Part 2 - Barcelona

Our flight from London to Barcelona went smoothly.  There was quite a long line for customs once we arrived but luckily Isaac fell asleep in the stroller while we were waiting, slept through baggage claim, and even transferred to the car seat in the cab and slept all the way to the hotel.  One nice thing about the Barcelona airport is that the escalators are just a flat moving ramp instead of steps.  Makes sense, doesn't it?  Most everyone is pulling a suitcase, or pushing a luggage cart, stroller, etc so why wouldn't you just have a flat surface instead of steps?

On our drive to the hotel I noticed something out the window, which from a distance looked like some type of cliff dwellings or little apartment buildings.  Whatever it was, I found it captivating and intriguing.  As we got closer I could see more detail: a plethora of crosses, angel statues, and headstones made it obvious that this was the city's cemetery.  I regret not snapping a picture but thanks to flicker and some other tourist's photography skills, I have a picture anyway!

The Barcelona Cemetery

We stayed at the Hilton Diagonal Mar which is right across from the ocean on one side, and a large shopping mall on the other.  We thought it was a great location and enjoyed having the views of the city and the water from our window.  Our room was a nice size (especially for Europe) and they brought in this extra long pack n' play for Isaac which worked out perfectly because Isaac is a pretty tall kid.  I have never seen one of these in the US.  It was just like all of our Graco pack n' plays except the length was that of a standard crib.

View of the Mediterranean from our hotel room

You can see Torre Agbar right in the center of the picture, Sagrada Familia a little to the right, and the Tibidabo church is on top of the mountain in the top right corner.  

View from our room - that is the mall right below us

After getting settled in our room a bit we headed out for dinner.  We just walked across the street to the mall and chose from one of the many restaurants facing the large courtyard.  We ate at Vip's, which was a little like a TGI Friday's or some other chain.  Charlie and I thought the food was decent, but I think it was probably Isaac's favorite meal of our entire trip.  He is normally such a good eater at home, but for some reason he barely ate anything while we were away.  That night at Vip's he got some of his favorites - chips with guacamole and refried beans.  It felt a little late to us, eating dinner at 8:00, but the night was still young in Barcelona!  Dinner for them is usually around 9:00 or 10:00 at night.

Isaac eating dinner at Vip's

Dinner at Vip's - papas fritas and some kind of taco things

Something interesting that Charlie noticed right away when we sat down for dinner was that the menu was not in Spanish.  We later learned that as part of Catalonia, Barcelona has two official languages: Spanish & Catalan, which is more similar to French than Spanish.  Charlie speaks Spanish well and had no problem speaking with the locals, but the written Catalan threw us off a bit.  

Charlie at Vip's

Friday was a big site seeing day for us.  It was Good Friday, so the stores were all closed, and I think many of the locals were out seeing the tourist sites with us!  There were big crowds everywhere we went.  The first stop was the Sagrada Familia.  It is one of Barcelona's top tourist attractions and for good reason.  This church is an enormous tower of catastrophe!  Construction began in 1882 and it is not expected to be completed until 2026.  It is considered to be the "master work" of architect Antonio Gaudi, who designed several other famous buildings around the city.  I'm not a huge fan of his work, but it is definitely unique!  We did not go inside because a) there was a long line, b) it cost a lot of money, c) Isaac would not have been patient, and d) to be honest, we just weren't that interested.  Isaac liked this place because there were lots of tall cranes.

The Nativity Facade at the Sagrada Familia

The Sagrada Familia Spires (plus a crane)

Some bizarre architectural details - gotta love the fruit on top of the church!

After viewing some of the facades and architectural details from the street, we strolled over to the nearby park to sit and enjoy the sunshine for awhile.  After several days of cold & rain in London we were grateful for the warmer temperatures.  Isaac chased pigeons for awhile and we shared a lemon ice.

View of Sagrada Familia from the park (Isaac & I are on the bench in the bottom right corner)

From there we set out walking to several other nearby sites.  We saw La Pedrera, which is another Modernista Gaudi building.  Charlie said he thought it resembled a Toon Town building because of it's curvy exterior and the way it seems to kind of melt into the pavement.  By day it serves as a tourist attraction, and by night it serves as a nightclub to the locals.

