Photo of the day: 50 things about me!

A lot of amazing things will happen in 2019. In July, Beloved and I will celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary, and then in August I turn (gasp!) fifty!

I wanted to do another photo challenge to mark this amazing year, but another 365 photo-a-day project felt too ambitious. A 52-week photo challenge is perfect! And I liked the #Dogwood52 photo challenge because each week has a prompt, and I figured that would keep me from being lazy and maybe push my boundaries a little bit.

Right off the bat, I was stumped. The first weekly prompt is ‘take a picture that tells us who you are, without actually showing your face.’ I’ve been thinking about it for days. How to tell the story of me in just one photo? Mom? Writer? Photographer? Friend? Collector of vintage crap? Lover of books and grunge and spicy food? And then it occurred to me to include ALL THE THINGS!

#52in2019 #Week1

It’s me in 50 items! I like that some of them serve double and even triple duty on facets of my personality, like the photo books are family AND photography, and the Monty Python card deck says I’m equally happy playing cards or riffing about how your father was a hamster and your mother smelled of elderberries.

And yes, the blog is in there too. I haven’t forgotten entirely how to blog, but I might be a little rusty. Here’s to getting a little more practice in on that, too, in 2019.

It’s going to be an awesome year. Let’s do this!

What would your collage about items that tell the story of YOU have in it?

#dogwood52 #week1 #dogwood2019 #52in2019

Photos of the day: Winter Fun at Watson’s Mill

I don’t know why more families don’t seek winter family photo sessions. It’s certainly different from a family photo with the bright blues and greens of high summer, or the saturated colours of autumn, and granted, you need to be a little bit more diligent in playing along with the weather – there’s a fine line between pink cheeks at -10C and frostbitten noses at -25C. But there’s something magical and utterly Canadian about being bundled up with scarves and mitts against gently falling snow – and in the case of this almost-impromptu winter session, a treacherous coating of ice so bad we had to be deliberate with every single step!

Winter family photos at Watson's Mill

Of course, it doesn’t hurt when you have a beautiful family, a cute dog, and a great location like Watson’s Mill in Manotick for your background. I love it when all the elements come together!

Winter family photos at Watson's Mill

Winter family photos at Watson's Mill

Lucky for me, in addition to being charming and lovely and willing to negotiate icy walkways and paths, this family had a great sense of humour, and responsed with good humour to my prompts and suggestions.

Winter family for blog 1

Winter family photos at Watson's Mill

And they came with ideas of their own, like recreating a family piggy-back shot from years past. (We had to find a non-icy spot to pull this one off!)

Winter family photos at Watson's Mill

I always know a photo “works” when it makes me smile while I’m editing it. It’s good to know that sisters can be just as much fun as brothers!

The other really nice thing about winter family portraits is that my weekends are usually wide open, so chasing that perfect not-too-cold and not-too-snowy and not-too-messy weather is a lot easier. If you’d like to try winter family portraits, I have all sorts of ideas for great locations – get in touch and book your session today!

Ho! Ho! Hooray for Ottawa, Gatineau and Eastern Ontario Santa Parades, the 2018 edition

Dust off your jingle bells, dig out your Santa hat and strap on your reindeer antlers! Welcome to one of my favourite holiday traditions, the original and most comprehensive listing of all the Christmas, Holiday and Santa Claus parades for Ottawa, Eastern Ontario and West Quebec.

Photo of Santa Claus at the Christmas parade 2013

Sometimes the parade season sneaks up on me, but with the few light flurries we’ve already had, I feel like I’m ready for the holiday fun to begin. Did you know that this post annual post is officially a teenager now? I almost didn’t compile the list this year, but after thirteen (!) years, I didn’t feel like I could stop now! Take a close look at the details – I noticed a lot of parades moving from a traditional week or day of the week, and lots of route changes for this year, too. There are more than 20 parades crammed into one three-week period!

Here’s all the info I could scare up about the 2018 Ottawa, Eastern Ontario and West Quebec Santa Claus and Christmas parade line-up, in chronological order:

Kanata Santa Claus Parade
Saturday November 17, 2018 at 10:00 am (note the change to day of the week and time versus previous years!) The parade begins at Terry Fox and Castlefrank and proceeds Castlefrank to Abbeyhill Drive and on to Hazeldean Mall. Food and money will be collected by volunteer firefighters along the route for the Kanata Food Cupboard. Join Santa at the mall after the parade!

Ottawa Help Santa Toy Parade
Saturday, November 17 starting at 11:00 am. The parade starts at Ottawa City Hall and moves west on Laurier Avenue to Bank Street, then follows Bank Street south to TD Place. New toys (no used toys, please) and cash donations will be collected by the Ottawa Firefighters.

Cornwall Santa Claus Parade
Saturday November 17, starting at 5:00 pm. The parade will run from St. Lawrence Intermediate School, 1450 Second Street East. It will then proceed west. The theme for the parade is “Christmas Movies.” Join us afterwards for Santa’s Street Hockey Challenge!

