Exploring warrens of the Borough
Having a toddler is also a lot of fun. And London is a big fun city to explore, for toddlers and dads alike.
Every morning, we talk about busses. Bobby earnestly asks if we can take a bus. On most weekdays, we tell him that we have to go to school but maybe during the weekend we can take a bus. He then says "Mummy take bus" or "Baba take bus." If one of us leaves early, he says it's for us to take the bus. Luckily, he rarely complains much (knock on wood) about having to go to school and how it prevents him from taking the bus.
On the weekends, we plan our days around how we can ride in public carriage. Some weekends, we take the bus to parks we could walk to, or we take bus rides to parks in adjacent neighborhoods, especially Stoke Newington, which is just a very nice little village with a big park (Clissold).
Today started early and terribly. Who knows what time the little guy woke up, but he woke up his baba at six to tell him he needed help with the bathroom. Since he often messes his diaper in the morning, this was promising. But soon, he was whining and crying because he couldn't watch his favorite tv show, Tayo the Little Bus. Then he was mad he couldn't have toast (bread is all gone). His list of complaints this morning was long, and he was frequently very, very upset. I can't even remember the entire list now. He was obviously having trouble focusing on anything because he was so tired.
Amidst the commotions, inspiration struck Mum. She suggested we take a bus to London Bridge. This bus, 43, is a double decker, Bob's favorite type of bus, and it picks us up nearby our home. Mum stayed home and cleaned. Baba and Bob thoroughly enjoyed their bus ride. We saw excavators, cranes, some sports cars (Bob calls them pow chuh, the Chinese word, even while he seems sometimes resistant to speaking Chinese.), a couple Gugu cars (Mini Coopers), taxis, garbage trucks, delivery trucks -- the excitement level was high all the way to London Bridge. Lots of pointing and exclaiming.
Standing on London Bridge itself, you are in urban machinery heaven. You can see boats on the Thames, including a war ship (HMS Belfast, now a museum ship), water taxis, site-seeing boats, police boats, etc. We were excited to see anything resembling a cruise ship because Tayo takes one on tv. Standing on London Bridge, looking upstream, you can see trains crossing a bridge over the river into Cannon Street Station. On the south riverbank, you can see trains rolling through the snaking viaducts around London Bridge Station. There are many construction cranes popping up over the horizons. Plus, there are a lot of cars and busses taking the bridge. See the map below to marvel at the warren of transport media encircling London bridge.
We also waded into the Borough Market madness. There is really delicious food in Borough Market, as you'd expect in a competitive market with high volumes. But the secret is definitely out. The weather today is cold and drizzly -- not high tourist season -- so hopefully these masses are just spring breakers and not indicative of average weekend demand in the low season. The market was filled to the brim on this Saturday, and I dread seeing it on a Saturday during peak tourist season. No matter, Bob and I bought a tropical fruit smoothie.
As Baba tried to take a selfie, Bob spilled ample amounts of smoothie down his jacket front and mine. Again, no matter. Dads don't care if they're covered in juice. We were also in the market because Baba knows there's a toilet there, and as we're operating with fewer diapers these days, we need to make sure the boy has got facilities adequate for all of nature's calls.
After this morning's tantrums, we had a fun adventure. I often get a bit turned around in the tangled roads, bridges, and tunnels around London Bridge Station, where Victorian train tracks wrap around a medieval market and the roads were laid out even earlier (London Bridge itself was first built in 1209 or even earlier depending on when you start counting), with the Shard's giant footprint somehow plopped right on top of the jumbled Victorian warehouses. Bobby and I were having fun trying to figure out how to make our way to the river quay. He was asking for the sun to come back and saying things like "How do we fine da wah-tuh?" (i.e., how do we get to the water, or river). Walking in a pedestrian subway nearby the Monument, we saw some sleeping hobos, and the boy was intrigued that they get to sleep in a tuh nuhl. I guess tunnels sound better than the big boy bed these days since every night (not to mention nap times) we have to beg him to sleep.
He could barely stay awake on the bus ride home. I was trying to set him up for an epic nap (in the big boy bed, not the tunnel) since he was so obviously tired this morning. While he never whined on our adventure, once back home, he started whining immediately. He was actively resistant to eating lunch and taking a nap. He finally passed out, though, and slept for two and half hours, which is his longest nap at home since, well, probably before the Christmas dislocations. Onward and upward with our ongoing adventures in London vehicular transport.
