On my return trip from the GamesCom game convention in Cologne, I picked up some chocolate treats and magazines for the Derringdos. In Germany I found the new Kinder Joy egg. It has a white chocolate cream filling that you scoop out with a plastic tab (picture here). During my brief layover at Heathrow, I found my new favorite (or should that be favourite) magazine, How it Works. It covers almost 1000 individual science and technology subjects, in a concise and straightforward style. This issue’s short articles included Super Earths, laser power, massive mining machines and the IKAROS solar sail. Directions on how to mod a Nerf Maverick increasing its range by 60% sold me on a subscription. They have a special offer for US subscribers at the moment. Check it out here.

This week I traveled to Cologne, Germany for GamesCom, the world’s biggest video game convention. Business meetings kept me from exploring much of the city, but I did manage to visit the massive 13th century cathedral and meet up with my old friend R2. Famous for its beer, Cologne is also home to Europe’s largest underground garage. Popular Mechanics used my picture of the  Rheinauhafen Parking Tunnel to help illustrate ”The World’s 18 Strangest Garages” Read their story here and check out number 11.

Saturday’s Financial Times had a feature on the downturn in the guidebook publishing and the rise of travel applications. The FT likes “augmented reality” tools that let you scan the horizon with your phone’s camera and see hotels pointed out over the screen or take a snapshot of a museum’s painting to get its history. I’ve played with some of these apps and found them slow and finicky. And the the information provided isn’t usually what I’m looking for. My iPhone’s GPS map and web browser are the only apps I regularly use for travel help. Even with those, we still carry a traditional map and usually a walking tour book or two. On our summer trip to London we used Andrew Duncan‘s Favourite London Walks (we have been using his books for years) and an old copy of Walks in London, written in the late 19th century by Augustus Hare.

While we were in London, I was finishing the third book in my new favorite series written by R.L. LaFevers about Theodosia Throckmorton, an eleven-year-old girl living in turn-of-the-century London. She has the special ability to detect vile curses on the Ancient Egyptian artifacts brought to the museum her parents run (The Museum of Legends and Antiquities), and, while working to remove them, gets caught up in many exciting adventures involving secret societies, mummies, and valuable antiquities. Since the books note many specific sites in London, I decided to find out if I could visit them while on our trip. I won’t put in any spoilers, but my sites do include the second and third book. Here are the places I visited:

1. The Seven Dials: The scene of an exciting chase in the first book, “Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos”. In the book, the Seven Dials is in a crime-ridden, seedy neighborhood, but today, it is a nice, friendly section of town. No people getting stabbed here!
2. The British Museum: Theodosia visits this rival museum once in “Serpents of Chaos”, and again in the third book, “Theodosia and the Eyes of Horus”. It’s also just a really big, interesting museum that we go to every time we’re in London.
3. Cleopatra’s Needle: Scene of a large battle between two secret societies that want something (I’m trying to not give anything away!) in the end of ” Eyes of Horus”. It is so cool to see an Egyptian obelisk just standing in the middle of London!
4. Chesterfield Street: is where Theodosia lives. It is also the location of the Embassy of the Bahamas! The street is filled with old townhouses, exactly as described in the books.
5. Charing Cross Station: The main train station used by Theodosia’s family and enemies. I’m afraid it doesn’t look quite as it used to.
6. The Alcazar Theater: is now called the Phoenix, but looks pretty much the same. Theodosia first visits in the beginning of “Eyes of Horus”, and continues to visit throughout the book. It is at Charing Cross Road.
7. Somerset House: The former inhabitance of the Society of Antiquaries, and also, in the Theodosia series, the Brotherhood of Chosen Keepers. It is now “an inspiring space for art, culture and creative exchange”. It looks very grand, and you can just imagine Theo visiting here. It is located on the Strand.
8. Burlington House: The current location of the Society of Antiquaries. Not in the Theodosia books, but I wanted to see where the Society was now. It IS a really pretty building, and you can eat lunch in the courtyard… You can find it at: 31 Burlington Arcade.

I didn’t go to any sites particular to the second book: “Theodosia and the Staff of Osiris”, but there are plenty. This was a really fun tour to do: one of my favorite parts of our London trip. I loved being able to actually SEE the places that are in the books.

Lego has a new line of boardgames that they’ve taken on the road for a Summer demo tour. We caught up with them in St. Louis during our hometown visit. Visitors can try out large scale versions of the games. All of the games have some appeal, especially Creationary, a Pictionary clone where you use building bricks instead of pencil and paper. With all of the Lego bricks we have, we’ll probably take the game concepts and build our own versions of the games. It’s worth a visit if you love Legos and boardgames like we do. Tour dates are here.

A few blocks away from the British Museum’s famous mummies lies a wonderful little archaeology museum on the University College, London campus. When Indian Jones says “that belongs in a museum” to Beloq, the Petrie is the museum you imagine he is referring to. With its mishmash collection of Egyptian jewelry, pottery and artifacts in old display cases, wandering the aisles was like exploring an ancient tomb. We were surprised to find ancient dolls, hedgehog statues and the Tarkhan Dress (photo here, description here), the oldest garment in the world.

In Victorian London, a Mudlark was a child who dug in the muddy Thames shore for valuables. With raw sewage being dumped into the river, it was a nasty occupation. Today, the Thames is one of the cleanest metropolitan rivers in Europe. On our trip to London, Nettie and I walked the bank at low tide and found stems from 17th century disposable clay pipes. No digging necessary! There are several access points on the South Bank between Waterloo and Blackfriars bridges. If you’re interested in the history of the Thames visit the Thames Discovery Programme site. They offer guided tours of the shore and hands on archaeology events.

While in London, we visited the British Museum three days in a row. On one such trip, we discovered that the museum was having a “Renaissance Night” with sword fighting, beer tasting, and a falconry show out front. We sat down to watch, and the head falconer showed the audience how he sent off the various olws, falcons, and hawks to scare away pigeons. When he asked for volunteers, I got to hold Elsa, a big, orange-eyed owl, while she snacked on baby bird heads. The only other time I’ve interacted with large birds of prey was not nearly as fun… I’d rather have them eat little baby birds than my granola bar! (Click the picture above to see more images.)

We’re back from our adventure in London! It was a week of walking tours, mudlarking, Roman ruins, Egyptian artifacts, owl training, sword fights, sandwiches and Legos (the photo above is from Legoland Windsor). We’ll be posting some highlights from our trip over the next few days.

Peabody’s first summer project: ice hands! He filled surgical gloves with water, tied them off and left them in the freezer. Once frozen, he tore off the gloves. They’ll make a funky centerpiece to a family cocktail party. Next up, Jello hands!