Skeletons, skulls and visiting the King Richard III Visitor Centre in Leicester

[caption id="attachment_1894" align="alignnone" width="940"] Peeping out from behind the statue of Richard III, between the Cathedral and Visitor Centre[/caption]

The city of Leicester may not seem the most obvious destination for a family visit, but that’s where you'd be wrong. True, it isn’t the most beautiful place we’ve ever been to, but if you’re looking for stuff to entertain the children, aesthetics don't matter that much. And there’s certainly a lot to do.

We spent just two days in this bustling city, and enjoyed ourselves tremendously, despite the rain. Robert has already written about our visit to the National Space Centre, which we would highly recommend for a day out, and we also had great fun at a theme park called Twin Lakes, which had some excellent rides and a very scary maze (I clung onto Brian for most of this). We didn’t have time to visit Conkers, with its climbing and outdoor activities, but it sounded like great fun too. This was because, having had rides and space, I wanted a bit of my favourite subject, history.

Leicester suddenly became the focus of worldwide attention back in 2012 when the body of Richard III, the former King of England made infamous through Shakespeare, was found, in a local car park. Confirmation that it was Richard, who died aged 32, was announced to the world in February 2013, after DNA testing. He was known to have been killed at the Battle of Bosworth, but it was thought that his bones had been thrown into the river nearby. That was clearly wrong...

Now the city has a Richard III visitor centre, positioned on the site of a former school, and complete with the area where you can see how the body was found. Just across the way you can visit a rather beautiful small Cathedral where this former King was reinterred in March. We did both.

The centre starts downstairs with a video. I enjoyed this, but think that if you did know any of the history of the Wars of the Roses, you might find it a bit confusing (young children may find this in particular). It was not that helpful to have a timeline on the floor, as not only was this right where you would also stand to watch the video, but also where people who weren’t interested in the film would walk over and onto the next bit. I’m sure it sounded like a great idea when the centre was in the planning stages, but it was not particularly effective.

After this, we walked through into the rest of the “Dynasty” section which was all about the historical side of Richard – how he came to power and his reign. We liked this a lot as it had good explanation, interactivity and was pitched so that those who did know some of the background could enjoy it as much as those who didn’t.

[caption id="attachment_1896" align="alignnone" width="940"] Reconstructing Richard's face[/caption]

The upstairs is different, but rather wonderful. Firstly there is a timeline all about actors and those in the creative world (from Johnny Rotten to Kevin Spacey) who have played or been influenced by Richard. And then there is the story of his discovery, plus reconstructions of his face (and explanations of how this was done) and a replica of his skeleton.

There are also some short videos – featuring all the major players in the Richard III dig. Unfortunately, some of these had sound which dipped constantly, so you caught some words and missed others. It would be great if this was fixed as the interviews were fascinating. It would also be good if they had subtitles as there are no headphones, and it’s quite noisy up there anyway (there didn’t seem to be any option for foreign subtitles either).

[caption id="attachment_1897" align="alignnone" width="940"] This is how the skeleton was found[/caption]

The most wonderful part of our visit was seeing the original car park! This may not sound impressive, but it has been done beautifully with a hologram of the skeleton, positioned as it was found, lighting up under a glass floor. It was amazing to see this – and to see that Richard did indeed have a real curve of the spine. Sometimes propaganda does contain some truths!

[caption id="attachment_1898" align="alignnone" width="940"] Standing outside[/caption]

We left the centre to go to the Cathedral and would definitely recommend this to round off your visit. The tomb is beautiful and our whole visit helped us learn a lot, as well as made us think.

[caption id="attachment_1899" align="alignnone" width="940"] The tomb of Richard III[/caption]

The Centre is situated in centre of Leicester which is pedestrianised and easy to get about. There are lots of shops and restaurants nearby.

The Richard III visitor centre is open every day from 10am to 4pm and until 5pm at weekends. It costs £7.95 per adult, and £4.75 for children aged up to 15. A family ticket for two adults and two children is £21.50. Leicester Cathedral is free and has services throughout the week. It is open to visitors from 10 till 5pm every day except Sunday, when it is only open to see the tomb from 12.30 to 2.30pm.

Read more about Richard III and his story through our visit to Fotheringhay, where he was born.

