I’ve enjoyed visiting New York City a few times with my family, but recently (thanks to my husband covering teen and dog care duties) I was lucky enough to be able to spend a few marvellous days there with friends. We spent hours in museums, art galleries and junk shops, and we tried different eating […]
Where to find Mary Poppins film locations in London
Mary Poppins author P. L Travers lived in the fashionable district of Bloomsbury when she first moved to London in her twenties. She later made her home in Chelsea, another affluent part of the city. Her book Mary Poppins was published in 1934, and Travers then went on to write eight books over fifty years. […]
Thai cooking class, The Tongsai Bay, Thailand
While staying at The Tongsai Bay (you can read my review of the hotel here) in Koh Samui, my family and I took part in an excellent Thai cooking class.* We’ve experienced cooking classes a few times on our family travels, and they’ve always been a success – even when the kids are at peak […]
How to visit London’s Churchill War Rooms & Museum
The Churchill War Rooms are a series of bunkers which lie beneath the streets of Westminster. This was the secret London location where the then Prime Minister Winston Churchill and his war cabinet planned and directed Britain’s actions during the Second World War. These rooms are now part of the Imperial War Museum and are […]
A day out at Knole house and deer park, Kent
As I listen to the guide explaining the history of the vast medieval building and its treasures, I wonder about the hundreds – possibly thousands – of servants who must have toiled here over the years. The focus of the tour is on the architecture, the works of art and the story of the nobles […]
How to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in London
During my university Easter holidays, Mum and I went to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on stage in London’s West End. As a life-long Harry Potter fan (we have two copies of the last book in our house, as mum and I both wanted to read it the second it came out) I […]
How to explore the Pilgrims’ Way by car
The Pilgrims’ Way is an ancient route in the South of England, connecting the shrine of St. Swithun in Winchester Cathedral with the shrine of the martyr St Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral. It’s impossible to know how many pilgrims followed this route in medieval times, but historians believe that as many as tens of […]
Winnie-the-Pooh exhibition, V&A, London
My nineteen year-old daughter and I popped in to London’s V&A last week to see Winnie-the-Pooh: Exploring a Classic. We’re both lifelong admirers of the famous bear and his friends, and have spent many happy hours exploring Ashdown Forest (for more on Ashdown Forest, read my post How to visit the places in the Winnie-the-Pooh […]
How to visit the places in the Winnie-the-Pooh books
I’ve loved A. A. Milne’s stories about Christopher Robin, Pooh Bear and friends ever since I was given paperback copies of Winnie-the-Pooh and When We Were Very Young as a child. I still have those books – according to the back cover they cost 20p each. The books were originally published in the 1920s but […]
How to visit Penshurst Place & Gardens, Kent
Penshurst Place & Gardens is a beautiful historic estate in England’s Weald of Kent, near Tunbridge Wells, and it’s a wonderful place for a day out, with or without children. Penshurst Place feels like a National Trust property, but it’s actually the current and ancestral home of the Sidney family. King Edward VI granted the […]