Petawawa Santa Claus Parade
Sunday November 18, 2018 at 1:00 pm. Parade departs from the Wolfe Plaza. The parade will then travel along Mohns Avenue, Doran Road, Herman Street to Murphy Road and terminate in the Civic Centre parking.

Barrhaven Lions Club Light Up the Night Santa Claus Parade
Sunday, November 18, starting at 5:30 pm. (Note the change back to Sunday this year!) The parade runs down Strandherd Drive, starting at Beatrice Drive and ending at the park n ride, where it turns north for dispersal. Please remember to bring non perishable food items or cash donations for the Barrhaven Food Cupboard.

Kemptville Kinsmen Santa Parade
Saturday, November 24 starting at 5:00 pm – note late afternoon start time. Parade Leaves Kemptville College Parking Lot (Stinson Rd lot), from College Rd turns right on Concession road, turns left onto Clothier Street then left onto Prescott Street. Parade ends at Holy Cross School. The theme is “North Pole Fantasy.”

Brockville Santa Claus Parade
Saturday, November 24, starting at 5:00 pm. The parade is in the evening again this year with a theme of “Light Up Christmas. The parade will be marshalled along North Augusta Road from Pearl Street to Reynolds Road using the street and various parking lots.

Carleton Place Santa Parade
Saturday, November 24 starting at 5:00 pm. Wear red and white, bring your food donation with you. This year’s parade theme is ‘A Christmas Carol’.

Pembroke Santa Claus Parade of Lights
Saturday, November 24 starting at 5:30 pm. This winter, we will be celebrating the most exciting moments and traditions of Christmas Morning. The Santa Claus Parade of Lights will transform Downtown Pembroke into a joyous commemoration of the Christmas season. The parade will begin at Moncion Metro and end at Festival Hall.

Arnprior Santa Claus Parade
Saturday, November 24, starting at 6:00 pm. The Arnprior Santa Claus Parade will leave Winners circle at 6 pm. It will head down Daniel St turning left on Eady St and then right onto John St South. It will continue down John St South and turn right onto Madawaska Blvd. and then right again back onto Daniel St.

Orleans Parade of Lights
Saturday, November 24, starting at 6:00 pm. Once again the Ottawa Professional Firefighters Association will be hosting Santa’s Parade of Lights on St-Joseph Blvd. in Orleans. Toy and cash donations will be collected by firefighters along the route.

Gananoque Santa Parade
Saturday, November 24, starting at 7:00 pm. (Note later start time.) The Gananoque BIA is proud to host the annual Santa Claus Parade. The parade will begin at Gananoque & Intermediate Secondary School and head downtown along King Street making it’s final turn on Park Street.

Clarence Rockland Santa Claus Parade
Sunday, November 25, starting at 4:30 pm. The route will be the same as last year, starting on Héritage Rd. and ending at the Knights of Columbus hall.

Constance & Buckham’s Bay Santa Claus Parade
Saturday, December 1, starting at 10:00 am (note earlier start time.) Don’t miss the annual CBBCA Constance & Buckhams Bay Santa Claus Parade; floats gather on Baillie Ave. Parade runs along Bayview to Len Purcell and winds up at the community centre for hots dogs, Santa, and hot chocolate. Be sure to check out the Christmas Market & Craft Fair. Bring your non-perishable food item for the West Carleton Food Bank.

Merrickville Christmas Parade
Saturday, December 1, starting at 11:00 am. The annual Merrickville Santa Claus Parade, hosted by the Merrickville Volunteer Fire Department Association, will make its way up St. Lawrence Street starting at 11:00am.

Manotick Christmas Parade
Saturday, December 1, starting at 1:00 pm. Parade runs from the Manotick Arena and then south down Manotick Main Street. This is our favourite of the season! 😉

Perth and District Santa Claus Parade of Lights
Saturday, December 1, starting at 5:00 pm. The annual SANTA CLAUS PARADE OF LIGHTS makes its way through Downtown Heritage Perth. Starting on Sunset Blvd. at 5pm, the parade of lights will travel south through town (Wilson to Gore), turning onto Cockburn Street and ending at Queen Elizabeth School. The parade always ends with a visit from Mr. and Mrs. Claus on the last float!

Renfrew Santa Claus Parade
Saturday, December 1, starting at 5:30 pm. Parade will start at Bonnechere St South and Munroe Ave West. It will end at Opeongo Road and Raglan Street South.

Stittsville Parade of Lights
Saturday, December 1 starting at 6:00 pm. The parade will proceed along its usual route south on Stittsville Main Street, from just south of Hazeldean Road to Carleton Cathcart Street. Each year, dozens of beautifully decorated community floats set the tone for Santa’s much anticipated arrival at the end of the parade. Merry makers are also encouraged to stay for the lighting of Village Square Park, our new Christmas Market in Village Square Park (5 pm to 9 pm), and to share in some hot chocolate, cookies, and a visit with Santa.