Read about our visit to the Space Centre in Leicester

Visiting the ancient Temple of Knossos (by Robert)

Robert, who's 10, writes:

When we went to Crete, one thing really surprised me, and that was how great visiting Knossos was. I thought visiting an ancient palace in Greece sounded a bit boring, and that was without the one hour car journey just to get there from our resort. But I was proved wrong, as the walking tour (around one and a half hours long) was fun and very interesting. As well as being able to explore parts of a building established in around 2000 BC, we also found out that one of the most famous Greek myths of all originated from there.

Knossos is a palace which is located on an ancient piece of land dating back to the Bronze Age. It was thought to be the palace owned by King Minos (one of Zeus’s three sons) and was destroyed three times by natural causes.

Each time it was rebuilt again grander than before until it was eventually just left in ruins. Over time it became a hill and in 1899 after a previous archaeological dig that was stopped by the Turkish government, a man called Arthur Evans unearthed the whole palace where he discovered paintings, rooms and even ancient thrones, all of which you can still see today. He also tried to re-create the palace as it had been thousands of years before (some people don't like these recreations, but I thought it was good to see what it would have looked like).

[caption id="attachment_1881" align="alignnone" width="940"] The double headed axe[/caption]

When we went to Knossos,  we had a lovely tour guide who told us many interesting facts but my favourite has got to be that the Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur was created here. As the building was so big it was a bit like a maze or a labyrinth. The word "labyrinth" actually came from Knossos and means “the palace of double headed axes” (you can see these double headed axes drawn on many of the stones).

One of the gods they used to worship went to sleep in the winter and woke in the spring. At that time of the year the Minoans would celebrate by letting fourteen year olds die (a very strange way to celebrate!). To become an adult in the community you had to grab on to a charging bull’s horns and flip yourself over he creature. If you successfully completed the task,  a family, wealth and a job awaited you but if you failed, the only thing that awaited you was death. This bull was named after the ruler of the palace, King Minos thus creating the Minotaur.

[caption id="attachment_1883" align="alignnone" width="940"] The Throne Room[/caption]

I loved the throne room, as you got to see a real-life ancient throne that the monarch used to sit on. This had a ten minute queue to get in, but it was worth it. Funnily enough the queen’s throne was in a separate room to the king’s. I enjoyed looking at the ancient artwork and tools plus walking up stairs thousands of years old.

[caption id="attachment_1884" align="alignnone" width="940"] We loved the dolphin frieze which was in the Queen's rooms[/caption]

I really enjoyed visiting Knossos even though it was tiring walking for a long time in the hot sun, so definitely bring a bottle of water (we finished five). I loved it but I wouldn’t take kids under six because it is rather confusing and there is lots of walking. You don’t have to get a tour guide but I would recommend it as I’m sure it’s the best way to learn from the experience.

[caption id="attachment_1885" align="alignnone" width="940"] Standing in the ancient theatre at the Temple of Knossos, Crete[/caption]

You can see highlights of our trip to Crete in this video - including some shots of Knossos.

 

[kad_youtube url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0dLZIyjQ1o" width=200 height=100 ]

 

Mum says: We stayed in Crete at the beautiful Domes of Elounda (post to follow) and we took a car from our hotel to Knossos. The palace is located around 5km from Heraklion.
It costs just €6 to enter. You can also queue up for a guide, as we did, going round in a small group. This cost us €10 per person. It was definitely worth it to be told all about the history and given extra facts too. 

Yesterday it was reported that prices are to be raised for many Greek monuments, with entry to Knossos rising to €15.

Visiting VegFest London: Scrumptious Vegan Food

Jess writes: Last year, mum, dad, and Robert visited London VegFest, a vegan event in Olympia with loads of different vegan companies selling and giving out tasters of their products. Naturally, after reading the post that mum wrote about it and seeing the bags and bags of delicious vegan food that they brought back, I knew that I wanted to go.

Our family has a strange relationship with food. While mum, dad, and I love cheese, butter, and soya sauce, my brother Robert is allergic to dairy, soya, and eggs. This means that our house is full of vegan cookbooks, and we often have trouble trying to find places to eat when we are out on public. Therefore, VegFest is like heaven to Robert - it is the one place in London where he can eat almost everything, and there is a lot to eat!

