10 Tips to Save Money While Studying Abroad

Josh and I were recently asked by Purdue University's Department of Financial Aid to be guest bloggers in their MyMoney blog!  One of Josh's former students is now working on the blog, and she knew that Josh had taught in Purdue's study abroad programs three times - once in Italy and twice in London.

While we had plenty of tips to share on our own, we asked our friend Cassidy Ward for tips as well.  Cassidy had just returned from studying in Greece for a semester, and so she had a fresh take on what college students need to know.

Follow this link to find our 10 Tips to Save Money While Studying Abroad!  

A First-Timer's View of Sin City (Part 1)

It may surprise you to know that though I have visited six continents, I had never been to Las Vegas until yesterday.  Josh attends a national conference each November, and this year's destination is none other than Sin City itself.  Since Las Vegas wasn't a trip we were likely to take without a reason, we decided to go together with my in-laws, leaving the kids behind with friends.

Though I'd heard that there was gambling everywhere, even in the airport, I was surprised to see slots at our gate the moment we got off the plane.  I was too concerned about meeting up with my in-laws at baggage claim to be tempted by the garish lights, so on we went, passing the welcome sign on our way.

Within minutes of arriving at our hotel, The Cosmopolitan, I met a celebrity!  Scott Hamilton (1984 Olympic Men's Figure Skating gold medalist) was in line behind me when we were checking in.  

He was exactly as nice as you'd think he'd be, and he was super patient when the camera on my phone didn't work.  (Twice.)

Since Josh has gold status with Marriott's reward program (and the Cosmopolitan is part of the Marriott system), we asked for a room upgrade when we checked in.  Though none of the rooms facing the Bellagio fountains were available, we did get a huge room on the 56th floor with a vertigo-inducing balcony.  But the coolest part to me is the artsy vibe - the room has a collection of art books and colored pencils in an art glass cup just in case I feel inspired by the surrounding glam.

Oh Cosmo.  We only just met and you know me so well.

After unpacking, we headed to the Rio for dinner and to see Penn and Teller's magic show.  We ate at Buzios, a seafood restaurant near the entrance to the Penn and Teller Theater.  (Josh and I shared the ceviche and the shellfish pan roast, both of which were fantastic.).   

Though my favorite illusion of the show was performed by Teller, it was Penn that we met after the show.  Both performers were outside meeting fans, but Penn was far more efficient at crowd control.  Even without a real line, he worked through the hoardes of people who wanted a photo with him with an efficiency that would make a DisneyWorld character's handler jealous. 

And I told him so.  I don't think anyone has ever said that to him before because he looked at me kind of funny before thanking me for what he finally assumed must have been a strange attempt at a compliment.  (It was.)

Back at The Cosmo, I decided to take advantage of the Jacuzzi tub in our room while Josh worked on his convention presentation.  I had brought a Lush bath bomb from home to use (who wants to leave a colored ring around their own tub when you could leave one around someone else's?), and I luxuriated in the scented water while trying to figure out the controls for the jets in the tub.  I pushed a couple of random buttons and finally got a satisfactory stream of bubbles.  Unfortunately, the jets were loud so I began to worry about bothering guests in neighboring rooms and ended up turning it off.

Once we were both ready to turn in, Josh starting turning off the many lamps and overhead lights in the room.  Strangely, the desk lamp wouldn't cooperate and refused to go off.  He tried, I tried, and we even tried the button by the door that was supposed to turn off everything.  

And still the desk light continued to glow.  Josh called the front desk where a girl who surely thought we were idiots told us to push the goodbye button.  When we assured her that we'd already tried that, she promised to send someone up.  A few minutes later, a maintenance guy knocked on the door and said with obvious incredulity, "Um, they said you can't turn off your desk light?"  Josh gestured to the offending illumination and moved out of the way to let the guy give it a try.  Of course, I sat across the room worrying that a simple push of a button by this guy would reveal us to be the idiots he thought we were, but I needn't have worried.  He pushed the buttons (with increasing frustration) and eventually decided new batteries were in order.  He changed the batteries on the control pad, and then turned the light off with one push.

