page, and I posted by email each night a journal of what we had done, and put the photos of him on MY Myspace (friends only viewing) so his folks could see what we were doing.. (I had my laptop with me) He was not too picky an eater although it was almost incomprehensible to me that he did not like cheddar cheese (especially sharp cheddar) on his hamburgers. I had forgotten (because I don't use it myself) that people like catsup on their fries/chips and sometimes what we got was something more like steak sauce. He didn't complain about the food, but he did know an appropriate price for a KitKat and he bought an awful lot of cokes. He doesn't like tea, and he does like Dr. Pepper. He didn't figure out in two weeks that I drink tea and not coffee, and he went out to Burger King on the last morning and got me a cup of coffee to get me going - which was sweet of him, so I drank a little of it. He was totally astonished at driving on the left - he was afraid that he would step out in front of a car when he got home. We went to the Tower of London, and he wanted to know why the Queen didn't wear her crown all the time. He was disappointed in Buckingham Palace because he didn't think it looked very palace-like. We'd seen some more awe-inspiring ones in Ireland such as Muckross House. He was unhappy at leaving his guitar behind because he likes to play, so one morning we took the bus to Harrods and went up to their music department where he looked at and played some guitars. Riding the train from Baltimore to Princeton to my sister's house was an adventure as he had never been on a train. We (my sister and I) took him to NYC by train and then went on the subway to Battery Park and took the ferry to see the Statue of Liberty and visited Ellis Island. We looked up his great grandparents there. After we ate dinner and saw Times Square we had to take the transit train back to Princeton. Our flight was delayed for 6 hours in taking off, which made us miss our connecting flight. The agent at the desk where we checked our baggage did NOT ask to see the permission slip I had from his parents. We do have the same last name of course. I was not asked for it until we got to Heathrow. Had I not had it, I don't know what they could have done at that point. Our tour started out at the Bunratty Castle Folk Park, and we went for a 'medieval dinner that evening. The next day we drove to the Cliffs of Moher which were really spectacular and then had a ferry ride across the Shannon River to Kilkenny and a jaunting cart ride to Muckross House. The hotel in Kilkenny was the only one with a pool. We did the Ring of Kerry the next day (an awful lot of scenery interspersed with some shopping). Next we drove to Blarney Castle (He liked that and kissed the Blarney Stone - I didn't even go to the castle - I bought Christmas presents for everyone), and tea at a farmhouse (he doesn't like tea and he doesn't really like scones or cream either, so this was kind of a bust). We ended up in Waterford where we had an amusing walking tour after dinner. The hotel internet blocked us from MySpace, so it was good we were only there one night. The next day we had a tour of the Waterford factory - his mom absolutely loves cut glass, so he bought an ornament there and had it engraved. Then we drove to Dublin via Kilkenny (which he thought was a funny name re South Park) where we had a 'typical' Irish dinner, and Irish dancing and singing. At the end, they called the kids up on stage to participate. The next morning we tour the Jameson distillery and saw the Book of Kells. In London we saw three plays - two hits and one miss. We did Shakespeare "Midsummer Night's Dream" outdoors at Regent Park, and it was hot and he said he knew what happened already so it was a bit boring for him. But I also took him to "We Will Rock You" which he really liked, and "The Mousetrap" which my mom took his father to 22 years ago. He didn't guess who had done it. We had a hop-on-hop-off bus ticket (with the tour booking) but they booked us on the Original and that was far inferior to the Big Bus which I was on before. I had tickets to Madame Tussaud's which I was told he would like, but we didn't. We did the tour of Tower Bridge, which I think he liked. He said he was really starting to feel at home in London when we had to leave and come home. Our plane was NOT delayed on the way home, BUT his suitcase did not arrive in EWR with us and he still hasn't gotten it. Fortunately, I had told him to have everything he bought in his carryon, so what he lost was mostly dirty clothes, and his picture of kissing the Blarney stone (which I had photographed with my digital camera so we have that much of the record). We went and bought him some clothes because he left for some kind of primitive scout camp the Sunday after we got back on Tuesday.. I know, but had forgotten, that with children you can't pack as much stuff into the day as you can with adults. I think we tried to do too much, and there was still stuff I wanted to show him that I didn't get to do. We didn't get to St. Pauls or the British Museum or the V&A or the National Gallery. He was interested in the London Eye but we didn't have time. |
#2
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Traveling with a 14 yo grandson
Wow Rosalie that sounds like a wonderful trip.