Isaac & Charlie at La Pedrera

Next we passed by Casa Batllo, another Gaudi building, on our way to Palau de la Musica Catalana.  This was one of my favorite buildings that we saw because I loved all of the colorful mosaic tiles and the  pillars around the exterior.  We would have liked to go inside to see the famous stained glass dome, but we opted not to because of reasons a, b, & c previously mentioned. 

Mosaic pillars at Palau de la Musica Catalana

Charlie at Palau de la Musica Catalana

Isaac & Carrie at Palau de la Musica Catalana

We stopped by the Barcelona Cathedral and found that it too was under construction.  This was good news for Isaac because spotting a crane always brings a smile to his face.  We passed by a church, Esglesia de Santa Maria del Mar, and stopped inside for a minute.  To our amazement, Isaac happily sat in a pew and quietly observed the sculptures and stained glass windows.  Too bad our church building at home doesn't have such an ornate chapel!  

Charlie at the Barcelona Cathedral 

Isaac checking out the Esglesia de Santa Maria del Mar

While on this trip Isaac learned how to pose for pictures.  Before long he was picking out his own photo ops.  He would run up to a truck, turn around, and say "eeeeese!"  And then before I could even snap the photo, he'd come running back to see himself on the camera screen.

After walking around most of the day, we went back to the hotel to just relax for awhile and snack on some donuts.  Earlier that morning we stopped by the supermarket at the mall hoping to stock up on bottled water and snacks, but unfortunately it was closed for Good Friday.  The good news was that we found a Dunkin Donuts that was open, so we picked up a box to take back to the room.  I rarely eat donuts, but when I do, I really love their Boston Cream.  It's probably a good thing that there are no Dunkin Donuts in CA!


Around 8:30 we went back to the mall for some dinner.  We ate most of our meals over there because it was just so convenient to walk across the street and they had a decent selection of restaurants.  Even if it wasn't the best or most authentic food in the city, we did have some good meals.  That night we chose a Spanish place called La Casa del Pescado.  We ordered off the set menu which allowed us to sample a lot of the regional food.  They served us a seafood soup, some mixed olives, a pasta carbonara, green beans with diced ham, a Spanish version of bruschetta, and Russian salad which was like an egg based potato salad.  Charlie had the lamb chops and I had a seafood paella.  I must admit, I didn't love any of the dishes, but it is always fun to try something new.  It was crazy to me that as we were leaving the restaurant around 10:00, there were families with little children and babies just coming in for dinner!  

Carrie & Isaac eating dinner at La Casa del Pescado

Spanish bruschetta, olives, pasta carbonara, Russian salad, green beans & fish soup

Lamp chops w/ french fries and seafood paella

On Saturday we were looking forward to doing a little shopping because it was the only day of our trip that the stores were actually open.  We started out our day at McDonald's.  Confession:  we ate a lot of McDonald's in Barcelona!  Internet service at our hotel cost 27 euros/day (approximately $35), but the wifi at McDonald's was free.  So yes, we went to McDonald's everyday and sometimes twice a day (though we weren't always eating).  

Isaac the drink snatcher - this kid loves soda! 

After breakfast we were finally able to get into Auchan (the supermarket) and stock up on some drinks and a few other snacks for the hotel room.  I liked their shopping baskets.  They had regular shopping carts, but they also had the smaller baskets that you could either carry or pull.  This store had the escalator ramps too so you could shop with your cart on both levels.  

Shopping at Auchan

Next we took the subway to La Rambla, which is a shopping promenade in the center of the city.  It is filled with shops, restaurants, street performers, and souvenir stands selling all kinds of jewelry, art work, flowers, and even birds.  Though it is packed with people, and feels a little kitschy, it was still interesting to see.  At the end of the boulevard is El Corte Ingles - a huge seven floor department store that carries everything you could possibly think of!  We knew there was a cafe inside and we were hoping to sit down for a drink or a little snack, so we kept going up and up and up these escalators, and when we finally reached the seventh floor we found a cafe that was totally packed with a huge line of people waiting to sit down.  So we turned around and headed right back down.