To be sure it was fixed, he pushed the button again to turn it back on.  Nothing happened.  He tried again and again, and eventually said, "Well, the goal was to get it off, right?" Josh laughed and agreed that yes indeed, off was better than on.

The guy left and we settled into bed in the now completely dark room.  Suddenly, a horrible, thundering sound filled our ears.  We both jumped and desperately tried to turn on some lights to figure out from whence the room-rattling noise was emanating.  Lo and behold, one of those random Jacuzzi buttons I'd pressed earlier had decided to pull itself out of hibernation and work.

Josh, bless him, stumbled into the bathroom and managed to turn off the offending appliance so that we could finally get some sleep.  As I closed my eyes, I thought, "Oh, Cosmo!  I thought we really had something here - a connection, an understanding!  How could you do this to me?"

So, dear Cosmopolitan, take note.  Colored pencils and art books only get you so far. Get the kinks worked out because what happens in Vegas is going on my blog.

Disneyland Paris Tips Part 2

In my last post I shared my first two tips for visiting Disneyland Paris.  In this one, I'll share the rest of my tips.

We're walking right down the middle of Main Street, USA even thought we're actually in Paris!

Tip #3. Prioritize the rides and attractions that are unique to Disneyland Paris.  Yes, I know. Your kids won't let you walk past Dumbo or the tea cups without riding them.  Tell them that you promise to come back to those when you've checked off the following Paris-only attractions.

Disneyland Paris unique attractions

*Alice's Curious Labyrinth (a walk through that needs some upkeep but is interesting for its novelty)

*Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril (completely different from the one at Disneyland - this one is a roller coaster that goes upside down)

* Space Mountain: Mission 2 (far rougher than any other Space Mountain, in my opinion, and closed for refurbishment during our 2015 visit)

*Mysterious Nautilus WalkThru (a walk through visit of the ship from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, also closed for refurbishment during our 2015 visit)

*Pirates of the Caribbean (the best one in the world, even better then Disneyland)

*Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (also the best in the world, in my opinion, since the train goes under a moat)

*The Dragon's Lair under Sleeping Beauty's Castle (another walk through, but cool nonetheless)

This is Kinley's favorite ride!  Isn't it neat to see the ride name in French?

The coaster is two cars long with seating for 12.  The theme is sort of a Cambodian Angkor Wat kind of place.

Just outside Alice's Labyrinth is a photo op.

Walt Disney Studios unique attractions

*Crush's Coaster (a spinning roller coaster based on Crush from Finding Nemo)

*Cinemagic (a sit-down theater attraction with Martin Short that is sort of like The Great Movie Ride in a theater)

*Ratatouille: The Adventure (a 4D ride that I loved through the kitchens and rooftops of Paris)

*Cars Four Wheel Rally (kind of like the Mater Tractor ride at Disneyland)

Note:There is a Toy Story section that is not unique to Disneyland Paris since it's also at Hong Kong Disneyland.  But if you have no plans to visit Hong Kong, then you should prioritize these.  The Parachute Drop is great, and I like the RC Racer ride, too.  But the a Slinky Dog ride is too long of a wait to go in a circle

Knox's favorite ride was Cars Four Wheel Rally.

Tip #4 :  Don't stand in line for character autographs.  Disneyland Paris has struggled with crowd management for character autographs for years.  Many of the guests come from countries where queuing (or, in American English, forming an orderly line) is not a part of the culture, so people mob the characters, shoving their kids to the front regardless of who was next in line or ignoring the queue altogether and photobombing with abandon.  Additionally, characters at Disneyland Paris have far fewer cast members assigned to them for crowd management making character greetings a frustrating free for all. 

To try to deal with this problem, Disneyland Paris has seriously limited character greetings.  Each character has a designated spot in the park and only appears there.  The main characters (Mickey, Minnie, Donald, etc.) are on Main Street with a few others in Adventureland and near the Toy Story area.  

Our kids (even our 14 year old) love getting autographs, so we bought autograph books as soon as we arrived.  We've trained them to bypass the basic characters on Main Street during Extra Magic Hours in order to zoom past and get to the rides.  But when we saw a queue for Buzz Lightyear later in the day, Knox couldn't resist.  We had no idea we were in for a 45-minute wait.  And Buzz didn't even sign an autograph!  His handler stamped Knox's book instead!  Plus we still had to contend with non-English speaking line jumpers.  Even Knox agreed that it wasn't worth the wait.  In fact, that was our longest wait of the entire trip.