Aylmer / Gatineau Santa Claus Parade
Saturday, December 1, starting at 6:00 pm. A tradition that goes back several years, this light-filled parade that departs from the Aylmer marina and attracts crowds from the entire region.

Hawkesbury Santa Claus Parade
Saturday, December 1, starting at 7 pm. Visit with Santa and some Hawkesbury’s associations while enjoying the parade that will start on James Street, will continue along Main Street and will finish at Hamilton Street.

Casselman Santa Claus Parade
Sunday, December 2 starting at 5:30pm. Route: Starting at the Laflêche boulevard, Isabelle street, St-Isidore street West, Percy street, Dollard street to finish on Principale Street South.We encourage all participants to make a donation of can foods or others to be used for Christmas baskets. (A truck will be at the start of the parade to collect donations.)

Osgoode Christmas in the Village
Friday December 7, starting at 7 pm. Parade route is from Osgoode Main St and Nixon Rd along Osgoode Main St to Stuart Holmes Arena. On Saturday, December 8, celebrate the festive spirit and join the Osgoode Co-operative Nursery School for their 26th annual Breakfast with Santa at the Osgoode Community Centre. Enjoy a delicious pancake breakfast and while you are there, do some Christmas shopping at their popular Silent Auction featuring a display of various local products.

Carp Santa Claus Parade
Saturday, December 8, starting at 12:00 pm. The route starts at The Diefenbunker – 3911 Carp Road and follows Carp Road, turning left onto Donald B. Munro, left onto Langstaff Drive, left on Juanita Avenue and right on Carp Road, finishing at the Diefenbunker. (Note route change: This is the opposite of last year’s route. The parade will be going all the way down Carp Road first.)

Pakenham Santa Claus Parade
Saturday, December 8, starting at 1:00 pm. Don’t miss Santa’s favourite event with the Pakenham Santa Claus Parade! Pack a thermos of hot chocolate and head to downtown Pakenham for an old-fashioned, festive parade.

Missing this year: At the time of publication in early November, I wasn’t able to find information about Richmond, Smiths Falls, Embrun, Almonte, Eganville or Metcalfe this year. If you have any information about these communities or others not mentioned above, please let me know and I’ll update the post throughout the season.

holly border

And don’t fret if you can’t make it to the parade – how about one of these other fun family events with a holiday theme in our region?

Barrhaven Breakfast with Santa
The morning of the Barrhaven Santa Claus parade, Sunday November 18, bring the kids for a breakfast with Santa at Mother Theresa High School. Seatings at 8:00 and 9:30.

Magic of Lights Drive-Through at Wesley Clover Park
November 16, 2018 through January 5, 2019. This magical event, that has quickly become a holiday tradition for many Ottawa residents and visitors, is composed of lighted displays celebrating the joy of the holidays. A “drive through” experience from the comfort of your own car, at every turn and in every direction the route is overflowing with spectacular light displays and animations. New attractions in 2018 will include “Candy Cane Lane”, a 200-foot animated Candy Cane celebration, as well as an all new twinkling “Snowflake Forest.”

The Vintage Village of Lights
Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from November 30 to December 2, 2018, 3 pm to 8 pm at the Cumberland Heritage Village Museum. There’s holiday cheer to share with family, friends, and loved ones of all ages at the Vintage Village of Lights! Our 1920s and 30s village is illuminated to set a picture-perfect scene as you explore the festive touches, decorations, and embellishments that have been a part of Christmas traditions through the years. As you enjoy your stroll around the Village, be sure to check out some of the fun activities we have planned including: decorating gingerbread; taking a horse-drawn wagon ride; receiving a Santagram; printing a greeting card; personalizing a wooden tree ornament; a site-wide advent calendar; and more. And, of course, don’t forget to say hi to Santa!

2018 Canadian Pacific Holiday Train
The Canadian Pacific Holiday Train hits the rails again in November, visiting over 150 communities. Since the program’s inception back in 1999, more than $7.4 million and over 3 million pounds of food has been collected in Canada and the United States. At each event, the Holiday Train provides a box car stage, a line up of great musical talents and a corporate contribution to the local food bank. The community, in turn, is encouraged to donate food and funds, all of which stays in the community. Local stops include Finch, Merrickville, Smiths Falls and Perth on November 28 and then Trenton, Belleville and Brighton on November 29. Check the holiday train schedule for more details.

Canadian Museum of History Tree Lighting Ceremony: Thursday, November 29
Thursday, November 29 at 6 p.m. Invite your family, friends and colleagues to count down to the lighting of the tree. Enjoy Christmas carols by la Chorale 7e-8e, from secondary school De La Salle’s Centre d’excellence artistique de l’Ontario, along with complimentary Beaver Bites and hot chocolate (while quantities last). You can also take the opportunity to visit the Museum’s Christmas Market, which opens the same day in the Grand Hall and will be open until 8 p.m. Note that the activities will take place outside, so please dress accordingly.