The people in Barcelona seemed to really enjoy Isaac, more so than the people in London.  Lot's of people, mostly on the subway, would want to touch his face or his hair and someone was always willing to give up a seat for him.  And Isaac loved loved LOVED the subway!  This was by far his favorite thing in either city.  He loved to watch for the trains coming down the tunnel and feel the gust of wind as they rushed into the station.  He also loved having his own seat and watching out the window, and counting all the stops until it was time to get off.  And the escalators in the stations were pretty fun too.

Anyway, after leaving the store we headed over to Barceloneta, which is a neighborhood right on the Mediterranean.  I loved this area because the architecture is all 18th century, rather than the more Modernista feeling that you get in many other areas of the city.  (Okay, I know this is nerdy but I saw an episode of the Bachelorette where they went to Barceloneta and so I kind of had it in my head that that was how the whole city would look.)  We walked down through the harbor, stopped for some gelato, and then walked along the beach all the way back to our hotel.  There was a nice pathway where Charlie also went running every morning.  

Once back at the hotel, Charlie offered to stay with Isaac while I did a little shopping.  I am always up for shopping!  The mall was totally packed and crazy, but I managed to walk away with a couple of little finds. Apparently, Charlie & Isaac had a little photo shoot while I was gone because this is a sample of what I found on the camera later on:

That night we went back to the crowded mall once more for dinner at a Mexican place.  Definitely "mall food," but with Isaac it's really just so much easier to grab a quick bite than to try and sit in a restaurant where a meal is a 3 hour event.  

Sunday morning we awoke to cloudy skies and rain.  It was Easter Sunday and we knew that not much would be open.  We started our day with Toblerone McFlurries and then spent a little more time in our room just relaxing and waiting for the weather to clear up.  I had read in our guide book that the museums had free admission on the first Sunday of each month, so we thought we'd try our luck at the Picasso museum.  It took a bit of wandering before we found the place and along with it, we found a packed alley way and about an hour long wait to get inside the museum.  Needless to say, we did not go inside.  By this time the skies were clear and it had turned out to be a beautiful day. 

In addition to the cemetery, one thing I noticed while driving into the city was a church building on top of the mountain overlooking the city.  Tibidabo is the highest point in the city.  In addition to the church, there is an old amusement park located at the top of Tibidabo.  Our journey to the top began by taking the subway out to the edge of the city.  There is an old trolley that runs from the subway stop to halfway up the rest of the hill.  Like most things in Barcelona that weekend, the line for the trolley was just a little too long.  We decided to walk and get a little work out in.  Finally, we boarded a funicular (a cable car on a steep railway) that took us the rest of the way up.  Upon walking out of the station we were immediately greeted with a spectacular view of the city.  Even with the views from our hotel room, we hadn't realized how far out the city stretched.  From the top of Tibidabo we could see Barcelona stretching out all around us and the Mediterranean disappearing into the horizon.  It was quite breathtaking.

Carrie & Isaac at the Tibidabo lookout

Charlie at the Tibidabo lookout

A view of Barcelona from Tibidabo

As I'm sure most two year olds would be, Isaac was much more interested in the amusement park behind us than the views in front of us.  The park is over a 100 years old and has a quaint charm to it.  I would have loved to stay longer but being up so high with wind chill it was pretty cold out.  The two rides Isaac chose to go on were the ferris wheel and the airplane.  We walked right onto the ferris wheel, but the airplane was a different story.  The line didn't look that long, but I just didn't realize how slowly it was moving!  The airplane is a 1928 replica that is propelled by it's own engine and turns in circles above the park.  We probably waited 45 minutes for this - the longest we waited for anything during the entire trip!