The kids managed to look happy in spite of the incredibly long wait in the heat, but we had all learned our lesson and didn't wait in any ohter character queues for the rest of our stay.

Which leads to Tip #5:  If you really want autographs, book character meals.  We got Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Chip, and Dale at a Cafe Mickey lunch, and we got Ariel, Cinderella, Prince Charming, Sleeping Beauty, and the two mice from Cinderella (Suzy and Perla) at lunch at Auberge de Cendrillon.  Cafe Mickey was a part of our meal plan, but we decided that the extra money we paid to eat with the princesses was well spent to avoid autograph lines.  (And, just so you know, there are appointments for character greetings with princesses each day but you have to wait in line 45 minutes to make the appointment and they are all booked up by 10:00 each day.  And even if you get an appointment, you only get one princess.  Plus you don't even get to choose which one!). Since every character at the meals comes to your table while you eat, it works out perfectly!

Dale made Knox laugh a lot at our character breakfast.  He and Chip came around to greet the kids separately which is different from other character breakfasts we've experienced.

Cinderella and Prince Charming were happy to be able to converse with English speakers!

All of the "face characters" are native English speakers, so the kids got to talk to them as long as they wished!   Ariel and all the other princesses were kind and gracious (as they have been trained to be) in spite of the other guests who refused to wait in their seats until the princesses came to greet them at their tables.

Which leads to Tip #6:  You don't have to plan as far ahead to get great dining reservations.  In Orlando, if you want to eat in Cinderella's Castle, you're going to have to call 180 days out and wait on the phone forever.  But we managed to get reservations for Blue Lagoon (the restaurant inside The Pirates of the Caribbean), Cafe Mickey, Auberge de Cendrillon, and Chez Remy (the new Ratatouille-themed restaurant) by calling from London about three weeks before our trip.  And the lady who took our reservations spoke perfect English!  We didn't try to get reservations at the other popular restaurant, Walt's on Main Street, so I'm not sure about how hard that one is to get.

Chez Remy is themes as if guests are Remy-sized!  So the table above is a jam lid and the seats are Champagne cork covers with a little drink umbrella above!  

Tip #7:  Stay at one of the hotels that is within walking distance and avoid the shuttle buses.  We have stayed at both Newport Bay (a 15 minute walk away from the parks) and at the Sequoia Lodge (a 10 minute walk).  We have also stayed at the Hotel Santa Fe which isn't really within walking distance, and being able to walk back and forth rather than having to wait for the bus is a huge advantage.  First if all, there are too few shuttles.  Secondly, you have to wait for the shuttle with people who don't know how to queue.  And third, those same people are smoking cigarettes like chimneys while they wait.  All that adds up to walking being a far better option.  

Tip #8:  The parks clear out and wait times are significantly decreased within a couple of hours of closing time, no matter what that time is.  Disney Studios closed at 7:00 one day and 9:00 the other days while we were there, so you'd think that visitors would stay until the bitter end since closing time was so early.  But that wasn't the case at all! We were able to get on Tower of Terror, Indiana Jones, and other popular rides with 5 or 10 minute waits at the end of each day.

Tip #9:  Remember that this isn't Orlando.  The French don't run their park the same way, so you won't get exactly the same attention to detail or focus on American ideals of customer service.  Unlike in the U.S., you will see lots of repairs and maintenance during the day.  They don't have as many employees.  Many areas need repairs and maintenance.  Be prepared for that and accept it.  It is what it is, and you can still have a marvelous time.  (And if something really bugs you, tell them at City Hall!)

On every trip we've taken to Disneyland Paris, we have witnessed maintenance in broad daylight.  Most of tasks such as these at other parks are carried out behind screens or during the night.  Here, workers repaint the faux rocks in Fantasyland.  The strangest thing was that these rocks didn't look that bad to begin with.  There are SO MANY other areas of the park that need work more desperately!