Upper Canada Village: Alight at Night
Bundle up for an evening stroll through this picture-perfect postcard setting! With close to one million lights adorning the heritage buildings, trees and fences of Upper Canada Village creating a one-of-a-kind magical backdrop for its annual Alight at Night Festival…a true winter wonderland! Times and dates vary, starting November 30 through January 5, so check the link for details. New this year: don’t miss the 1965 carousel of prancing horses that young visitors can ride!

Manotick’s Olde Fashioned Christmas
Saturday December 1 and Sunday December 2. The Village is transformed into a Village of Yesteryear. There will be a Victorian Tea and Penny Sale, horse-drawn wagon rides, pictures with Santa, face painting, strolling carollers and more.

Christmas Tree Lighting at the National Gallery of Canada
Tuesday December 4, 2018. Free admission from 5 pm to 8 pm, tree lighting at 6:30 pm in the Scotiabank Great Hall. All are welcome to enjoy special treats and activities, such as making a spinning snowflake ornament to decorate your tree, in-gallery sketching, watch Christmas movies in the auditorium, listen to the melodies of Stellae Boreales (and sing along to your holiday favourites) and enjoy a ride aboard VIA Rail’s Christmas Mini Train on the outdoor Plaza. See link above for more details and activities.

Christmas Lights Across Canada: December 5, 2018 to January 7, 2019
The 34th edition of Christmas Lights Across Canada will kick off with an official illumination ceremony on Wednesday, December 5, 2018 at 7 pm. Every night from December 5 to January 7, enjoy the Magical Winter Lightscapes multimedia show projected on the Parliament Hill buildings. People of all ages will get into the holiday spirit as hundreds of thousands of dazzling lights shine in Canada’s Capital Region and across the country.

If I’ve missed anything, or if you’d like to share information about your family-friendly Ottawa Christmas or Holiday event, please feel free to leave a comment or e-mail me at hello(a)danigirl(dot)ca and I’d be happy to add them to this (now epic!) post.

How many parades will YOU attend this year?

Photos of the day: Maranda at home

Traditional head shots aren’t a genre of portrait photography that I’m drawn to, but when Maranda wanted some photos of her being herself in her amazing condo for her business website, it sounded like a lot of fun. She’s a non-traditional sort of person, and she wanted photographs that would show her personality. Now THAT is something I love to do!

There were costume changes, and props, and I’m not at all surprised that her adorable wiener dog Sadie totally stole the show. Here’s a sample of the fun we had.

non-traditional head shots and professional photography in Ottawa

Isn’t she stunning? And fun and kind and smart, too. If you find yourself in need of a registered nutritionist with expertise in essential oils and life coaching, reach out to Maranda. And if you find yourself needing business pictures of you being YOU, give me a call – I’d love to work with you. Bonus points if you have a sassy attitude and adorable dachshund.

Photos of the day: An elopement! At the Manotick dog park!

I don’t generally accept requests to take photographs at weddings, but not because I don’t like them. Being invited to document someone’s most important day is a huge honour, and there are always so many beautiful moments to capture. (Truthfully, it’s photographing wedding receptions that’s not really my jam, mostly because they occur to close to my bedtime for comfort. The travails of an inveterate morning person.)

So anyway, when Sarah and Richard said they were looking for a photographer to document their simple elopement ceremony, I knew I had to say yes. Informal, candid and playful — and did I mention it happened to be at the Manotick dog park? Most! Fun! Wedding! Ever!!

Elopement photography at the dog park

The late afternoon light was warm and soft as they exchanged their vows with the witnesses looking on. The maid of honour read a lovely poem about how falling in love is like owning a dog. It was delightful!

Elopement at the dog park

It’s not always easy to get two dogs looking at the camera even when you don’t have a park full of much more interesting things going on behind you. You see the look on the dogs’ faces? I had just warned the humans to beware of pending screech and then let out the most high-pitched, annoying squeal I could muster to get the dogs to look at me. Worked like a charm, and the humans laughed too. Win-win!

Ottawa photographer at the park

And then they lived happily ever after.

Elopement at the dog park

Thank you, Rich and Sarah (and furbabies Audrey and Timmy), for letting me be witness to your amazing wedding in the park!

Photos of the day: A summer-like autumn day at the orchard

When this family and I planned a fun family adventure photo session at the Log Cabin Orchard south of Ottawa in mid-September, we weren’t anticipating blazing heat and high humidity, but that’s exactly what we got. Lucky for me, we also got two adorable girls and two patient parents, and bunnies! And apples – lots of apples!