Isaac riding the ferris wheel at the top of Tibidabo

Charlie waiting for us down below

The Temple de Sagrat Cor at the top of Tibidabo

The airplane ride

After some down time at the hotel that evening we headed - you guessed it - across the street to the mall for some dinner.  This time we chose a place called Freeway, an international buffet.  Unfortunately their attempts at French, Italian, Mexican, Asian, and American cuisine were rather unimpressive.  They did however get the Spanish food right!  We had seconds and thirds of the bread with jamon serrano & manchego cheese, and also the grilled chorizo sausages.


Our last day in Barcelona was spent relaxing on the beach & by the pool.  Since we had booked a beach front hotel on the Mediterranean, I think we were both hoping that the weather would be a little warmer than it was.  The low 60's are pleasant enough, but not exactly ideal for sunbathing or swimming.  But the Wood brothers can never pass up an opportunity to get in the ocean, and sure enough Charlie went for a quick swim in the freezing cold water!  Isaac is still a little wary of the ocean and greatly disapproved of his dad disappearing under the waves.  The two of us stayed safe and dry up on the sand.

Later on that day we spent some time at the pool.   Isaac can never resist a pool, even one that is filled with freezing cold water!  I never went in past my ankles, but Isaac kept getting a rush out of stepping down to his waist and then jumping back up to higher ground.  Charlie, of course just dove right in!  He even talked Isaac into coming with him out to the middle of the pool.  I'd like to say I was perfectly content to just relax in the sun, but I was not.  I was feeling a bit irritable that day and not enjoying sitting outside with the cold wind.  So our pool trip was cut short by me, the grump.

Can you tell I was really happy to be there?

For our last night in Barcelona we headed out to another La Rambla type boulevard known for it's shopping and restaurants.  We ate dinner (not at the mall!) at an Italian place that was actually fairly authentic, and shared a margherita pizza and spaghetti carbonara.  Our last stop for the evening was to see the Torre Agbar.  It is an egg shaped sky scraper that is covered in blue and red fluorescent lights and marks the technological district of Barcelona.  There's not anything to do there other than to take a picture, so that's just what we did.

The Torre Agbar at night

Isaac waiting for the subway train

Tuesday morning we were sad to pack up and leave, but after 10 days of vacation we felt ready to get back home.  We flew from Barcelona to JFK and then back to LAX.  It felt like an incredibly long day, and it was!  After being awake & traveling for 22 hours we finally dropped into bed, happy to be home.  And Cracker was very happy to have us home too!  


We thought Barcelona was a charming city and we enjoyed having time to enjoy the culture and to just relax and be together as a family.  Barcelona is not home to any famous tourist sites, and there is no one thing that would draw us back there, but the city as a whole was impressive and worth paying a visit to. We do wish we had not visited during a holiday weekend when things were so busy and crowded.  But most of all, we just enjoyed having a family vacation and spending time together.  We feel very fortunate to be able to travel to such fabulous places and to create wonderful memories.


Next stop:  Costa Rica!  

Part 1 - London

After being home for almost two weeks, I feel like I have already told so many people about our trip. But for anyone who hasn't heard yet, or wants more details, or just wants to see pictures, here you go!

We took a red eye flight from LAX to Heathrow. It was such a smooth and easy flight and the night flight made the jet lag pretty easy to deal with. We had dinner, watched a movie, and then everyone fell asleep. Isaac got a pretty solid 5 hours, while Charlie & I just dozed a bit. Once we landed we hit the ground running! It was a bit of a juggling act managing all of our bags, a car seat, and a stroller. We took the train from the airport to Paddington station and then just took a cab the rest of the way to Tyler & Maren's house.

Charlie & Isaac riding the train from Heathrow to Paddington

Charlie's brother Tyler works for the State Department and is assigned to the London Embassy for the next couple of years. He & his wife Maren have a beautiful four bedroom flat in Hampstead. They were so nice to let us stay with them and to help show us around the city. Charlie's twin brother, Chris & his wife Carly were celebrating their 10 year wedding anniversary, so Charlie arranged for them to fly to Paris, and then meet up with us in London too.

It was mid afternoon by the time we made it to Tyler & Maren's house, so we just dropped off our bags and then took off to meet up with Chris & Carly. Our first stop was Westminster Abbey. We didn't go inside, but just let Isaac run around and chase pigeons for awhile. We got our first views of Big Ben and Parliament and then we walked down towards the London Eye and watched some of the street performers.