And Tip #10 (which is actually true for every Disney park on the planet):  Take advantage of what Disney offers you.  If you can get meals for free, do it.  (I wouldn't pay for a meal plan since it's way too much food.  Our family prefers to share meals.). Use Extra Magic Hours every single day.  Ask lots of questions at City Hall where they dependably speak English and have the authority to give you free Fast Passes if you complain about something.  (For example, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad was continually either breaking down or running out of Fast Passes, so we went to tell them how much that interfered with our plans.  They gave us Fast Passes!). Use the single rider lines (especially on Ratatouille, Crush's Coaster, and the Rockin' Roller Coaster).  Hoard Fast Passes since they still use the legacy Fast Pass system instead of wristbands.  Use Parent Swap if your little ones can't ride so that grown ups don't have to wait in long lines twice and teens get to ride both times.  Whatever it is, use it to make your stay magical!

Oh.  And here's one last tidbit that isn't so much a tip as it is an opportunity to brag.  Before this trip, we had never met anyone else who had been to two Disney resorts on two different continents on the same calendar day.  

On August 8, 2008, our family was visiting Hong Kong Disneyland.  We had a character breakfast and flew out later that morning for home via Los Angeles, crossing the International Date Line and landing still on August 8.  Delays meant that when we got to LA, we had missed our flight onward to Indianapolis and couldn't get on another flight for several hours.  On the spur of the moment, we decided to rent a car and drive to Disneyland in Anaheim.  When we got there, we presented our still-valid Hong Kong Disneyland tickets dated August 8, and told our story.  The ticket guy was so impressed that he let us in!  It's one of our favorite Disney moments, but we'd never met anyone else crazy enough to do such a thing.

Until now.  Below is a picture with a Disneyland Paris cast member who did both Disneyland Paris AND DisneyWorld in Orlando on the same calendar day.  We had to have our picture with him, of course!

Whatever day and whatever park you choose for your Disney adventure, I hope it's magical!

If you are a member of the Two Continents, Two Disney Parks, One Day Club (I totally just made that name up), let me know in comments below!

Disneyland Paris Tips Part 1

Yes, we're those people.  Those people who go to France - Paris, no less - and choose to spend our time at an American theme park.  Look down your nose if you will, but we love Disney parks all over the world, and we're not ashamed.

If you're like many people, you have trouble remembering the difference between Disneyland (the original in California) and DisneyWorld (the Florida one).  So you may not be aware that there are actually parks in three other countries as well.  In fact, there are eleven total Disney theme parks and that's not counting the water parks in Orlando.  France has two parks (Disneyland Paris and Walt Disney Studios), Japan has two (Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea), and China has one (Hong Kong Disneyland) with a 12th park due to open in ShangHai soon.

Josh and I visited Tokyo Disneyland for the first time on an off day during a Let's Start Talking mission project in 1997.

In 2002 we took Kinley to Tokyo DisneySea.

Our first visit to Disneyland Paris was with my sister and her family in 2007.

We've visited Hong Kong Disneyland twice, once in 2010 (this picture) and once in 2008.

Josh and I have been to all of them, which I guess makes us certifiable Disney fanatics.  So passing up an opportunity to go back to Disneyland Paris while we were just across the English Channel for the summer wasn't an option.

I had lurked on some Disney chat boards about the Paris park to find out if there had been any changes since the last time we were there in 2011.  I learned that a new Ratatouille-themed area has been added, but I also learned something far more valuable.

Tip #1  Check foreign Disney websites for Disneyland Paris packages.  Rates for Disneyland Paris Resort packages vary WIDELY from country to country.  That means that booking your package on the UK site gets you a different price than the French site or even the Irish site.  And by different, I mean by $1000 when you count price difference, free meals options, and exchange rates.  We ended up getting  four nights at a mid-level hotel on Disney property (Sequoia Lodge), park hopper passes for five days, continental breakfast every day, four other meals, and snacks every day for €1700.

It doesn't even matter that you don't live in the country you're booking through!  You put in your own actual address when prompted, but just leave the country box as the country you're booking through.  (For example, we booked through the Irish site, so we entered our U.S. address with Ireland as the country.). Tickets and details are delivered electronically, so it doesn't matter at all!  And just like the people on the chat board had reported, no one said one word about our lack of an Irish brogue when we checked in!