A family outing at the Orchard in Ottawa

I love everything this photo says about childhood: dirty knees and pretty dresses and chipped nail polish and careful fingers gently stroking a fuzzy bunny.

Family photography in Ottawa

Those eyelashes! Those freckles!

A family outing at the Orchard

Maybe it’s from chasing behind my boys all these years with my camera, but my favourite pictures of kids are often when they’re busy concentrating on anything BUT posing for the camera.

A family outing at the Orchard

A family outing at the Orchard

Candid lifestyle photography by Danielle Donders

Then again, there’s something to be said for candid shots that become poses with a quick hug and a bit of direction. 🙂

A family outing at the Orchard

Candid lifestyle photography by Danielle Donders

I’m booked up for fall family portrait sessions, but have some openings in November and December for holiday family tradition sessions. How about candid, funny photos of you and the kids making cookies, going for a hike in the crisp autumn air, or making a messy family breakfast? (Almost!) anything you do with your family that you want to remember in years to come, I can turn into an easy, informal photo shoot. Send me a note and we can chat about how!

Thanks to this sweet family for persevering through a July-like blazing hot day!

Ottawa Family Fun: Lunch at Tavern on the Falls

If you’re looking for a wonderful little spot to bring the family for lunch and a lovely view of the intersection of Ottawa’s two rivers, we had a really lovely lunch one summer afternoon at Ottawa’s new Tavern on the Falls.

Ottawa family fun: Tavern on the Falls

It might have been because it was a Monday, or because the sky was threatening rain, or because it was mid afternoon, but we had the place pretty much to ourselves.

Ottawa family fun: Tavern on the Falls

It’s a cousin to Tavern on the Hill, in Majors Hill Park. It’s a little tricky to find the first time. It’s tucked behind the Royal Geographic Society building on Sussex Dr, right in between it and the falls where the Rideau river meets the Ottawa river. The menu is simple, with gourmet hot dogs and an assortment of pre-made salads and wraps. We were impressed with the options for the hot dogs.

Ottawa family fun: Tavern on the Falls

Ottawa family fun: Tavern on the Falls

(They are so different in almost every way, and yet every now and then I catch the family resemblance!)

There’s also what looks like a full service bar, but we weren’t there for drinks. We did, however, imbibe in some ice cream after our hot dogs. It was spitting a bit as we finished lunch, but the umbrellas provided enough cover to keep us dry. In fact, it was a little hard to tell the difference between the sprinkles and the spray from the falls.

Ottawa family fun: Tavern on the Falls

It’s a lovely area to wander, not too far from Rideau Hall. We didn’t make it that far, but we did poke around the falls a little bit, talking about how they’re the reason the Rideau Canal was built, and how Ottawa came to be settled because of them. Here’s the view of the restaurant from the other side of the falls.

Ottawa family fun: Tavern on the Falls

You can really see in this photo why they called these falls “Rideau” – which means curtain.

Ottawa family fun: Tavern on the Falls

We spent a lovely, lazy hour or so having hot dogs and ice cream and poking around the falls. I can imagine the sunset views are stunning, and plan to come back when the fall foliage turns colourful – won’t be long now! All in all, a lovely if not inexpensive lunch out with a gorgeous view, even on a rainy afternoon, and highly recommended.

If you go:
Tavern on the Falls is open from early morning (with Bridgehead coffee and Maverick’s doughnuts!) to late night, through the end of October, weather permitting. The street address is 1 John Street, but we found it by looking for the Royal Geographic Society and wandering around behind it.

Five fun things for teens and tweens in London

Planning an itinerary for London that equally engages two teens, a tween, and two kids-at-heart meant tempering some of the more traditional sightseeing options (“seriously Mom, another church?”) with visits to more manga shops than you could have ever imagined existed. It also meant bookshops, candy shops, and some unexpectedly engaging adventures.

In general, they loved to play “spot the cultural differences” and were somewhere between engaged and patient with the grown-ups’ interest in history and art. Lucas, at age 10, did comment at one point in Paris that maybe a little bit too much of our vacation had been about dead people. We used a LOT of pop culture and literary references to engage the boys in various activities, giving them meaningful context beyond the history books and top tourist attractions. Harry Potter, Les Miserables, the Beatles, Monty Python, Neil Gaiman, and Victor Hugo were but a few of the sources of our inspiration.

Here are five things my boys loved about London. (Stay tuned for the Paris edition!)

1. The Royal Observatory at Greenwich

The view from the Royal Observatory at Greenwich

This was my geek-out, and high on my list of things to see in London. The Royal Observatory at Greenwich, a UNESCO world heritage site, sits high on a hill (with a 60 degree incline for part of the climb!) a little bit east of the core. Not only did we learn the origins of Greenwich Mean Time, and admire some truly spectacular views out over London, but the boys were amused by the arbitrariness of standing with one foot in each hemisphere and the unresolved dispute over where exactly the Prime Meridian lies. If you’re at all interested in space or time, this is a very cool place to visit. There was an interesting looking retro market in Greenwich that I deeply regret we did not have time to explore — next time!