Westminster Abbey

Isaac watching the street performers from Dad's shoulders

They have a carousel there, and Isaac loves carousels so we decided to take him on it. As we were waiting in line for our turn, I began to have second thoughts. I have never seen a carousel spin so fast! And then we also noticed that there were no seat belts on these horses either. Well there was no way we were going to get out of that line without Isaac throwing a fit, so he & I got to take a ride on the carousel of doom. We survived. Isaac loved it and I felt sick for the next half an hour.

Carrie & Isaac on the carousel

That night Tyler suggested we have dinner at The Audley - a classic English pub. We ate in the upstairs dining room (where Michelle Obama ate recently). I had fish & chips and smashed peas with mint. I loved the peas, but Charlie was not a huge fan so I suppose I won't be making them anytime soon. We rode home on a double decker bus. A must do for any London tourist, right? Well at least a must do for Isaac! He loved it.

Isaac loved seeing all of the double decker buses (sorry it's blurry!)

The next day Tyler had to work, but the rest of us headed out to Leicester Square to buy theater tickets. We checked out the markets in Covent Garden, and Charlie bought a little snack. As he was eating it, I said "hey, that's a hot cross bun!" Everyone knows what a hot cross bun is, right? It's that first song that you learn when playing any instrument: Hot Cross Buns. Except Charlie had never heard of it! I'm glad we were able to enlighten him. Next we walked down to Picadilly Circus to have lunch. We ended up at Ed's Diner - a classic American 1950's diner - and ate hamburgers & cheese fries.

Isaac at Ed's Diner

Chris, Carly & Maren at Ed's Diner

Next it was time for some shopping! Okay, so we got sucked into a souvenir shop:

Isaac's police hat. We meant to get a picture of him wearing it next to a real officer, but never did. He wears it all around the house since we've been home.

Then it was off to Harrod's. I think we are pretty spoiled living in Orange County and right next to South Coast Plaza. That being said, it was still fun to browse all of the designer fashions as well as their impressive food gallery, the Egyptian Hall, and the toy department. We managed to walk out empty handed but Charlie & I were joking that we could do some serious damage if we wanted to!

Charlie & Carrie outside of Harrod's

By the time we made it to our next stop Isaac was sound asleep. I don't mind a little jet lag if it means Isaac will actually take a nap (he gave them up about six months ago)! We decided to wake him up for the Natural History Museum. He went from this:


To this:





All it took was for me to whisper "Isaac, do you want to see some dinosaur bones?" He slowly opened his eyes, sat up, and got a huge smile on his face. It was really funny. And he loved the museum. He saw dinosaur bones, all kinds of animals, fish, rocks, fossils, etc.

Isaac checking out the monkeys at the museum

Isaac's "fish face" - it's kind of a backwards pucker, but we think it's funny

Isaac & Carrie with the dinosaur bones

The sister-in-laws outside the museum: Maren, Carrie & Carly

The twins: Chris & Charlie

After the museum we split up for the evening. Chris & Carly went to see the show Chicago and totally loved it. Maren headed home, and Charlie, Isaac & I went to ride the London Eye. It started raining on our way over, but luckily we had this:

I remember when we bought this Maclaren stroller thinking that I would never use the rain cover! But after spending a few days in rainy England I completely understand why these English strollers come with rain covers!

We did not have the best weather during our visit, but at least we never got stuck in a major down pour. Anyway, we figured we were never going to have a fantastic clear view while we were there, so we might as well do the Eye in the rain. We were still able to see quite a bit. I thought Isaac would be more excited about riding the "giant ferris wheel" but instead he was kind of grumpy and only wanted to sit on the bench and eat gummy worms. He actually really liked the 4-D movie afterwards. I was surprised that he kept his glasses on for the whole thing (it's only like 5 minutes) and it was so funny to watch him reach out and try to grab the seagulls flying by!

