Big Egg Hunt - Eggs In The City

Last Sunday was Mother's Day and what more could a mother want than to indulge in some well-deserved ova hunting.  We're painfully conscious that there is only limited time left until the hunt finishes, and although I suspect that due to time and distance constraints we will be unable to find them all, we're going to give it a bally good go.  So we set out sights on the City to see what eggs we could discover.

The City Zone possesses a rather moderate 21 eggs (not including the newly unveiled Panda egg).  21? We scoffed.  Easy.  But in actual fact we found this one of the most difficult zones, neither of us having really spent much time in this part of London, other than to walk the 100 metres between Fenchurch Street and Tower Hill or the late night trawl to Liverpool Street, when you discover you've missed the last train home on some drunken night out (distant memories now, folks).  So it was with some shock, that we discovered we didn't really have a clue where we were going.  But this was part of the thrill of this zone as we tramped up and down the streets, consulting the map frequently and accosting strangers when we got completely lost.

The appeal of this zone was heightened by the introduction of the aforementioned Panda egg.  In a style that American sports coaches would be proud of, we had primed the children for the search of this egg; "What do we want? The Panda egg.  When do we want it?  Now!"  We had screeched in the days leading up to Sunday.  Thus when a fellow egger offered to reveal the whereabouts of the coveted egg and even drew us a map, we were in egg heaven.  A hurried walk around the corner and we found the panda waiting patiently in a foyer for us.  Squashing the children and the buggy through the rather fast revolving doors was a bit of a scary moment, but the 'oohs' and 'ahhs' of appreciation from the children made it worth it.

What I liked about this zone was the diversity of the locations; the glorious vaulted ceilings of Leadenhall Market, the designer courtyards of Devonshire Square, the arena like balconies of Broadgate Circle and the heady heights of the Monument.  I don't pretend to be an architectural connoisseur but you cannot fail to be impressed by the combination of sophisticated modernity nestled alongside the stoic classicity of buildings such as The Royal Exchange.

We managed to complete the zone and even fitted in a trip up the Monument, which both children loved.  However, our trip to the top was short-lived as we had caught wind of the fact that the yet to be found Wally Egg was currently doing the rounds at Convent Garden.  My son is a huge Where's Wally fan and was determined to finally track it down, so it was a quick car journey to Convent Garden where my husband offloaded us to find a parking space.  A child in each hand, we raced around the pavilion looking for our stripy friend.  But he was nowhere to be seen.  A phonecall from the husband to say that he was unable to find a space and we had ten minutes to find the egg and get back to the car put the search into the league of Aneka Rice's Treasure Hunt (for those of you old enough to remember it).  The newly installed Moshi Monster bus looked like a likely candidate for an egg to hide in but the kind assistant informed us that no, Wally was hanging out in Pizza Express.  Two more circuits of the pavilion and a Google search later, we had tracked down the pizza restaurant but alas no Wally in sight.  The children were becoming disheartened and the suggestion that we try to find him next time didn't go down well, so in desperation we tried the Big Egg Hunt pop-up shop in the centre of Convent Garden.  "Please tell us where Wally is?" We whined, pathetically.  The very helpful staff consulted their phones and informed us he was resting. Resting?  The staff, no doubt spotting the trembling lips of the children, took pity on us.  "He may be back at Action For Children.  Check there."  A lead, a lead, we had a lead.


It was too far to walk and get back in time, so it was back to the eggmobile for a quick dash around the one-way streets to the Action For Children HQ.  Tyres squealing, we screeched to a halt outside the building and searched the windows for Wally but he was nowhere to be seen.  At this point, I actually felt like crying myself.  My ever resourceful husband decided to try inside.  It was a long wait for us all as we stared longingly at the doorway he had disappeared through and cheers of jubilation when he re-emerged minutes later, hurriedly ushering us into the building.  A woman motioned to a blanket.  "You know famous people have stunt doubles? Well so does Wally," she explained before lifting the blanket to reveal Wally in all his glory.  OK so admittedly it wasn't the Wally that was currently hiding somewhere in Convent Garden, but it was the next best thing and the children were overjoyed at finally finding him.  We must take this opportunity to thank the staff at Action For Children and The Big Egg Hunt pop-up shop in Convent Garden for being so helpful and obliging, it was greatly appreciated and helped finish off a wonderful day in the city.

For those of you who are still to undertake your own egg hunt, there is still time to get involved, even if you choose to only do a zone or two.  It's a great way to explore London and take in some of the sights and it's completely inexpensive.  For more details on how to get involved or to download zone maps, then visit:  http://thebigegghunt.co.uk/

The Big Egg Hunt (Part Two)

So this weekend saw us resuming our search for the Faberge eggs.  I apologise to those of you who may now have tired of posts concerning this event, but our family is obsessed with this thing; I'm dreaming about eggs, the children are designing their own eggs, my husband is trawling the internet for clues on 'difficult' eggs and the baby is screaming 'egg' at anything that is slightly spherical in shape.  It's an addiction, I tell you.

Anyhow, back to this weekend.  Sunday was a gloriously sunny day and we decided that we were going to tackle the Mayfair zone as it has a whopping 47 eggs up for grabs.  Mayfair is not really an area that we're familiar with so it was quite nice to discover a district of London that is quite new for us.  The sheer amount of eggs to be found meant that the children were in a constant state of hysteria.  Unlike previous hunts, this weekend we encountered lots of fellow egg hunters and we discovered that there is a term to describe this egg lust.  "Are you egging?" Asked one softly spoken American woman.  What gave us away?  The zone maps clutched tightly in our hands, the screaming of 'egg' every few moments from our children, the feverish way we scanned the streets? Yes indeedy, we were egging, that described it perfectly.  Pulling us aside, conspiratorially, she proceeded to direct us to a 'hidden' egg in a small courtyard and then gave us directions for some further eggs in the area.  Hurrah!  Thank you American lady.