Of course, if the French site has the cheapest deals at the time you want to go, you're either going to need a French-speaking friend to help you navigate the site or simply use Google Translate.  But the savings can definitely make it worth the trouble.

From St. Pancras Station, we took the Eurostar through the Chunnel (the cleverly named tunnel under the English Channel, get it?!) to Lille, France.  From there we changed to another train that took us directly to the station at Disneyland Paris, and then we took the shuttle to our hotel.

The next day, we got up in time to have breakfast and get to the park in time for Extra Magic Hours (time that only guests staying at park hotels are allowed to enter the park) by 8:00.  We wanted to head straight for the Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast ride, so we used a route that is only available at the Disneyland Paris park to avoid the crowds on Main Street USA - the arcade.

At the far right and the far left of Main Street USA are two almost-empty covered walkways called arcades that allow you to beat the crowds to either Adventureland or Discoveryland.

Tip #2  Use the arcades to avoid crowds.  Even if you want to get your family picture in front of the castle, I'd still recommend avoiding Main Street.  Use the arcades and then make your way to the castle for pictures.

Gas lights illuminate the nearly deserted arcade.

Using the arcades allowed us to get to the castle quickly to get this shot with few other guests in it.

In my next post, I'll have tips about meeting characters, rides and attractions unique to Paris, and more.  Be sure to check back, or, even better, enter your email over on the right to subscribe to my blog!

You've Got Mail....Er...Post

So many things in Great Britain are iconic from a design perspective.  From the simple elegance of the signs for the Underground....

..... to the unmistakable telephone booths......

..... to the ubiquitous red double decker buses, the UK has done an admirable job of making ordinary, everyday things extraordinary.  (And red, evidently.)

The bus on the left is a modern one while the one on the right is the Number 15 bus which is a vintage one that still runs the route near St. Paul's Cathedral.

One other everyday item that the Brits have managed to make interesting is the mailbox.  I don't mean the ones at a house or flat; those are pretty boring.  I mean the ones on the street for mailing letters or postcards.  The color (also red, of course), the shape, even the seemingly-indestructible cast iron solidness of them screams, "I am here!  Pay attention to me!  I am regal!  I am dependable!  I am as much a part of this place as the monarchy itself!"

Knox mails (er, posts) a postcard in 2011.

All of the mailboxes in Great Britain even bear the insignia of the monarch who reigned when they were manufactured.  The one above, for example, says ER VII which stands for Edward the Seventh, Rex (Rex being the Latin for King).

This one is from the time of his mother, Queen Victoria, and bears her insignia - VR for Victoria Regina (Latin for Queen).

That means that this bad boy has been in use since at least 1901 since her reign was from 1837-1901.  How cool is that?

This one in front if our flat had an unfortunate encounter with a car just before Kinley and I arrived.

The ones in Ireland were placed there by the British when Ireland was still a part of Great Britain and were simply painted green after Ireland gained independence in 1922!

This Irish mailbox is from the reign of George V (1910-1936).  I have no idea why they never put the V after his initial.

But here's a funny thing:  mailboxes aren't mailboxes here.  They're postboxes.  And you don't mail a letter here; you post it.  Same with picking up the mail; you pick up the post.  Why do you think it is, though, that in the U.S. we mail a letter at the post office while here they post a letter at the Royal Mail?   And we pick up our mail at the post office while they pick up the post at the Royal Mail!  What's up with that?  Doesn't it seem like we should all be consistent?

But whatever we call it, posting a letter in the UK just seems much more ceremonious than it does at home.  As if just by placing your missive into that hundred-year-old slot, you are part of something bigger and grander and more regal than simple long-distance communication.  As if you are somehow connecting with the monarchs themselves.  It is, after all, the Royal Mail.

When You've Got To Go, You've Got To Go

It's a fact : all toilets are not created equal.  In my travels around the world, I have *ahem* relieved myself on six continents, and let me just tell you that the experience varies greatly from place to place.  Now, lest you think me indelicate for discussing such matters, let me remind you that this is the one subject with which every single traveler will eventually have to deal.  So we might as well put it out there.