 

[caption id="attachment_1866" align="alignnone" width="1200"] There was lots of delicious chocolate on offer, and we had loads of tasters![/caption]

VegFest takes part in different venues across the UK, with Scotland next to host in December this year. It is held over two floors in Olympia London, and is absolutely massive. There are companies selling things from vegan steaks to delicious chocolate, and we absolutely gorged ourselves on tasters of vegan chocolate, cupcakes, sausages, cheesecakes and puddings. Even though we eat meat and I definitely do not want to go vegan, the fact that the products didn't contain dairy, meat, or eggs didn't faze me - it was all delicious and a lot of things were free.

[caption id="attachment_1865" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Robert loved his bars from Moo Free - they tasted like real milk chocolate![/caption]

As soon as we stepped out of the lift, we were greeted with the stall from Moo Free Chocolates. Moo Free makes vegan, gluten free, wheat free, and soya free chocolates that taste exactly like milk chocolate. Many products were soya free and gluten free at VegFest.  After taking a lot (and I mean a lot) of tasters, we ended up buying enough chocolate to fill up half of a paper bag - quite an impressive feat when you consider the fact that they were only intended for one person...

[caption id="attachment_1867" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Scrumptious bubble tea from Nosteagia![/caption]

My favourite stall in the entire festival was Nosteagia, incredible bubble tea based in Shoreditch. I tried peach and green tea flavour and Robert had blackcurrant, and both were utterly delicious. We had lychee flavoured balls inside called "poppings", and they explode on your tongue when you bit into them. I'm going to have to go to their stall in East London with my friends now!

[caption id="attachment_1869" align="alignnone" width="1200"] The vegan pizza from the Venice Bakery tasted like the real thing[/caption]

Although there were loads of delicious cakes and puddings (such as a cookie from Ms Cupcake and puddings from Pudology), there was also loads of savoury food to try. We bought pizza slices from the Venice Bakery, tried delectable falafel and spicy bites from Great Food and Robert had a spring roll from Loving Hut.

[caption id="attachment_1871" align="alignnone" width="1200"] We loved the massive, delectable cookies from Ms Cupcake[/caption]

We also loved the chocolate and strawberry milk from Koko, salted caramel ice cream from The Nude Spoon, pecan ice cream from Jollyum, peanut butter cups from eat chic, and rose lemonade and cherry cola from Fentimans. However, a particular highlight of the day was the different scented candles from Harper's Bizarre Candles. We ended up buying four: Jaffa Cake, Black Vanilla, Pear Drops, and Fresh Air. Everything smelt incredible, and there were some funny names (I Love You But You Smell was a particular favourite of ours).

[caption id="attachment_1872" align="alignnone" width="1200"] The candles from Harper's Candles smelt amazing[/caption]

Aside from the scrumptious food, there were lots of other types of stalls at VegFest. There were ethically made shoes, essential oils, lots of make up, very soft bamboo pillows and some petitions to sign.

There were some demonstrations, debates, and talks to go and see, and we ended up going to a demonstration of how to make vegan sweets. However, it was really busy and noisy, and you couldn't hear much of what she was saying. It seemed as though most people were just there to get a seat. Mum and dad say that it was much busier than last year.

Apart from the queues, I had a really great time at VegFest. We left with full stomachs and bags full of goodies, and had a really nice time. There was a lot to do, and we spent about three hours walking around. I definitely recommend visiting next year!

Tickets to VegFest are £10 for adults and £6 for concessions in advance, and £12 and £8 on the door. Kids under 16 are free. There was a long queue of people waiting outside, so we recommend getting there early. There was a section for smaller children and a place for teenagers, but we didn't go to either of these. If you are bringing young children, be aware that it was very busy. 

 

Shrek's Adventure London, by Robert

Robert, who's 10, writes: As you know I live in London and have been to countless great experiences here but last week I went to the new(ish) DreamWorks Tours, Shrek’s Adventure and it was one of the best things I have ever done. This is why...

I love rides, shows, comedy and action and Shrek’s Adventure had all of that. Unlike most attractions similar to this it followed one great story so every section led on to the next and it made it more like a show. The whole thing was split into 12 sections and I will explain each of them briefly.