-- Sue "Rosalie B." wrote in message ... I just came back from two weeks in the UK with my grandson (ds's son). My mother had done this with her grandchildren and by trial and error we found that the best time for them to go was when they were 13 or 14 (7th or 8th grade). 6th grade is a little too young. We had a good time. We flew from EWR to Shannon via Heathrow and had a week long bus tour, after which we spent a couple of days in London. He was cheerful, even when waked up early. I had him do the wake-up calls for me. The hotels had some kind of automated way to do it which I didn't really understand. He was polite to other people on the tour. He had hoped that there would be kids his age, but there were not. There was a boy 9 and a girl 10, and a young couple that the male part of had a lot of tattoos that dgs thought were scary. He felt that the tour was boring for them and I'm sure he is right. He spent some time in the back of the bus with the little boy and a middle aged bachelor playing cards. There were no opportunities for him to meet others his age, which he regretted. The tour I originally wanted to book would have been a perfect family tour for him, but it was withdrawn by the tour company without explanation a day after I found it and wanted to book. He set me up with a MySpace page, and his parents and I and his little sister (age 10) were my 'friends'. He posted some of his digital photos on his page, and I posted by email each night a journal of what we had done, and put the photos of him on MY Myspace (friends only viewing) so his folks could see what we were doing.. (I had my laptop with me) He was not too picky an eater although it was almost incomprehensible to me that he did not like cheddar cheese (especially sharp cheddar) on his hamburgers. I had forgotten (because I don't use it myself) that people like catsup on their fries/chips and sometimes what we got was something more like steak sauce. He didn't complain about the food, but he did know an appropriate price for a KitKat and he bought an awful lot of cokes. He doesn't like tea, and he does like Dr. Pepper. He didn't figure out in two weeks that I drink tea and not coffee, and he went out to Burger King on the last morning and got me a cup of coffee to get me going - which was sweet of him, so I drank a little of it. He was totally astonished at driving on the left - he was afraid that he would step out in front of a car when he got home. We went to the Tower of London, and he wanted to know why the Queen didn't wear her crown all the time. He was disappointed in Buckingham Palace because he didn't think it looked very palace-like. We'd seen some more awe-inspiring ones in Ireland such as Muckross House. He was unhappy at leaving his guitar behind because he likes to play, so one morning we took the bus to Harrods and went up to their music department where he looked at and played some guitars. Riding the train from Baltimore to Princeton to my sister's house was an adventure as he had never been on a train. We (my sister and I) took him to NYC by train and then went on the subway to Battery Park and took the ferry to see the Statue of Liberty and visited Ellis Island. We looked up his great grandparents there. After we ate dinner and saw Times Square we had to take the transit train back to Princeton. Our flight was delayed for 6 hours in taking off, which made us miss our connecting flight. The agent at the desk where we checked our baggage did NOT ask to see the permission slip I had from his parents. We do have the same last name of course. I was not asked for it until we got to Heathrow. Had I not had it, I don't know what they could have done at that point. Our tour started out at the Bunratty Castle Folk Park, and we went for a 'medieval dinner that evening. The next day we drove to the Cliffs of Moher which were really spectacular and then had a ferry ride across the Shannon River to Kilkenny and a jaunting cart ride to Muckross House. The hotel in Kilkenny was the only one with a pool. We did the Ring of Kerry the next day (an awful lot of scenery interspersed with some shopping). Next we drove to Blarney Castle (He liked that and kissed the Blarney Stone - I didn't even go to the castle - I bought Christmas presents for everyone), and tea at a farmhouse (he doesn't like tea and he doesn't really like scones or cream either, so this was kind of a bust). We ended up in Waterford where we had an amusing walking tour after dinner. The hotel internet blocked us from MySpace, so it was good we were only there one