I have used everything from a bush to a hole in the ground to a squatty potty to a super-duper-multiple-button-controlled-water-squirting-and-warm-air-blowing Japanese toilet, and while they all get the job done, some experiences are definitely more pleasant than others.

When we lived in Italy in 2007, Kinley and I were fascinated with the various ways that toilets in Italy flushed.  We often had to stand in the bathroom for several minutes before we figured out how the crazy things worked, so we decided to take a picture each time we came across a different mechanism.  Here are a few.

This is the most common flush type we saw.  Often, the button would have two parts - a small button for, um, "Number 1" and a larger part for.....well, larger jobs.

This one took us a while to figure out.  It flushed with a foot operated button on the wall.

This one had a button on the wall.  (We were in Venice at Carnivale, so Kinley has confetti in her hair and is dressed in costume.)

Public toilets are much more difficult to locate in Italy, so usually we would go into a coffee shop where I would buy an espresso and then ask to use the toilet.  Buying the espresso (or macchiato or something) is an essential step since all over Italy restrooms are only for customers.  The good thing about Italian espresso is that it's meant to be shot, not sipped.  You knock that bad boy back in one quick motion, and then you're off to do your business.  (Of course, you're going to need another bathroom pretty soon after downing that shot so you'd better be on the lookout for another coffee shop as you leave.)

And then, of course, there is the European obsession with making you pay for the privilege of relieving yourself.  Now, there are some cases in which I am actually grateful for this custom.  In those bathrooms where a custodian is keeping the whole place spic and span, mopping each stall after it's used and spraying the whole place with disinfectant every five minutes, I'll gladly plonk down 20 pence to do my business.  But recently, I've used toilets where my money must only be padding city government pockets because the smell alone would knock you over.

I can remember when Daddy used to refer to pay toilets when he thought something was an unpopular idea.  He'd say, "Well, that will go over like a pay toilet in a diarrhea ward!"  A couple of frantic trips to the loo, desperately digging through my purse for change, trying to decide exactly which foreign coins were which, brought that idiom to life for me in a big way.

Gotta go in a bad way?  Better be sure you have change!

Well, at least there's a change machine nearby.  And in the background, the sign indicates that the disabled and mothers changing their babies' diapers can go in a different toilet for free!

Mother Nature's call is even more problematic in Asia where we have to use what we no-so-affectionately refer to as the Squatty Potty.

(This photo is from BohemianTravelers.com and I borrowed it from this blog.)

It took me literally years to decide which direction you're supposed to squat - towards the hole or towards the door of the stall.  I made my decision (toward the hole), but I can't guarantee it's the correct one.  Flushing is accomplished by filling the little bowl with water and pouring it down the squatty potty.  Effective but not elegant.

It took me even longer to figure out why, in some Asian public bathrooms that did have one token Western-style toilet, there would be dirty smudges on the seat.  In 2010, I saw this sign in a public toilet in Malaysia.

And then the evidence that the sign had been completely ignored and someone had climbed up on that throne and squatted.  For reals.  Now all was clear to me.

I could tell you far more than you'd care to read about foreign bathroom experiences (toilet training a toddler in Thailand, what to do when you're at Disneyland Paris and your child is trapped in a stall with a ceiling-to-floor door, what you do with those kitchen sink sprayers you might find hanging by the toilet), but I'll spare you.  Because, of course, all this talk of toilets has made me need a potty break.

There's No Business Like Show Business

One of our favorite things to do in London is to attend shows, so we squeeze in as many as our time and our bank account permit!

This summer we started by making a list of shows we'd like to see, and then we prioritized them as Must See, Hopefully See, and Might See.  I started following Official London Theater on Twitter several months ago so that I would know which shows were on during our stay, and Josh regularly checks the Internet for theater updates as well.  

I had read that Bradley Cooper was planning a short run of The Elephant Man, and Josh read that Jonathan Pryce would be appearing in The Merchant of Venice.  Those quickly shot to the top of the Must See list along with War Horse (which Josh and I saw and loved in 2011), Matilda, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Knox has never seen Wicked, and Kinley wants to see Les Miserables, so those are on the Hopefully See list.  And our Might See list includes The Railway Children, Man of Steal, The Phantom of the Opera, American Buffalo, and Bend It Like Beckham.