Every morning, we talk about busses. Bobby earnestly asks if we can take a bus. On most weekdays, we tell him that we have to go to school but maybe during the weekend we can take a bus. He then says "Mummy take bus" or "Baba take bus." If one of us leaves early, he says it's for us to take the bus. Luckily, he rarely complains much (knock on wood) about having to go to school and how it prevents him from taking the bus.
On the weekends, we plan our days around how we can ride in public carriage. Some weekends, we take the bus to parks we could walk to, or we take bus rides to parks in adjacent neighborhoods, especially Stoke Newington, which is just a very nice little village with a big park (Clissold).
Today started early and terribly. Who knows what time the little guy woke up, but he woke up his baba at six to tell him he needed help with the bathroom. Since he often messes his diaper in the morning, this was promising. But soon, he was whining and crying because he couldn't watch his favorite tv show, Tayo the Little Bus. Then he was mad he couldn't have toast (bread is all gone). His list of complaints this morning was long, and he was frequently very, very upset. I can't even remember the entire list now. He was obviously having trouble focusing on anything because he was so tired.
Amidst the commotions, inspiration struck Mum. She suggested we take a bus to London Bridge. This bus, 43, is a double decker, Bob's favorite type of bus, and it picks us up nearby our home. Mum stayed home and cleaned. Baba and Bob thoroughly enjoyed their bus ride. We saw excavators, cranes, some sports cars (Bob calls them pow chuh, the Chinese word, even while he seems sometimes resistant to speaking Chinese.), a couple Gugu cars (Mini Coopers), taxis, garbage trucks, delivery trucks -- the excitement level was high all the way to London Bridge. Lots of pointing and exclaiming.
Standing on London Bridge itself, you are in urban machinery heaven. You can see boats on the Thames, including a war ship (HMS Belfast, now a museum ship), water taxis, site-seeing boats, police boats, etc. We were excited to see anything resembling a cruise ship because Tayo takes one on tv. Standing on London Bridge, looking upstream, you can see trains crossing a bridge over the river into Cannon Street Station. On the south riverbank, you can see trains rolling through the snaking viaducts around London Bridge Station. There are many construction cranes popping up over the horizons. Plus, there are a lot of cars and busses taking the bridge. See the map below to marvel at the warren of transport media encircling London bridge.
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| London Bridge and environs |
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| On the Queen's Walk, near London Bridge City Pier, you can spot the HMS Belfast and Tower Bridge in the background. |
We also waded into the Borough Market madness. There is really delicious food in Borough Market, as you'd expect in a competitive market with high volumes. But the secret is definitely out. The weather today is cold and drizzly -- not high tourist season -- so hopefully these masses are just spring breakers and not indicative of average weekend demand in the low season. The market was filled to the brim on this Saturday, and I dread seeing it on a Saturday during peak tourist season. No matter, Bob and I bought a tropical fruit smoothie.
As Baba tried to take a selfie, Bob spilled ample amounts of smoothie down his jacket front and mine. Again, no matter. Dads don't care if they're covered in juice. We were also in the market because Baba knows there's a toilet there, and as we're operating with fewer diapers these days, we need to make sure the boy has got facilities adequate for all of nature's calls.
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| Adrift in the surging tide of gastro-tourists. It was only 11am, pretty early for Saturday lunch in London. I dread seeing this place at 1pm today, let alone in August. |
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| Drinking his tropical smoothie (what wasn't already spilled on our jackets) in front of Southwark Cathedral and just outside the surging market crowds. |
After this morning's tantrums, we had a fun adventure. I often get a bit turned around in the tangled roads, bridges, and tunnels around London Bridge Station, where Victorian train tracks wrap around a medieval market and the roads were laid out even earlier (London Bridge itself was first built in 1209 or even earlier depending on when you start counting), with the Shard's giant footprint somehow plopped right on top of the jumbled Victorian warehouses. Bobby and I were having fun trying to figure out how to make our way to the river quay. He was asking for the sun to come back and saying things like "How do we fine da wah-tuh?" (i.e., how do we get to the water, or river). Walking in a pedestrian subway nearby the Monument, we saw some sleeping hobos, and the boy was intrigued that they get to sleep in a tuh nuhl. I guess tunnels sound better than the big boy bed these days since every night (not to mention nap times) we have to beg him to sleep.
He could barely stay awake on the bus ride home. I was trying to set him up for an epic nap (in the big boy bed, not the tunnel) since he was so obviously tired this morning. While he never whined on our adventure, once back home, he started whining immediately. He was actively resistant to eating lunch and taking a nap. He finally passed out, though, and slept for two and half hours, which is his longest nap at home since, well, probably before the Christmas dislocations. Onward and upward with our ongoing adventures in London vehicular transport.
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