Feet on the Prime Meridian

2. A “cruise” on the Thames Clipper

There are plenty of boat tours and cruises on the River Thames from which to choose. Because they are more for commuting than for tourists, the Thames Clippers are a simple and inexpensive way to see London from the Thames. There’s no commentary or tour guides, but we still loved our trip from Vauxall Bridge to Greenwich, with a change at London Bridge. If you use Google Maps, you can more or less figure out what you’re looking at as you go along. There is no better way to see the Tower Bridge than going under it, in our opinion! And, we could pay using our Oyster cards, buying a paper ticket for Lucas because he’s young enough to ride the Tube, buses and trams without fare and therefore did not have an Oyster card. I think we paid about £7 for the grownups for our one-way fare, and half that for the kids under 15. The ride on the Clipper came in second to the Harry Potter studio tour on my boys’ list of favourite London adventures!

Passing under the Tower of London

3. Chasing Harry Potter

I’d started out incorporating all my Harry Potter thoughts here, but then they grew and expanded like someone had cast an engorgio spell on them, and they spilled out into not one but TWO separate blog posts, one on finding Harry Potter locations in London and the other on the Making of Harry Potter studio tour.

Needless to say, I know few teens (nor Gen Xers!) who wouldn’t love chasing down at least a little bit of Harry Potter while visiting London.

4. Camden Market

This was the unexpected gem of our visit. We had time to kill on the morning of our visit to the Harry Potter studio tour, and hit the Camden Lock Market on a whim. I only wish we’d left ourselves much more time to explore this delightful warren of indie shops, crafters, vintage sales and commercial outlets with an alternative vibe. We had fantastic street food for lunch, and I got my very first (and long-coveted) pair of Doc Martens – authentic Made in England brand with gorgeous embroidered flowers to boot, erm, shoe. We approached the Market from the much more subdued Chalk Farm station side, and on the way out enjoyed the funky vibe of the main strip on the way back to the Camden Town Station. Even earlyish on a weekday morning, the place was alive with edgy energy – I can only imagine what it’s like on a Friday night!

Camden Town

5. The Tower of London

I was surprised by how much we enjoyed the Tower of London. From the resident ravens to the Beefeater tours, and from the medieval torture devices to the ancient history of the place, we found the Tower a fascinating place to explore. We’d been told to avoid the crush of people wanting to see the Crown Jewels by arriving as early as possible and going straight to the Crown Jewels, so we did, and had them practically to ourselves. Although they were interesting, we were a little underwhelmed by them and had more fun making jokes about the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch and the Cloak of Visibility. (Touring London with kids who make Monty Python quips is an adventure in itself and ample reward for many long years of parenting.)

Family travel at the Tower of London

Bonus recommendation: our favourite wander

Wandering is hands-down my favourite way to explore, and there’s no shortage of amazing places to wander in London. We found ourselves drawn to the area around Covent Gardens, SoHo, the Strand and Trafalgar Square again and again during our visit. The pop culture megastore Forbidden Planet on Shaftsbury Avenue was a hit – I bought a paper copy of Good Omens to augment my ecopy, but we decided against hauling home the heavy tome that contained all the Monty Python scripts. Hardy’s Candy Store has sherbet lemons and lots of other sweets, along with the eclectic shops on Neal Street, and if you’ve got £299 to blow on a life-sized Firebolt of your very own, The Nobel Collection had lots of interesting toys for big kids!

We were also sad that we couldn’t make the timing work on a Mudlarking adventure on the Thames foreshore or a graffiti street art tour and workshop in Shoreditch, both of which were on my kids’ want-to-do list and will simply have to wait until NEXT time.

Care to add to the list? What places or adventures have your teens and tweens loved in London?

Finding Harry Potter in London

If there was a leitmotif for our trip to London, it was Harry Potter. I have spent the last year reading the books to Lucas for the first time (after having read them to the older boys several years ago, and of course reading each book several times by myself) and we broke our cardinal rule of “you must finish the book before you view the movie” to watch all eight of the movies before we left, even though we’re only midway through reading The Order of the Phoenix. All that to say, we were well marinated in Harry Potter lore heading into this trip, and we all five love the books and the movies.

Kings Cross Platform 9 3/4

I have a whole separate blog post planned for our visit to the Making of Harry Potter studio tour, but even if you don’t opt for the tour, there is plenty of Harry Potter minutiae outside the Warner Bros. studio to enjoy. Here are a few of the places we enjoyed finding, either by specifically seeking them out or just recognizing them as we passed by, that have served as film locations in the eight movies of the Harry Potter franchise.