Charlie, Isaac & Carrie on the London Eye

A view of Big Ben & Parliament from the London Eye

Isaac riding the London Eye




Isaac & Carrie riding the Eye

That night we had dinner at an Italian place (not so great), and then stopped at a grocery store on the way home to stock up on Cadbury Fruit & Nut bars. We also discovered Cadbury cake rolls. They are like those Little Debbie swiss cake rolls, but way better. Yum.

First on our list for Tuesday was to go see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. This turned out to be a disappointment! Not only were the guards dressed in their "rain gear" (boring grey coats and very average looking hats) rather than the bright red coats and Bearskin hats, they never even did the ceremony. I assume it was because of the weather? But it was actually pretty clear that day.

Maren & Carrie outside of Buckingham Palace







Charlie & Carrie at the Palace gates






Charlie, Isaac & Chris at the fountain outside of Buckingham Palace

We did see a few carriages and horsemen passing by, but not the official ceremony. As the carriages were passing by, with their shades drawn, I was trying to imagine who might be traveling inside. It seemed surreal to see these guards in their traditional capes & hats and a horse drawn carriage in the middle of a modern city, and think that this was not just a show but actually still a form of transportation.

Tyler met up with us for lunch and we headed to Trafalgar Square and the Cafe in the Crypt at St. Martin's church. Chris & Carly had volunteered to take Isaac for a day, so after lunch we split up. Isaac left with his aunts & uncles and Charlie and I had the rest of the afternoon and evening to ourselves! I was feeling a little anxious because I have never left Isaac for quite that long (10 hours), and I think I was just nervous that he would wonder where I was or be sad. I knew he was in good hands though, so I managed to get over it and enjoy a day of childless vacation.

Tyler, Maren, Charlie, Isaac, Carrie, Carly & Chris

Charlie and I decided to spend the afternoon shopping. We checked out a few European department stores and browsed the designers on Oxford Street. As we were walking Charlie pointed out this little cream puff place: Beard Papa. They have all of the puffs ready made, and then you choose your filling and they prepare them for you. This is genius because then the puff doesn't get soggy and the cream is still cool when you eat it. We ordered the chocolate covered eclairs. We thought it was such a cool little place, and unique to London... until we got home and googled it. There is a Beard Papa in Costa Mesa (about 10 miles away from us)!

Charlie ordering eclairs at Beard Papa

For dinner we ended up at the Indian Brasserie right next to the theater. We had two kinds of naan bread, chicken tikka masala (a little too spicy for me), butter chicken (which was delicious but was probably way more butter than anyone should be eating in one meal!), and basmati rice. Though not the best Indian food I've had, it was the only Indian food I've had in quite awhile and it reminded me we should eat it more often.

Carrie at the Indian Brasserie

Next it was off to Mamma Mia. We both had so much fun! We had seen the movie and enjoyed it, but the show was much better. There are more songs, better vocals, and it's just a little more scandalous, but funny! We had the songs stuck in our heads for the next several days.

Charlie & Carrie outside the Mama Mia theater

We arrived back at Tyler & Maren's house to find Isaac bathed and ready for bed with a big smile on his face. He had a fun day with Chris, Carly, Tyler & Maren. They went to the British Museum, had crepes from the crepe stand, and Maren cooked dinner for everyone at home. They said he was very well behaved; better than he is for his own mother. That I can believe!

Carly & Isaac at the Natural History Museum

Isaac & Carly playing back at the house

Wednesday morning Chris & Carly had to head home to Utah. Maren had been playing tour guide for five days straight and was ready for a rest, and Tyler had to work, so we had a day to ourselves. Our plan was to stop for breakfast at this famous Creperie de Hampstead that we had been hearing so much about, but they were closed! So we ended up at McDonald's.

