BrainNoodles

UK

There are 8 entries for the tag UK

Blur in Hyde Park

There's not a lot of bands for whom I would pay top dollar to see live in concert but Blur is one of them. I was dead pleased that I managed to get tickets. So on a nice warm sunny day in July, I took Jenny, Robyn and her friend so go see them. I would say this is the first big concert to which we have every taken Robyn. She and her friend left us and went up near the front of the stage where you tend to get squashed. It thoroughly worried Jenny but that's what Moms...

Turville

I have a friend who's into photography so we went on a little photo expedition to Turville. It's one of my favourite little villages in the area as you can do a nice walk up the hill to the old windmill for a lovely view of the valley. Best of all, the pub does some excellent grub.   Tags: UK

Stonehenge and Avebury Again

If you have two children, I think you find you do a lot with the first child and then forget to do them again for the second child. Or at least do them again when your second child can remember it. At least that was what happened with us and Stonehenge. We realised that Kieran hadn't been there so we set out to correct that with a little field trip since it isn't that far away. And we went to Averbury too since that fits in well with the theme of ancient circles. The museum at Avebury is very...

Brooklands Museum and Mercedes World

Our last activity of 2008 was go the Mercedes World and the Brooklands Museum. Just want to recommend this as a really good day out with the kids. For Christmas, we gave Robyn a driving lesson at Mercedes World as a gift. There's no age restriction; you just need to be tall enough. While she was doing that, there's plenty of nice cars to check out. Brooklands was of course a very famous racetrack in its’ day. The museum feels a bit tired and underfunded but the exhibits are very good and you can even have a tour...

Doctor Who Exhibition

On my birthday, we went down to Earl’s Court to see the Doctor Who exhibition. I've seen every episode of the new series. The exhibit was much as you would expect. Lots of costumes and artifacts and an interesting display of how they make the aliens. A TARDIS and K9 was there. Of course, the best bit was the Cybermen and the Daleks. Walking back to the car, we found a real police box on the Earl’s Court high street.  Tags: UK, Family

Go Karting

Some weeks ago we took R* go karting with a couple of friends at Teamworks Karting in Reading. Karting is always good fun. Heck, I like any motorsport. This was the first time I had tried electric ones. It makes sense for an indoor track and at 10hp, they could do 40 mph down the back straight. Fast enough. However, they do lack the excitement of a revving noisy engine and the smell of petrol and fumes. It’s just not the same! Give me petrol any day. The facilities at Teamworks were brand new and excellent. You can have up to...

Home Sweet Home

We’ve been back home in the UK for two weeks now. After being away for seven months, it felt pretty strange coming home. Everything is very familiar but new at the same time. It’s very clean and green. Plenty of open spaces and it’s not crowded. It’s great going outside without the energy-sucking sweltering heat sapping your motivation. Skin isn’t sticky. Traffic is orderly. No ants or mossies. Of course, prices are outrageous. Best of all, it sure is nice sleeping in one’s own bed and being surrounded by one’s own stuff. We’ve got dozens of projects keeping us busy. I need...

Notting Hill Carnival 2007

Took the kids down to the Notting Hill Carnival yesterday. It was children's day not the full-on carnival day. Unfortunately, I got us there too early. We arrived at 10:30 (the website said it started at 10!) and the first float didn't get to us until 12:45. There were also some long gaps between floats so the kids got bored. They didn't like the whole vibe and soon wanted to go home. It's a case of you win some; you lose some. If you ever go, you should aim to get down there around 1pm. Next time, I'm leaving the...