Passing Along the Tradition - Part 2

Quick refresher: This is the second part of a (now 3 part) article about my family's trip to England with 2 key intentions:

(Read part 1 here: https://vocal.media/wander/passing-along-the-tradition)

• Intention 1: Compare and Contrast - The world has changed in the last 32 years and that includes the UK. I will be pointing out particular comparisons and contrasts to my time in 1990 to what things look like in 2022. I hope this comes off as somewhat objective as I've also changed as a person over 32 years, so much of the observable changes could just be perception.
• Intention 2: You too can have a great time in the UK with your family! Find some helpful hints scattered throughout this article.

Now that the background is thoroughly established I will move on.

Climbing out of the rabbit hole and back into our Harry Potter tour of England, we couldn’t have fully experienced magic as muggles without a full day at the Warner Bros Harry Potter Studio. I’m not going to say much about this, as it’s just so overwhelming that I could write an entire book. However, I will say that if you have two die-hard Harry Potter fans, under 12 (or over 40) in your family this is a must-do. I went back and forth about whether or not to do the tour and/or to spend a total of 6 hours watching the Cursed Child in two parts in London, over the course of two days. Because I was interested in exposing myself and my children to more than just Harry Potter, I opted for the Warner Bros tour rather than the play. Which, if you know me and my penchant for theater, was a very difficult choice. In 1990, my mom and I had the amazing opportunity to see the original cast of Les Misérables perform and also get up close and personal with new feline friends via orchestra tickets to Cats. As I mentioned before, these experiences were pivotal to career choices I’ve made later in life. The experience of London’s theatre district on a rainy Saturday night running from the taxi through the lights and into the lobby of the Palace Theatre is one that can’t be matched. I have an inkling that my kids had a similar feeling at the Harry Potter studios. T hey key isn't to relive past experiences through your children but to live anew through their eyes and interests.

While Harry Potter references were quite literally everywhere, we found two final amazing experiences on our trip that completed the tour perfectly. In 1990, my mom and I spent a lot of time at Windsor Castle and Blenheim Palace. I really struggled with how to fold those into our trip this year. So, I opted that instead of those two castles, we’d take the train up north and visit Alnwick Castle, where the outside shots of Hogwarts were filmed and, then, to the “real” Diagon Alley in York.

On our way back down from Scotland, (which I’ll write about later), we made a fantastical visit to Alnwick Castle. At this point in the trip, the kids had purchased themselves Hogwarts jackets and from various gift shops with their own money.

On a side/money management note, we give our children special “credit cards” that we fill up with a predetermined amount and then they can use them without us having to haggle about what crap they want to buy. It’s amazing how frugal children can be when they know they only have so much and are responsible for keeping track of their spending over the course of 10 days. Of course, we helped when we needed to, but for the most part, the trinkets they bought on our trip were from their own allowances. So, when we arrived in Alnmouth, England, Northumbria, they were ready to go to Hogwarts!

And oh my goodness! N ot only were we actually visiting Hogwarts, but my husband and I were super impressed that the castle has been in the same family for over 700 years! What kind of Game of Thrones story had we walked into?! So many good stories; so. many. stories. (Road trip, Vocal writers! or boat trip! okay, fine, plane trip!) But the best part, was that when we got to the castle, there was a field trip of actual British school children in full British-y school uniforms, the same age as my kids. My children's minds were again blown, as mine had been 32 years before, that sometimes movies and TV shows and especially books, actually reflect reality. What ended up being the most memorable events on our trip to Alnwick Castle was the extra walk we took through the countryside, to the train station. Along the way, my 10 year old daughter ran over to a beautiful tree on the side of the path with a tiny red door attached. She had found a fairy house in the English country side! Still full of youthful hope she timidly knocked and waited for an answer. As the fairy had gone out for the day, we just took pictures and left a small note of appreciation on the doorstep, for sharing their magic.

One thing my mom has often cited as her biggest regret from our 1990 trip, was not getting to see York. B y cutting out reliving my past experiences at Stonehenge and Stratford-Upon-Avon, (don't worry, we also got our Shakespeare fix, which I'll explore in Part 3) we were able to spend a whole day in York. In case you ever wondered, the York Shambles IS Diagon Alley. By the time we got to York, I was personally a bit Harry Pottered-out. But when we turned a corner on our evening walk after checking in at our lodgings, into the York Shambles area, my excitement was thoroughly renewed! The tiny street with cobblestones, leaning medieval buildings full of potion shops, meat pie shops, Viking ware, candy shops and so much more, I could see how anyone could imagine collecting wizarding school supplies next door to the patisserie. Instead of the towering Gringotts bank in the sky above as you turn out of the alley, in York, you are greeted by the spires of York minster Cathedral which is awe inspiring in it's perfect gothic architecture.

That concludes the Harry Potter portion of our trip. Honestly, before we went to England, my son was reading the entire series through over and over and not reading anything else. My daughter was obsessed and both were watching the movies non-stop. I'm thrilled to announce that Harry Potter hasn't been mentioned in our house since June. As Halloween and Christmas approach, I think we'll be hearing more, but the obsession has been calmed and they're both expanding their horizons in literature and happily have been inspired to incorporate a little...Shakespeare.

If you haven't caught the hidden tips so far, here they are:

• (From Part 1) Audio tours are awesome! Pay the extra fee, it’s always worth it. I wouldn’t suggest it for kids too young, but mine at 10 and 11, really appreciated the helpful insights and direction
• Stay in one place for a few days at a time (if you can) and take day trips using public transportation - Trains are amazing, especially in Europe
• Give your kids a chance to prove their money management skills. We use the Greelight Card for allowances, so ours were already pretty used to using their own card prior to the trip. We added about $200 to each card for them to budget out over the 10 days. They did really well, with one coming home with $100 still available for candy trips to the grocery store.
• B e ready for surprises and let kids be kids! We had so many magical moments and new insights from enjoying the sites through the eyes of our children. Without my daughter's eagle-eye, we would have missed out on the magic of crossing paths with fairies.

Part 3 coming soon! Winter is Coming - Scotland, Shakespeare and the dark-side of York.

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