1. Departure gate

This section is basically queuing but a lot more fun. Instead of just standing around you should look at the props and posters spread out over the room. There were posters promoting various DreamWorks destinations or saying "Beware of witches" but also legs coming down the chimney or the stationery cupboard sign being crossed out and now reading "security office."  It was really funny. We then met a hilarious staff member who talked to us about what was going to happen. We then met Princess Fiona and did some singing, before moving onto...

2. The Ride

Even if you aren’t a rides person I’m sure you’ll still like it as it isn’t too bumpy, but even if you don’t go on the ride you still get to watch the video (like mum!). Personally I expected it to be moving you around a bit more but I still liked it.

The ride took place on a bus, and it involved Donkey driving us to Far Far Away with the help of characters from How to Train your Dragon and Kung Fu Panda. However, we killed Rumplestiltskin’s (Boo, he’s the bad guy) favourite witch on the way. Oh No. We needed to find Shrek to get us out of that mess so we went to...

3. Shrek’s Swamp

Here we met Cinderella who told us how to get home. She told us to go to the fortune teller’s caravan but that we needed to give him some gold. Eventually we found some but only after one man had to look in Shrek’s toilet. The sound effects were especially good at that part.

4. Rumplestiltskin’s Carriage

This was one of my favourite sections. All the actors at Shrek were good but this one was so funny. After giving him the gold we looked in the magic ball. Throughout the tour the audience are picked to do a lot of things and at this bit my dad had to dance in front of everyone, he was quite embarrassed. But it was brilliant...

[caption id="attachment_1846" align="alignnone" width="940"] The fortune teller was great[/caption]

5. The Poison Apple pub

After flirting with my dad, Cinderella's ugly sister told us the ingredients to make a potion to bring us back home. Puss in Boots gave us the hair of a hero, the first item on the list but just before a witch discovered us and we had to run to the next section.

6. Game Show (this had some of the best special effects)

I love a good game show especially one with a twist and this one had a big twist. To get the second ingredient on the list, conscience of a boy we had to answer yes or no questions with the buttons beside us. If we got them all right we got what we needed but if we got them wrong Pinocchio would get tortured. After getting what we needed (it was a close shave with the witches) we left the wheel of torture and landed in

7. The mirror maze

I won't go into full detail about the mirror maze as I assume you know what a mirror maze is.

8. Drury Lane and 9. Muffin Man’s House

In this section we met Sleeping Beauty (she was very funny), Gingy and the Muffin man in order to make the potion. After Donkey gave us the last ingredient essence of ogre we created number 10, the magic portal where we stood in a circle and then transported back home.

I won’t give away the ending but it involves 11. A prison, Shrek’s giant head and a bumpy surprise on the benches we were sitting on. It’s not the ending you were expecting.

12. Arrivals hall

When we finally made it back to London there were plenty of photo opportunities from all the  DreamWorks films. At the beginning you get some pictures taken and they are put in a DreamWorks Travel Guide for you. As well as pictures, this has games, jokes and recipes too, it is £20 for a book with no extras, £25 for one with a bonus How to Train your Dragon picture and £30 for a key ring and magnet as well of your pictures. If you just want one picture it costs £15. The shop is also expensive but has great things from cute cuddly toys to a Shrek’s Adventure Monopoly.

[caption id="attachment_1844" align="alignnone" width="768"] There were some incredibly cute toys for sale![/caption]

Overall I really enjoyed my day, which was brilliant and I would really recommend it.

Shrek's Adventure costs £26 for adults if you pay on the door (£23.40 if you book online) and £20.80 for children (£18.72) if you book online. You should book online as you need to reserve a slot. We were fortunate enough to be offered complimentary admission in order to review the attraction. However, all words and opinions are our own.

We would recommend the attraction for ages 5+. Robert's sister Jess, who is 13, thought she would be too old, so decided not to come, but Robert's parents really enjoyed it, and so did the other adults present!

Shrek's Adventure is situated on the South Bank of London, by the River Thames. It's right next to the London Dungeon, which he has also written about - read his post here. The National Theatre is only a few minutes away and we loved this too! Read Robert's post about the backstage tour. After Shrek, you can also enjoy the playground in Jubilee Gardens, just a few minutes away.

