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Greece on a budget and back in London BY CARON BLUESTONE
century and steal back one of the most valuable paintings ever to be taken in art heist history. It combines immersive theatre - Rogue Productions, the theatre company behind the Crystal Maze - and puzzle solving into an escape room experience that has adrenalin pumping at every twist and turn and cleverly recreates the true story of the 1990’s theft of Rembrandt’s The Storm on the Sea of Galilee and Vermeer’s The Concert, both of which remain missing to this day! Our mission; ‘break into the storehouse of the veteran thief and evade their security…overcome their extensive security systems… crawl through their laser matrix..’ all whilst avoiding the pesky guards. Steal back the artwork and claim the one million dollar FBI reward or choose to sell for a potential value of one hundred million on the black market instead. The choice is yours. Set inside Theatre Deli in Finsbury Circus, the Perfect Crime might bring out your inner criminal! www. theperfectcrime.co.uk/
Finding ourselves back in London, having escaped to the Greek Islands-more of which later, I decided to make it my mission to dig up some fun things to do as a family. The Capital is absolutely full of interesting and mostly little-known activities. So, rather than watching the kids in the park or supervising at soft play, I put on my researcher’s hat. Here are my top picks so far.
VIRTUAL REALITY.
Now, virtual reality has always been something that I’ve secretly been interested in, with high hopes for what would be out there when I eventually found the motivation to look. I’d never tried it before and hadn’t really considered the options. For those of us based in North London, my research took me to DNA VR with three venues. They tout themselves as London’s Largest VR Arcade. Don’t be fooled when your satnav takes you to some nondescript door in Camden. Walk down the stairs and you’ll find yourself in the waiting area, where you wait your turn to enter the individual VR pods. It’s lovely and clean and covid-friendly-toilets included- always a bonus when with children. Once the group ahead of us had left and all the equipment had been sterilised, it was our turn. Within our booked time slot of 60 minutes, we were allowed to play as many or as few of the multi-player games that we wished. The pods are simply small, darkened rooms, within which you can move freely. Each player stands in their own pod with their VR headset and two handsets that become your weapons. After a quick intro we were ready to play. As a family of four consisting of 6 and 9 year old boys, we couldn’t go far wrong. Gaming is their life, unfortunately. Now, for me not so much. However, I am competitive and I do like to win, so that helped from the get go. The VR Masters are there talking to you through the headset to monitor your experience as you go, helping to keep the whole process running smoothly and this really is key to a great first experience. We played two very different games but kept everyone playing together, visible to one another in the same game. The graphics were exceptional and you get to see how it might feel to fly! Having help in the background meant that we made use of every second of our 60 minute session and all I can say is that all four of us can’t wait to go back. www.dnavr.co.uk/
ESCAPE ROOMS
London, it appears, is also full of escape rooms. So make sure that you go with a recommendation. Again we went as a family of four, so our choice had to be suitable and fun for two quite different age brackets. My
CRAZY GOLF
two picks in this category also turned out to be distinctly different with Modern Fables, set inside a commercial premises in East London being extremely mentally challenging and based in two, smaller-sized rooms (great for the adding to the atmosphere), whilst The Perfect Crime, set in a theatre in the City of London, saw us dodging lasers and hiding from guards in a series of rooms. Both proved to be brilliant and their contrast an advantage. Modern Fables offers the choice of three distinctly different, themed escape rooms. We chose the Oracles, as the one that would be most suitable for our youngest. The scene is set from the moment you arrive at Dr Model’s lockup in an already eerily empty commercial building in Hackney. As you step inside the room itself, you leave the real work behind and enter into a mystical adventure. You are given a dream journal which holds the link to a series of clues, all to be found somewhere within your escape room. There, Dr Morel explains what you must do to solve the mystery that will unlock the room. Relying on the children to spot the clues and the adults to solve the trickier puzzles, we eventually escaped, jubilant and victorious. There is also, always a subtly-dropped helpful hint along the way for those in need. www.modern-fables.com/ Our second escape room was slightly more action-packed and less cerebral but suited me down to the ground, due to my severe lack of patience! Our mission was simple - pull off the art heist of the
Crazy golf, along with ping pong, darts and bowling, have really become a ‘thing’ in London. Taken off in a way that we haven’t seen before. Many places have popped up where adults can drink, party and play. This really means that if you choose your venue and timing carefully, there’s a huge amount of fun to be had by adults and children alike. Again preferable to the usual suspects where parents are usually spectators on the sidelines. Crazy golf has the most universal appeal in our family and after much research, we decided on Plonk golf. With five venues across London, they offer 9 hole crazy golf both indoors and out. Their London Fields venue sits in a cosy private yard, looking across the trees to London Fields park. Perfect for some fun in the fresh air and sunshine and accessible to all ages and abilities. Their colourful courses are just the right size for a family game and they also offer birthday parties - a definite contender for us. The indoor venue is in Camden! www.plonkgolf.co.uk Last but by no means least , I’d like to mention three fantastic travel recommendations for families. We chose the Greek Islands this summer for a change of scenery, some adventure and real value for money. Flying into Mykonos - not only the party central for which it’s infamous for but a gorgeous town with plenty to suit every taste. We then took the ferry to Naxos - the largest of the Cyclades - an island of splendid, empty, sandy beaches, important cultural and historical heritage and a laid-back, island feel of yesteryear. Our home, Hotel Stella; a hidden gem with comfortable, spotless
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26 AUGUST 2021
family rooms for around €150 a night. Directly on one of the best beaches on the island and with its own pool and park filled with fragrant lavender. www.stella-apartments-naxos.gr/ Next stop, another short ferry ride to Paros. The smaller sister to Naxos. More nightlife, more touristy but the whitewashed villages dotted with bougainvillea and the plentiful shopping in the jaw droppingly beautiful village of Naoussa all make it worthwhile and that’s just your starting point. Here, we made firm friends and lounged by the pool, cooled by the Cycladic winds, at a wonderful boutique hotel steps from the beach. Margarita Studios is like finding a home away from home. One which you won’t want to leave. www. margaritastudios.com/ Back to Heathrow, where the queues were nowhere to be seen and a quick call to Meet and Greet had our car waiting for us in the T5 car park, steps from the terminal door. www.holidayextras.com/ One last recommendation for the dreaded covid tests back home. This time we used the extremely convenient home testing kits from Oncologica. Already at home when we arrived, simply test and post to receive results in less than 24 hours from receipt in the lab. At £55 for each adult, the cost is low too. https://covid19.oncologica.com/
NXT GEN ACTIVITIES.
And Finally….This couldn’t wait for my next column because it might just save some of you from wasting money on sub-standard day camps for the kids, for when you might need a few mornings or days off. I found NXT GEN through a recommendation; one of my best friends with a challenging son to manage. My kids had been at a fantastic tennis camp which has now finished for the summer and I was looking for something new. NXT GEN offers activity-based camps both in Golders Green and Finchley, Christs College. Just down the road from me, extremely reasonably-priced, they provide sport-based camps, including girls-only, for multiple sports including football, dodgeball, table tennis, netball, rounders, badminton and zoneball. There’s something for everyone. What is special about NXT GEN, you will immediately feel when you speak to its founder Scott. A father of three little ones himself, he is passionate about the wellbeing of the children who attend his camps. ‘Providing a safe environment for children to grow, physically, mentally and socially’. They truly follow through on their marketing. My sometimes shy and difficult nine year old was desperate to leave home early this morning and my five year old too. Camps can become a numbers game and lose that personal touch and attention to the wellbeing of the children. Here they do not. A breath of fresh air for one and all. nxtgenactivities.co.uk/