In our first day of wandering and exploring, we crossed the Millennium Bridge, otherwise known as the Wobbly Bridge, that the Death Eaters destroy at the beginning of The Half-Blood Prince, and also passed by the Lambeth Bridge, where the Knight Bus squeezes its way between oncoming double-decker buses in The Prisoner of Azkaban. And we passed both over AND under the Tower Bridge, featured in the Order of the Phoenix when Harry and the other members of the Order zoom down the Thames on broomsticks on their way to Grimmauld Place. (We never did make it to Islington to visit Clarendon Square, where the exterior scenes of Grimmauld Place were filmed.)

Harry Potter sites in London

A few days later, we found ourselves in Picadilly Circus, which was too noisy and crowded and busy for our tastes, but you might recognize it from Deathly Hallows Part One, where Hermione brings Ron and Harry to escape the Death Eater attack on the Weasley wedding. St Pancras station was our departure point, where we caught the Eurostar train to Paris. You’ll see its neo-gothic clock tower as Harry and Ron zoom past in Mr Weasley’s flying Ford Anglia in the beginning of The Chamber of Secrets.

Diagon Alley has two muggle locations in London. The first is the Borough Market, where Harry pops off the Knight Bus in The Prisoner of Azkaban. The second is Leadenhall Market, a gorgeous set of Victorian arcades that has been a functioning market since medieval times and also happens to serve as the entrance to the Leaky Cauldron in The Philosopher’s Stone. What we did not know is that Leadenhall Market, including all its cute shops AND restaurants and cafes, is closed on Sundays. It was still a fun place to explore, just not a great place to arrive hungry and hoping for a good spot for dinner on a Sunday.

Leadenhall Market for Harry Potter fans

And of course, there is King’s Cross Station, home of Platform 9 3/4 and one of my favourite scenes in all of the movies, where Harry and Dumbledore discuss life after death, and choices, and Voldemort. It also happens to contain two of my very favourite quotes from the movie franchises:

‘Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?’

and

‘Words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic.’

Platforms 9 and 10 (and, ostensibly, 9 3/4) are behind a barrier that you can only cross if you have a valid train ticket. However, they have mocked up a more accessible Platform 9 3/4, complete with trolley passing through the brick wall and nearby gift shop, where fans can queue to have their photo taken. They even supply scarves in the Hogwarts house of your choice, and have employees standing by to manage the queue (and your scarf) and take photos. A staff member takes photos of everyone, but you are also welcome to take your own, and you are not obligated to buy the official version. We queued for nearly an hour but found the staff quite accommodating, letting us take individual photos of the boys, then a group photo of just the boys, and finally one with the boys and me in it. (Beloved preferred to remain on the safe side of the camera!) Pro tip: you can save yourself the bother of queuing up at King’s Cross if you’re planning a visit to the Warner Bros studio tour, as they have the same set-up but with poorer lighting and basically no line-ups.

And even with all of that, there are Harry Potter film locations in London that we missed. If you remember Dudley and Harry encountering the snake in The Philosopher’s Stone, you’ll find the Reptile House at the London Zoo familiar. Scotland Place stands in for the Ministry of Magic and nearby Westminster Tube station was closed for an entire day when it was used as a location during the filming of The Order of the Phoenix. Though the movie shows the Leaky Cauldron as being accessed through Leadenhall Market, the books imply access off Charing Cross Road, and of course Diagon Alley is where one would see the imposing white marble of Gringotts, the wizard bank, but is better known to muggles as Australia House, the Australian high commission.

There are, of course, no shortages of Harry Potter souvenirs available in what seemed like almost every retail establishment. We were unable to resist the attraction of wands for each boy, t-shirts and Pop figures with Harry Potter themes. And I’m positively delighted with my Marauders’ Map scarf, as I do solemnly swear that I’m up to no good. We managed to resist the full set of Professor Snape’s dress robes (£299!) or a life-sized Firebolt at nearly £500.

One of our less-traditional Harry Potter souvenirs came from a candy shop near Covent Garden where we found sherbet lemon drops.

They’re Dumbledore’s favourites, you know!

Make no mistake, we did not (entirely) reduce one of the world’s greatest cities to a giant Harry Potter scavenger hunt. We also learned about everything from Londinium to Henry VIII to the origins of Greenwich Mean Time. I have to tell you, though, nothing quite came close to the magic of London through a Harry Potter cinematic lens!

Navigating London’s Underground with kids

I would not have expected that navigating through London’s (in)famous Underground would be as significant a touchstone in our travel memories as were our trips to the Harry Potter studio, the Royal Observatory at Greenwich and the Tower Bridge. It was certainly something we were anticipating with interest, partly because Tristan, Simon and I read Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere a few years ago, and many of the stations and places played a part in that story, and partly because the Underground is sort of mythic in pop culture in its own right. Certainly, it was both more interesting and less challenging than I had fretted in the planning portion of our adventure.