Our first experience this trip was Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice at the rebuilt Globe Theater.  We knew that the Iambic Pentameter coupled with the hard bench seats would be difficult for the kids to endure, so we watched a short YouTube synopsis video made for kids before we went and rented seat cushions once we arrived.  The verdict?  We all really enjoyed it!  (And getting to see the High Septon do Shakespeare was pretty awesome.)

Groundling (standing) tickets are only £5, but I wasn't up for standing for three hours.  This is the view from Josh and Kinley's seats. 

Knox and I were seated farther up, but our seats had the bonus of built-in backs whereas Josh and Kinley were just on a bench.  We were all grateful that we had  paid the extra £1 each for seat cushion rental.

Next, we decided to check War Horse off our list.  One of the best-kept secrets in London (or any theater city, really) is that many shows offer cheap tickets the day of the show to the first people who show up to get them.  These are called Day Seats, and not all shows offer them.  I'm not talking about the Half Price Ticket Booth or returned tickets.  Day Seats are often front row seats that the theater sets aside for people willing to wait in line early in the morning to get them. There is even a website that lets you know which shows have Day Seats and what time you probably need to get in line to get them.

We got up early so that we could arrive at the New London Theater by 9:00 since the box office opens at 10:00.  We each took a book to read since we knew we'd be waiting at least an hour.

The girl on the left got there earlier and was first in line.  It was just the four of us in line until about 9:40 when several other people showed up to wait.

We ended up getting second row seats for £15 each instead of the published rate of £65 each.  War Horse didn't disappoint, and both kids loved it.  Knox especially enjoyed it since a recent visit to the Imperial War Museum has sparked his interest in World War I.

Next on the list was Matilda at the Cambridge Theater.  This show doesn't offer Day Seats, so we had to suck it up and pay full price.  We decided to take seats in the very back row to lessen the financial blow, and those were £25 each.  That ended up probably not being the best choice since we had to lean down to see some parts of the show and completely couldn't see a few things.  We wouldn't make that choice again.

The next show we planned to see was Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  This is another show that doesn't offer Day Seats.  When we went to the theater to buy tickets a weeks ago, the nice lady there told us that they DO, however, change ticket prices at some point during the week.  For example, if sales are lagging, a ticket that might normally cost £69.50 might be just £49.50.  So we checked back on a Saturday just after they had changed ticket prices.  After our Matilda experience, we knew we didn't want the nosebleed section again, so we sprung for front row.  And they had been marked down to £49.50! 

And what a great experience we had!  At the beginning of the second act, Willy Wonka himself climbed out of the orchestra pit and practically into our laps as he stepped over our feet to walk across the front row!  He even spoke to Knox and me!  Such fun and worth every penny.

Next came three grown-ups-only shows - The Audience with Kristen Scott Thomas, American Buffalo with John Goodman, and The Elephant Man with Bradley Cooper.

The doctor from Downton Abbey played one of the Prime Ministers in The Audience.

John Goodman was who we came to see, but that guy from Homeland and Band of Brothers was in it, too.

The verdict?  The Audience was fabulous!  I know that Helen Mirren just won a a Tony for her performance in this show, but I truly can't imagine how she is better than Kristin Scott Thomas.  This was my favorite performance of the summer so far.  Love. Love. Love.

American Buffalo was not awesome.  There was a prodigious amount of cussing (not surprising since it was a David Mamet play), and nothing really happened other than a lot of talk about a robbery that never actually occurs.  Being on the front row was exciting, but not exciting enough to make the play worth seeing.

The Elephant Man was entertaining and enlightening.  (And, of course, shirtless Bradley Cooper is always a good thing.). The only negative part was that the ending is kind of an anticlimactic downer.  (Plus, Cooper starts wearing clothes in the second act.  Major bummer.)

We only have two weeks left to see anything else we can squeeze in, so Josh and Kinley are going to get in line Tuesday morning for Day Seats for Wicked leaving only Les Mis from our top picks.  On with the show!