That is one of the best bits about the egg hunt, meeting fellow 'eggers'.  As I've mentioned in a previous post, we love London.  We love its variety, its energy and its vibrancy but it's never really struck us as a friendly place.  After all it is a capital city; people are busy working, travelling, touristing (yes I believe that is a word).  There's no time for small talk and general chit chat.  But with the event of the Big Egg Hunt that seems to have changed.  Random strangers approach you and offer tips or ask for your egg count so far; Big Issue sellers call out directions; Saville Row tailors invite you in; shop assistants offer to take your photograph with 'their' egg .  It's unusual, it's initially a little unnerving but mostly it's lovely.  So thank you The Big Egg Hunt for providing that little bit of personalism in what can sometimes be a rather anonymous city.

 As per our other hunt, the day proved to be another fantastic day out.  We wandered around Mayfair before crossing into Picadilly and finally Selfridges, finding an impressive 66 eggs.  The children were once again enthralled with the experience and very  proud of their egg count.  This time round it was quite a different experience for us all, which is part of the beauty of having different zones. We don't usually visit the shopping areas of London, but the children enjoyed marvelling at the different wares in places like Selfridges and Fortnum Mason, Ferrari counting in Mayfair and picnicking in Hanover Square.  Admittedly, the zones we travelled through on this occasion were not as child-friendly as on the previous egg hunt, but the children didn't complain once and enjoyed discovering a part of London that they don't usually get to see.

We are now half-way through The Big Egg Hunt, the eggs are on the streets on London until the beginning of April, so if you haven't done so already there's still time to print out your maps and get egging.  Go on, you'll love it.


To obtain maps of the different zones and for all other information regarding The Big Egg Hunt then go to http://thebigegghunt.co.uk/

The Big Egg Hunt (Part One)

You can probably remember, a couple of posts back, how I mentioned Faberge's Big Egg Hunt and how excited we all were at the prospect of traipsing around London looking for the elusive ova.  Well last Sunday was the day that our hunt was to begin.  We had printed out some of the twelve zone maps from the website, packed a picnic and ensured that we were all wearing comfortable footwear.  If I'm honest, despite the fact that the children had been begging to go on this egg hunt since before it had even begun, I was dubious as to how long their interest would hold out and was expecting the usual cries of 'Our feet hurt', and 'Can we stop now?' to begin after the first hour.  But I was to be pleasantly surprised.

We'd decided to opt for the Convent Garden zone first, thinking that we could combine a bit of egg hunting with some street entertainment.  Walking up from the Strand and entering the piazza, we were immediately confronted with our first egg.  I cannot describe the thrill of pure pleasure that seized us when we saw that decorated oval of loveliness.  The hunt had begun in earnest.  The children were almost hysterical as they darted around Convent Garden ticking off the eggs on the map and duly having their photograph taken.  

Once the Convent Garden zone was completed, we decided to walk down to St. James' Park for our picnic and for some further egg hunting.  The park is beautiful on a sunny Spring-like day and there really is nothing nicer than having a picnic whilst partaking in a bit of people watching and squirrel counting.  The park is itself a zone in the egg hunt, so we took a slow stroll around the area before visiting the small children's playground at the end nearest Buckingham Palace.  The playground has a nice assortment of see-saws, swings, slide and a landscaped sandpit and there is a small kiosk next door for drinks and snacks.  

Once we had rested our feet and filled our stomachs we resumed the hunt with gusto.  Green Park, Picadilly and finally Trafalgar Square were the zones we crossed through.  I had not expected the children to be quite so enthralled with the egg hunting and we were eventually forced to go 'off-map' as  I hadn't printed off enough to sate their eggy appetite.  The eggs themselves are really quite breathtaking; the designs are intricate, clever and often quite humorous, so there is always an element of novelty even when it's your thirtieth egg that day.  The hunt is also made more interesting by the assortment of locations the eggs are hidden in; shop windows, parks, suspended above walkways and marooned on islands in a lake, were some of the places we discovered eggs.  For the hardcore egg hunters there is the 'Wally egg'.  This is an egg decorated like the character from the popular children's book series 'Where's Wally?' who moves location on a daily basis and for whom you must check the Facebook page to get a clue as to his whereabouts.  What more could an egg hunter ask for?

The zones are much larger than I expected and the precise location of each egg is not identified on the map, although there is a street reference for each one.  As a result, there really is an element of difficulty in finding some of the eggs and you may want to consult the cheatsheet (available online) if your intrepid egg hunters are starting to feel disillusioned.  There is however a crossover element between the zones, meaning that you are always relatively close to an egg and don't have to wander for miles in between each one.

We started our hunt at 11am and we eventually called it a day at 5.30pm.  The children did not complain once about being bored or tired, despite the fact that we had been on the move almost constantly.  When the sun had almost disappeared behind the skyline and we finally called an end to the day's hunting, the children were on the verge of tears that there would be no more eggs to be found that day and as we half-dragged, half-carried our tired children back to the car they declared that it had been 'the best day of their lives.'  Even as we pulled away, they were still craning their necks out of the car window to see if they could spy one final egg.  What more recommendation do you need?


Zone maps and all other information regarding The Big Egg Hunt can be found at:
http://thebigegghunt.co.uk/