Charlie & Isaac at McDonald's

Our next plan was to go see the Tower of London, but as we walked out of the underground we were blasted with freezing wind and rain that was turning to snow. I could feel my hands going numb as I was fastening the rain cover on Isaac's stroller. I am a huge wimp when it comes to cold and knew I'd be miserable if I didn't get back inside. And so, back on the subway we went. We decided to go see St. Paul's Cathedral. But that plan didn't go very far either. We saw it, took a picture, went inside, and then turned around and left. We opted to save the 25 pounds and save the headache that we'd surely have from trying to keep Isaac happy inside a cathedral. I think what I will remember most about that place is that I managed to stall the big revolving door on my way in. It caught on the back of my foot and automatcially stopped moving. No one could get in or out for about 10 minutes. I'm just glad I was already in and not out in the cold!

St. Paul's Cathedral

By the time we got back to the Tower it had stopped raining and seemed a little warmer. Now the problem was Isaac. He just wasn't having a great day. We wanted to take the guided tour but knew that he would probably not have the patience for that. We did get to see the Crown Jewels, a Beafeater, the Tower Green, and the gift shop. That's about it. The jewels were beautiful, but I found some of the gold serving ware to be a little ridiculous. The Grand Punch Bowl for instance, which weighs about 5oo lbs and is big enough to bathe in. Really, who is going to drink that much "punch?" Anyway, I was explaining some of the history of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn to Charlie and I think he must have been impressed because he asked how I knew so much. And then I think he was not so impressed anymore when I told him that I had read The Other Boleyn Girl. Hey, it's still history even if it is a romance novel!

Carrie & Isaac at the Tower Green

A view of the Tower Bridge from inside the Tower of London

Oh, and we finally saw a guard with the Bearskin hat! Aren't these guys supposed to be totally straight faced and stoic? Because this guy failed miserably! First of all, he was chewing gum - a total "no no" if you ask me. And second, he didn't even seem to be trying not to laugh. We were not even funny.

Charlie & the Tower gaurd

I thought the Tower Bridge was beautiful. Everyone always mistakes this for the London Bridge. I wonder how that got so mixed up? The London Bridge is actually very plain, while the Tower Bridge is the famous and regal bridge that everyone recognizes. Next time we are in London I would love to go up and take the tour.

Charlie at the Tower Bridge

We stopped by Westminster Abbey and Big Ben once more on our way back to Hampstead. And then one more stop before heading back to the house: the Creperie. Okay, when Tyler and Maren told us about this place we pictured something a little different. We didn't realize that it actually was just a crepe stand. But it is famous, and for good reason! They use a ton of butter and make the crepes just a little bit crispy, then load them with nutella and banana slices (or whatever you choose), fold them up, slide them into their little paper wrapper, and serve them with a knork. Yes, a knork. That is what we decided to call these little plastic knife/fork utensils that we had never seen before!

Charlie ordering crepes from Le Creperie de Hampstead. It really is just that little stand!

Charlie with his crepe and the "knork"

Maren made us a nice home cooked meal that evening, and we were able to do some laundry and pack up in preparation for the next part of our trip. But as we were talking about our day, those crepes started to sound really good to everyone and we decided to head back out for one more. Why not? We were on vacation!

Carrie, Maren, Tyler & Isaac waiting for crepes. There is always a line!

Thursday morning Maren took us out for a little more shopping at Selfridges, which is famous for their unique window displays, and then over to the Embassy. We had to get special clearance as Tyler's visitors, and then go through full security and check all phones, cameras, etc. outside. Not just anyone can go in, so we felt kinda cool to be able to go on a tour.

Carrie, Charlie & Isaac outside of the US Embassy

And that was pretty much the end of our visit to London. We took a cab back to the airport, and from there flew to Barcelona for the second half of our trip. That will be another post!

Charlie, Carrie & Isaac outside of Tyler & Maren's flat

Despite any mention of grumpiness on Isaac's part, he was actually very well behaved on our trip. We think he had fun too. He loved being on the airplane, pointing out double decker busses, playing with his aunts & uncles, exploring Tyler & Maren's house, and he especially loved riding on all of the subway trains.

Isaac was excited to see so many double decker buses

Isaac riding on the subway

Overall we had a great time and really enjoyed London. It did not feel very international to us - more like a city in the US. (Charlie says Boston, but I've never been there so I can't compare.) We were lucky to have such wonderful hosts and a great place to stay. We are already planning to go back!