Adventures in the London Underground

The Oyster card, London’s smartcard system for paying fares for travel in the Tube, bus, light rail and some river boats, seemed fairly straightforward, but I still remain unclear on whether or when one should opt for a special travel card or a visitor Oyster card. I also could see that Simon would be able eligible for half-priced fares (ages 11 to 15), that at 16 Tristan would pay adult fares, and Lucas would generally travel free accompanied by a paying adult. There were myriad options for kids, though: youth Zip cards and travel cards and young visitor discounts and visitor passes; no matter how much I read, I could never quite parse the differences and benefits between them.

In the end, we just used the regular pay as you go Oyster cards. I’d been told it was easy to both acquire the cards (you can get them from ATM-style machines in each Tube station) and to find a Transport for London (TfL) employee to activate a special youth discount on Simon’s card. It was even easier than I expected – there were minimal lines at the machines at the Heathrow station, and there are universally helpful and patient TfL folks at every Tube station to help you figure out how to purchase, reload, or add a youth visitor discount to your card. In fact, if a certain youth manages to lose his newly acquired and pre-loaded with travel money Oyster card on the voyage between the airport and arriving at your flat in your first 90 minutes in London, the station attendant will good-naturedly chide said child as “quite naughty” and give you special sleeves for all of your family cards so that no more of them go astray.

Adventures in the London Underground

Soon, we were all pros at tapping in and out as we moved through various Underground stations. Lucas, who at age 10 travels for free with an adult, learned to look for the wider accessible gate with paddles rather than turnstiles at each barrier so we could move through together. I even showed the boys to watch for the quick flash of remaining balance on the Oyster cards as they tapped out.

While I was a bus commuter for years in Ottawa, and while I’ve occasionally used subways in Toronto and Montreal and even Paris before, this was my first experience with extensive use of a subway system. I have a couple of observations. First, it is generally a stunningly effective system. I can see how it would be utter chaos when the system breaks down, but once you get the gist of it, the Underground is a safe, easy and efficient way to zoom around the core. We enjoyed the Tube even better when we learned to avoid the crush of rush hour congestion we accidentally got caught up in a few days in a row, before we learned to travel in off-peak hours. Second, I was surprised at how far one has to follow labyrinth tunnels up and down and over and up and down and over again to make a connection in what is purportedly the same station but occasionally feels like it’s in a different time zone. Third, London in general is not equipped for heat waves of the sort that gripped the city in July of 2018, and nowhere is this more evident than in the un-air-conditioned Underground. Several times we opted for walks of 30+ minutes on sore and tired feet rather than dealing with sweaty, crowded Tube rides of half that duration. Fourth, one does not mess with the rule that the right side of the escalator is for standing and the left is for moving.

Adventures in the London Underground

The fifth and final observation needs a paragraph of its own. The Transport for London trip planner is a great tool, with some caveats. Rather than downloading the app, I simply bookmarked the trip planner on the home screen on my phone, and used it constantly. Annoyingly, it clears your journey when your phone goes to sleep or you open a different app, so I got in the habit of screenshotting our planned routes – I realized only after deleting several days’ worth of them that those screen shots alone would have made a fun souvenir collage! And the trip planner defaults to the fastest journey, not necessarily the most convenient or even sensible, resulting in some suggested journeys that comprised a mash-up of Tube and bus options that were optimized by customizing the results to include only Tube options. In short, if you’re going to London for the first time and planning to use the trip planner (which I highly recommend) I also highly recommend that you play with the trip planner for a few days ahead of time so you get used to the options and quirks, I mean, features.

Since we live on the rural outskirts of the city, the boys have not had a lot of exposure to public transit. And by “a lot” I mean pretty much any at all. By the time I was a teen, living in the smaller namesake London in Ontario, I was able to navigate from one end of the city to the other using transit, and I’ve often thought that one of these days I’m going to have to invest a day showing the boys the peccadilloes of OCTranspo. After seeing how quickly they learned to read the station placards to differentiate between east and westbound lines, following directional signs through endless tunnels and even coming to rely on their quick eyes to navigate busy stations, I have every confidence that they’ll be able to master the relatively simple Ottawa transit system.

Adventures in the London Underground

Using your debit card to top up the cards on the go is as easy as could be. We spent about £45 per adult for a week of travel, including extra for overground tickets to Hampton Court Palace, Watford Junction (Harry Potter studios) and a ride on the Thames Clipper commuter ferry. Here’s another tip for you. You’ll have to pay a £5 deposit when you purchase your Oyster cards from the automated machines at the station, but you get the deposit back and any unused funds up to a certain threshold (I think it’s £10) from the same machine – just look for one that says refunds are available. Just when I thought I was so clever, having spent the last of our British coins on snacks at St Pancras station waiting for the Eurostar, I found myself with nearly £50 more in coins after cashing out our Oyster card deposits and unused fares. More snacks, boys – a LOT of snacks, and quick before the train to Paris comes!