As a working mum, it’s not possible to take as much time off during the school holidays to spend with your kids as you’d like. So when you do have a rare opportunity, it’s important to find something that’s really exciting, educational and/or memorable.
However, it’s not quite as easy as when your kids are diddlies. And it’s even harder when they’ve been to so many things already - an occupational hazard of having a mum who does reviews. So I thought I’d let you share my brain wracking for something to do with my teen daughter when we spend the day in Central London tomorrow (her choice!). If nothing else, it’ll save you some leg work when you next have to plan such a day. You see, she’s been to many things that immediately spring to mind:
• Museums – She’s probably a bit old now for the dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum or the rockets at the Science Museum. And whilst she has an interest in fashion – I’m not sure she’s up to the Victoria & Albert Museum (although I REALLY want to see the David Bowie exhibition). She liked the Hunterian Museum – all those jars of pickled curiosities - when we visited recently and we were just a few minutes too late to pop into the Sir John Soane’s museum which is just across the road. The advantage of being in Holborn is that we could, of course, stroll into Covent Garden afterwards. I like the Imperial War Museum and the Film Museum so they are on the list of possibles. We’ve been to the Clink Museum (a bit gorey) on the Southbank and done Pollocks Toy Museum at Tottenham Court Road. We haven’t been on HMS Belfast for a while so I’ll add that to the list. And a friend recommended Bermondsey museum of fashion and textiles – that might do the trick. Or the Design Museum which I haven’t visited for a while.
• Galleries – She’s so familiar with the National Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery, Tate Britain and Tate Modern that I’m not sure I could raise some enthusiasm for one of those. Shame because they do some really great kids workshops. And a neighbour mentioned a Native American exhibition at the NPG.
• Shopping – This is usually a good idea – except it costs me a fortune. The huge Top Shop at Oxford Circus or the Primark at Oxford Street would be popular choices. If I was taking my son then we’d head for Abercrombie & Fitch in Burlington Street. As she likes it at Westfield in Shepherd’s Bush, I could persuade her to take the train out to Stratford…we could even squeeze in a trip on the Docklands Light Railway and visit the shops at Canary Wharf – that was always popular when they were young.
• Zoos – I love London Zoo. And so does she. But we went there a short while ago – and we added in a visit to nearby Camden Market afterwards which was very popular. And I think she’s a tad too old for a lovely City farm like the ones at Hackney or Mudchute (http://www.visitlondon.com/things-to-do/activities/openspace/farm).
• Sights – I miss the ability to feed the pigeons at Trafalgar Square so that’s off my list in protest. And I don’t think that Buckingham Palace will be open at present. It’s not so much fun doing Whitehall now that you can’t actually go down Downing Street. And she has been dragged around the City of London to see all the great places there so many times there’s no way she’ll come again. Mind you, not sure I want to go there with all the office folk milling around. She hasn’t been to the Tower of London for a while and I rather like it there so that will go on the list of potentials…
• Parks – Not quite the right weather although she does like picnics in Regent’s Park, St James’ Park, Hyde Park, Kensington Garden and even Holland Park when the sun is shining. We’d also talked about the possibility of horse riding – I like it at our local stables and trotting around Bushy Park and Richmond Park best though. But her favourite is Kew Gardens and whilst it would be nice, it’s local for us and her “brief” indicated Central London. I’d risk Battersea Park – there’s a lovely petting zoo there too – but the chances are she’d twist my arm to visit the Dog and Cats home and we already have plenty of pets here.
• Cinema – Well, I want to see the latest version of Wizard of Oz, and she doesn’t. Plus we went to see “The Host” at the weekend. I might check out what’s on the 3D BFI Imax though….
• Markets – We recently went to visit the Museum of Brands in Notting Hill and included a visit to Portobello Road. We discovered a great gelateria on the way too. I thought about Spitalfields but on Thursdays its antiques and that’s definitely not on her list of fave things to do.
• Theatre – We’ve been to a lot of shows. We loved Matilda. She liked Wicked and Shrek but doesn’t fancy Billy Elliott. I might check out what’s at the lovely Unicorn Theatre for Children – although being the Easter holidays I fear it may be fully booked.