Visiting A Pen Museum - A Weekend In Birmingham

Jess, who's 13, writes: Over the summer, dad and I visited Birmingham for a programming event I was taking part in, and found ourselves with some time to spare. We generally divided our time between walking around the shops in the Bullring shopping centre and watching TV in our hotel room, but decided that we needed to actually go somewhere and do something instead...

[caption id="attachment_1803" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Outside the Bullring Shopping Centre - just two minutes from our hotel![/caption]

We had been staying in the Birmingham Central Bull Ring Travelodge, and found it was perfect for our stay - it was spacious and quiet, and our rooms had everything needed for a short stay. To top it all off, the hotel was only a ten minute walk from our train station (Birmingham New Street) and was only a minute from the Bullring Shopping Centre. This meant that dad and I spent an awful lot of time drinking Starbucks, eating food from Wagamamas and going to cinemas! The breakfast wasn't lavish, but it did have everything needed and I do think that our hotel would be a great choice for families visiting Birmingham.

[caption id="attachment_1805" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Our Travelodge hotel room[/caption]

As dad and I decided that we couldn't just spend all of our free time shopping, I looked up local attractions and found a museum which intrigued me - a pen museum! Dad and I decided to walk over and take a look inside, and were pleasantly surprised. We must have spent around an hour in the museum, and learnt a lot.

[caption id="attachment_1808" align="alignnone" width="1200"] There were lots of authentic pens and advertisements to look at.[/caption]

During the 19th Century, 75 per cent of everything written in the world was with a "Birmingham" pen. Birmingham's factories were at the head of this trade until the invention of the biro and fountain pen in the 1950s. At one time, there were around 100 factories in the Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter! The development of the steel pen reduced the cost of writing and enabled the spread of literacy throughout the world.

The Pen Museum has the atmosphere of a Victorian pen factory and is "dedicated to preserving and promoting the legacy of [the pen] trade" It is fairly small (there are only two rooms) but there were lots of volunteers to explain different contraptions and to take us on a tour of the museum.

[caption id="attachment_1807" align="alignnone" width="1200"] People created displays of pen nibs like this one to enter into competitions[/caption]

Dad and I were taken around the museum with about ten other people, and the man who was taking us around was friendly and very funny. We were shown displays of pen nibs which were entered in competitions, strange inkwells shaped like animals, antique typewriters and very old telephone systems. I loved sitting down and trying my hand at calligraphy which I was terrible at; my hands were absolutely covered in navy ink within about two minutes...

[caption id="attachment_1806" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Writing with calligraphy pens was very difficult...[/caption]

I really enjoyed seeing how braille is printed onto paper. You write your name down and work out the corresponding numbers, and then you put a sheet through a machine and press onto these numbers. The paper comes out looking and feeling exactly like braille, which was really cool.

[caption id="attachment_1810" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Working out my name in Braille[/caption]

However, my highlight of our visit had to be making a pen nib using exactly the same machines that would have been used in Victorian times. We started with a sheet of metal, which we cut into the distinctive shape. To do this, I had to pull on the machine's handle really hard - it was incredible to think that the women working there had to make thousands a day!

[caption id="attachment_1809" align="alignnone" width="1200"] I loved using these machines to create authentic pen nibs![/caption]

After we pressed, curved, hardened, and slit the metal, Dad and I had successfully created a real pen nib. My arm was aching from how hard you had to pull the machines.

Overall, Dad and I do recommend The Pen Museum if you have a spare hour in Birmingham as everyone is lovely, there is lots to see and learn, and I really liked the interactive demonstrations. Who knew that pens were so interesting?!

Entry to The Pen Museum is £2.00 for adults and free from under-16s.

Disclosure: Jessica and Brian stayed at the Birmingham Central Bull Ring Travelodge on a complimentary basis, although the company had no input into this blog post. Family rooms now have separate space saving truckle beds, offering children their own individual bed and providing more space in the room. Plus kids eat free, including all you can eat breakfast. Rooms cost from £35 a night upwards.

Some other lovely museums which I've visited

A great visit to Weald and Downland 

Top Secret: a visit to Bletchley Park