Baby about town is a fan of culture with dining, so squealed with excitement at the thought of food in the Ashmolean. Admittedly last time I went around the museum I slept the whole time, but you soak up knowledge while you sleep, don't you?
The cafe downstairs (or down lift) is, in some ways, a very baby friendly place. Plenty of high chairs (and rather nice Tripp Trapp ones at that) and excellent baby changing available, you'd think it was the ideal place. However, we did find a few problems, Mummy, Daddy and me.
1) The lifts are bizarrely small and very slow. Given the money recently put into the museum I wonder why some wasn't spent on making access a bit easier for us babies and for other people who need lifts too. It took us about 20 minutes to get from the top floor back down, simply because the lift took ages to arrive and was filled by 2 or 3 people!
2) Collecting your food and drink at the counter is fine in theory, but Mummy says it's quite hard to juggle when she's pushing or carrying me too. I quite like it as I can grab bits of food or play that game where you try and knock the drink onto the floor.
3) It's noisy. Actually, this is quite a good thing because people aren't bothered if a baby or two decide to do some shouting or singing. It can be a bit difficult to calm us babies down though if there's echoey clattering going on.
We didn't have food on this occasion. Mummy had a very nice coffee and I chewed over a rice cake or two. She did say she thought I would like the food there and that we'd return some time soon - when she can face using the slow, small lifts again or brings me in a baby carrier.
So I can't rate the food (yet! - watch this space), but as a place to go:
The cafe downstairs (or down lift) is, in some ways, a very baby friendly place. Plenty of high chairs (and rather nice Tripp Trapp ones at that) and excellent baby changing available, you'd think it was the ideal place. However, we did find a few problems, Mummy, Daddy and me.
1) The lifts are bizarrely small and very slow. Given the money recently put into the museum I wonder why some wasn't spent on making access a bit easier for us babies and for other people who need lifts too. It took us about 20 minutes to get from the top floor back down, simply because the lift took ages to arrive and was filled by 2 or 3 people!
2) Collecting your food and drink at the counter is fine in theory, but Mummy says it's quite hard to juggle when she's pushing or carrying me too. I quite like it as I can grab bits of food or play that game where you try and knock the drink onto the floor.
3) It's noisy. Actually, this is quite a good thing because people aren't bothered if a baby or two decide to do some shouting or singing. It can be a bit difficult to calm us babies down though if there's echoey clattering going on.
We didn't have food on this occasion. Mummy had a very nice coffee and I chewed over a rice cake or two. She did say she thought I would like the food there and that we'd return some time soon - when she can face using the slow, small lifts again or brings me in a baby carrier.
So I can't rate the food (yet! - watch this space), but as a place to go:
Baby friendly ratings
Changing: 4/5 - 1 baby changing table in the disabled toilet, so sometimes have to wait
Seating: 5/5 (loads of nice, wooden high chairs)
Food: ? Watch this space!
Atmosphere: 4/5 - friendly, but a bit noisy sometimes
Overall baby friendliness: 3/5 - Relaxed, but difficult to carry food / drinks AND a baby!