• Sports – Whilst I quite like the idea of swimming or visiting a gym, it’s probably something I’d do locally rather than in Central London. And if she was a tiny bit older we might consider a rather grown up spa visit.
Maybe, like me, you’re beginning to get a bit tired of thinking of all the possibilities. But the trouble with teens is that you really want to find something that wipes that “whatever” look off their faces, just for a few minutes. So I’ll continue.
• High places – She’s done the London Eye. Lots. And loves it. She also really liked the cable car over in the East. We haven’t done The Shard yet – so that’s a distinct possibility.
• Wet places – She thoroughly enjoyed it – even though it was very cold – when I took her on a RIB boat and sped down the river to see the Thames Barrier. Especially with the James Bond music playing. She was also rather impressed when we took a Ducktour around the Houses of Parliament and then launched into the water for a riverside view. The London Aquarium is always a good choice – but I took a young friend there recently….
• Expensive places – I am still reeling from the high cost and ridiculous queues from our most recent visits to places like Madam Tussauds and The London Dungeon (which has just moved from London Bridge to the South Bank).
In the end, she decided to start our visit at “Ripley’s Believe it or Not” at Piccadilly Circus (see previous review below). When she was younger I would have taken her afterwards to the Rainforest Café or the Trocadero amusements. But yesterday, instead of going into Leicester Square like we usually do we proceeded down Piccadilly. We stopped at St James’ Church Piccadilly market and browsed amongst the stalls of jewellery, crafts and antiques. Then we wandered around and marvelled at the wonderfulness at Fortnum and Masons. She was getting peckish at this point and the staff at the Hard Rock Café said it would be a 1.5 hour wait so we continued into Knightsbridge.
I then gave a history lesson about the siege at the Spaghetti House while she enjoyed her spaghetti Pomodoro and I tucked into the special which was linguine and crab, tomatoes, chilli and garlic. Then we went on to Harrods. We walked quickly through the handbags and perfume sections to admire the Egyptian staircase. On the fourth floor we found three fabulous diversions. First, we peeked in at the Disney Café. So much glitter. All those Disney characters. And that stunning top of Big Ben (St Stephen’s Tower) in the centre where you could see Tinkerbell. Then, second, a mummy moment as I discovered that they had a “So Dior” exhibition. Beautiful fashions and she was impressed at the outfits from the current “J’Adore” advertisements. Third, we dared to visit Pet Kingdom. We toyed with the idea of buying a little something for one of our pets at home but then we found the Pet Salon and watched a couple of dogs being clipped and blow dried. And they had real live puppies! Some adorable French Bulldogs, some quiet American Cocker Spaniels and naughty short haired Chihuahuas (we have a long coat version at home).
We were pretty tired at this point so took the tube home to West London – stopping on the way to collect hot chocolate and coffee. A great day out for both mum and daughter.
Previous Ripley review from 2009
Ripley’s Believe it or Not Odditorium
This was our second visit, having been last year just after it opened – but my 11 year old expressed a desire to return and my 17 year old appeared keen too.
I have to say that the cost is a big negative – nearly £70 for the three of us although this does include a ticket to the mirror maze which is really amazing and generated a huge amount of laughter for a good 20 minutes.
Anyway. Once past the ticket barrier you see a few examples of the many delights to follow as you wait for your photo to be taken in front of an old style London telephone box. I particularly admired the tiny red car and the Chinese money pillow (maybe these will come back into vogue now that the banks have disgraced themselves). Then we were despatched in the rainbow lights lift to the fifth floor to start our journey.
Not much has changed here since our first visit. It’s a fairly large open warehouse area with the overhead conveyor carrying a variety of intriguing objects. Your eyes don’t quite know where to go first. We all went in different directions – a quick look at some shark models (opposite a truly enormous set of mega shark jaws), admiration at the Mini Cooper covered in a million crystals depicting Hollywood and the huge rocking chair where you can take photos. Closer inspection reveals all manner of interesting objects – for example, a model of a barracuda (we didn’t know that their stripes disappear when they are awake or that they can swim at 130km an hour). And all around are screens showing clips from a somewhat irritatingly American TV show with dogs riding skateboards and guys riding tiny bicycles.