night. The next day we had a tour of the Waterford factory - his mom absolutely loves cut glass, so he bought an ornament there and had it engraved. Then we drove to Dublin via Kilkenny (which he thought was a funny name re South Park) where we had a 'typical' Irish dinner, and Irish dancing and singing. At the end, they called the kids up on stage to participate. The next morning we tour the Jameson distillery and saw the Book of Kells. In London we saw three plays - two hits and one miss. We did Shakespeare "Midsummer Night's Dream" outdoors at Regent Park, and it was hot and he said he knew what happened already so it was a bit boring for him. But I also took him to "We Will Rock You" which he really liked, and "The Mousetrap" which my mom took his father to 22 years ago. He didn't guess who had done it. We had a hop-on-hop-off bus ticket (with the tour booking) but they booked us on the Original and that was far inferior to the Big Bus which I was on before. I had tickets to Madame Tussaud's which I was told he would like, but we didn't. We did the tour of Tower Bridge, which I think he liked. He said he was really starting to feel at home in London when we had to leave and come home. Our plane was NOT delayed on the way home, BUT his suitcase did not arrive in EWR with us and he still hasn't gotten it. Fortunately, I had told him to have everything he bought in his carryon, so what he lost was mostly dirty clothes, and his picture of kissing the Blarney stone (which I had photographed with my digital camera so we have that much of the record). We went and bought him some clothes because he left for some kind of primitive scout camp the Sunday after we got back on Tuesday.. I know, but had forgotten, that with children you can't pack as much stuff into the day as you can with adults. I think we tried to do too much, and there was still stuff I wanted to show him that I didn't get to do. We didn't get to St. Pauls or the British Museum or the V&A or the National Gallery. He was interested in the London Eye but we didn't have time. |
#3
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Traveling with a 14 yo grandson
Rosalie B. schrieb:
I know, but had forgotten, that with children you can't pack as much stuff into the day as you can with adults. *cough* Well, next time you can just take me and cram as much into a day as possible ;-) Honestly, that trip sounds totally fantastic. I hope to one day be able to take my children around europe the same way (I'm German, so it's not really that far an initial trip). Btw: if you enjoy travel "novels" (they're not really made up, but they're not just travel logs either, I don't know how else to describe his work) you might want to check out Bill Bryson. I find him to be the funniest travel writer. He wrote one book about England it's called "Tales from a small island" or something along those lines. He doesn't just describe the scenery but also the people he meets. Sometimes not very kindly, but usually in a very hilarious way. cu nicole |
#4
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Traveling with a 14 yo grandson
"Rosalie B." wrote in message ... I just came back from two weeks in the UK with my grandson (ds's son). Rosalie - it sounds like a wonderful trip!! What a lucky guy your grandson is!! -- Nikki, mama to Hunter 4/99 Luke 4/01 Brock 4/06 Ben 4/06 |
#5
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Traveling with a 14 yo grandson
"Nikki" wrote:
"Rosalie B." wrote in message .. . I just came back from two weeks in the UK with my grandson (ds's son). Rosalie - it sounds like a wonderful trip!! What a lucky guy your grandson is!! My mom did it for my kids, and I think it was wonderful for them. So I think she would approve that I'm doing this for her great grandchildren with the money I inherited from her. Also while dd#1 was on a job exchange to England for three years, and her three children got to travel a good bit in Europe at that time, and dd#2 is an airline pilot and does a LOT of traveling with her family, my DS does not have those opportunities for his children as his wife (my grandson told me) keeps him constantly in debt. And dd#3's children are too young to go as of yet on this kind of trip as the oldest is only 9. Once they get to HS, it is really too hard for them to be away from their friends. And before 13 or 14, they can't take care of themselves that well. My grandson could pack and carry his own bags (and sometimes mine), he could do his own laundry (including ironing). |
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