The huge moving and roaring T Rex will be a firm favourite amongst the youngsters while the older kids will delight in all manner of creatures with extra legs and other appendages. There’s a nod to us Brits with a small display showing how much electricity and light bulbs are used by Buckingham Palace. You could spend a fair while in this area alone but, after watching some of the hologram of Ripley, we moved into the gallery area. Loved the huge carving of a raptor (eagle), the huge camel bone carving and pictures made from all sorts of things such as butterflies, stamps, lint and even gumballs. Press a number pad and the secret screen clears to show a painting of Kiss – on cow dung.
Then you go through into the Yellow Room – a nod to the Brits again and a large portrait of Princess Diana, a matchstick model of Tower Bridge, a stuffed fox in Hunting Gear and a model of a man with a very large nose. And, inexplicably, a table and chairs mounted upside down on the ceiling. Then you move on to see a huge Jade pagoda and lots of dinosaur images made of wood (marquetry). And a display of buckles. Then there’s some art of leaves and a fabulous duck made of junk (a collectable amongst movie stars apparently). Then one of my favourites –a wooden carving that shows a girl on one side and is a devil on the other. Then it’s inspiration for home craft days with lots of art made from all manner of things such as plasticene. A foretaste of the ghoulish things to come – a human skeleton with paintings showing the life of Christ. And a huge piece of the Berlin wall. And some vast penny portraits.
For those of a sensitive nature, the tour then gets a bit grim. Models of heads showing natural and created oddities – a crocodile hunter with crocodile teeth, champion gurners, Chinese men with a horn in their heads or a space for a candle in their skull. People with eyes that literally pop out. And it gets worse (better if you like this sort of thing). Models of dwarves, women with mule faces, half people (nothing below the waist) and videos showing these people achieving amazing sports and entertainment feats. And then a moment of history with a lifelike wax work of Winston Churchill delivering one of his famous speeches. Phew! Starting to flag now and a good time to visit the loos which are located here. But no signs of a seat for a quick rest.
As you walk on, you are on the upper level – at candelabra level – looking down on the library hall beneath and getting a sneak preview of some of the delights down there. Although the designers have placed a few of the exhibits near the ceiling so you can see them from this vantage point. I particularly liked looking down on the electronic pool and koi fish although the app on my iphone makes this less impressive now than when I first saw it last year.
Then you enter the punishment area which really isn’t suitable for small kids but older children adore. Might be tricky explaining some of the chastity belts but the various instruments of torture need little introduction. Frankly, I found the noisy electric chair demonstration rather hard to stomach but my kids were fascinated. Then its through a graveyard area into a fashion area – all in pink (take care with the flashing lights) – and dominated by Marilynn Monroe momentos.
Finally found a chair to sit down here – in a film viewing area. Unfortunately, the film was of people doing fairly nasty things (swallowing swords, drilling their noses etc) so I didn’t stay long although my kids (and many others) appeared mesmerised by the celluloid stories.
There’s loads more to see – women with rings round their necks, shrunken heads (and videos explaining how these are done), people with facial oddities and boards on the walls describing everything from pirates to vampires. There’s a nice underwater bit with more sharks and a tank of water at the temperature of the sea at the time Titanic went down (and a model of that great vessel) and then a space bit with canisters that emerge from cylinders at the press of a button. The Mirror Maze – which we hadn’t seen last year – was excellent. Even when you know you have to take care or you will walk into a mirror, you still manage to do it. A lot. Lots of laughter – especially as you are required to wear plastic gloves to avoid smearing the mirrors.
At the end of the tour is my daughter’s favourite bit – The Chicken Run – which is a rotating cylinder which you cross on a metal bridge. The dizzying impact of this optical illusion makes everyone laugh. Then you pass by a new model of the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Toot Sweet making machine and are deposited into the shop – which wasn’t nearly as well stocked as when we first visited last year.
